Compare Your AntiVirus Programs

May 21, 2009 — Mrs. Mecomber

Here’s a great site that has a terrific comparison table of the various antivirus software programs out there: AntiVirusWare.com. The comparison table gives a very readable breakdown of all the various features for the most popular antivirus programs, including Norton Antivirus, Kapersky, BitDefender, Avira, and more. I don’t know about you, but I like to be able to compare the various software programs, especially if there are a lot to choose from– and with antivirus programs, there ARE a lot to choose from. I’d been using AVG for years, but now that I use Windows Vista, I’ve had updating problems and a lot of false positives in the virus vault lately. Right now I am using Comodo’s free antivirus program, but I’m still staying on the watch for other programs. And I also like to know what’s what with them all. :D

Anyway, if you have a hankering to know everything there is to know about antivirus issues and software, check out the AntiVirusWare.com website. They also offer the ability to download the antivirus programs, including the newly released Norton AntiVirus 2009 download. There are also great articles at the site, like “What is a Computer Virus,” “How to Avoid Infecting Your Computer,” and a history of viruses. Great site!

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Posted in anti-virus, Internet, security programs. Tags: , . 3 Comments »

AVG 8.0

June 6, 2008 — Mrs. Mecomber

I just updated one of my computers to the Grisoft AVG 8.0 version. It’s working very well. AVG is a free email scanner/antivirus program (they also have a paid-for “pro” version). I’ve been using AVG for many years on various computers and I really like it. This new version looks like a million bucks. They’ve done a good job with their interface (previous interfaces were a little baffling). And the download went smooth and easy.

I have two complaints– one is that the link for the download is rather hidden. AVG is now emphasizing their Pro version, and the links to that are everywhere. I had to be very careful what link I clicked, because I did want to accidentally get the Pro version and have to pay for after 30 days. Here’s a page with the download links. Look for “AVG Free.” If you’ve never downloaded AVG before, there are special instructions with a license key that is emailed to you. Just going to the home page and looking around will show it. Or, you can do a quick search at Download.com and get it directly there.

Secondly, AVG 8.0 has a toolbar (they do ask you first, and give you a choice; I chose yes) you can download with the anti-virus program. I really like the idea behind it (protect you from phishing sites, etc), but it either severely slowed down my Firefox browser or crashed it. And I was unable to uninstall the AVG toolbar, I could only “disable” it. It’s not in my Add/Remove programs, either. :(

So AVG 8.0 is much nicer, but dump the buggy toolbar and watch which version you download. I do wish software programs would stop trying to overextend themselves. I personally prefer the basic, minimal programs that only do one or two things. I don’t like software that dumps everything under the sun along with baby clothes and free sunglasses.

But AVG is free, and I can’t complain about that! And it’s a good program, to boot.

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