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Major software switch - Dropping Grisoft's AVG and trying out Avast!
By Andrew Pollack on 07/29/2008 at 10:53 PM EDTI used to love AVG, the free anti-virus software. Each version has gotten worse however, not better. The latest changes have it so intrusive that I've decided to drop it. On recommendation, I'm trying Avast! and from what I can tell, it is much more powerful, much less obtrusive, and seems to use less system resources.
I was able to quickly configure it to watch my P2P connections, instant message session, smtp & pop mail sessions, and of course in memory viruses -- but also to leave my Notes data alone. I have other protection for that.
So far, I'm very impressed.
re: Major software switch - Dropping Grisoft's AVG and trying out Avast!By Richard Schwartz on 07/30/2008 at 12:18 AM EDT
re: Major software switch - Dropping Grisoft's AVG and trying out Avast!By Gary Cousins on 07/30/2008 at 02:10 AM EDT
I switched over to Avast when AVG 8 came out. Why? because AVG 8 hogs system
resources. We use AVG at work simply because we have a 2 year license but we
have to turn off all of the extras otherwise it slows down people's machines.
Avast is lighter on resources and gives the same protection: anti-spyware,
anti-virus, anti-rootkit, IM protection, email protection, web protection and
P2P protection. I'm not overly enamoured with the 4.8 interface, it looks like
a media player but the gui is only a small part of the overall package.
resources. We use AVG at work simply because we have a 2 year license but we
have to turn off all of the extras otherwise it slows down people's machines.
Avast is lighter on resources and gives the same protection: anti-spyware,
anti-virus, anti-rootkit, IM protection, email protection, web protection and
P2P protection. I'm not overly enamoured with the 4.8 interface, it looks like
a media player but the gui is only a small part of the overall package.
The GUI for the manual scanner is truly oddBy Andrew Pollack on 07/30/2008 at 05:30 PM EDT
Comparisons to media players are right on.
It takes a bit to realize that its really only the manual scan tool and you
should almost never need you to load that up.
I'm pretty impressed with the tool so far overall.
It takes a bit to realize that its really only the manual scan tool and you
should almost never need you to load that up.
I'm pretty impressed with the tool so far overall.
re: Major software switch - Dropping Grisoft's AVG and trying out Avast!By Lars Berntrop-Bos on 07/30/2008 at 04:17 AM EDT
I wonder if you have ever tried Avira (has a free version), and if so what are
your thoughts comparing it with AVG and Avast!.
Lars
your thoughts comparing it with AVG and Avast!.
Lars
re: Major software switch - Dropping Grisoft's AVG and trying out Avast!By Timothy Briley on 07/30/2008 at 09:45 AM EDT
This may not pertain to your situation, but most of the ISP's my friends and
families are using provide a package like Mcafee as a benefit of using that
ISP. Just this past weekend I stopped my sister from spending silly money on
renewing Norton and putting Mcafee on for no additional money.
That said, Avast may be better, so let us know over time what you think.
families are using provide a package like Mcafee as a benefit of using that
ISP. Just this past weekend I stopped my sister from spending silly money on
renewing Norton and putting Mcafee on for no additional money.
That said, Avast may be better, so let us know over time what you think.
I'm not really a fan of the big industry names in that spaceBy Andrew Pollack on 07/30/2008 at 05:41 PM EDT
I'd rather not go into depth on my critique of them because one of the key
vendors is a client of mine - albeit indirectly.
I know many in the end user community like those big "In your face"
applications. I prefer defensive software that never shows up unless there is
something legitimate to warn me about.
vendors is a client of mine - albeit indirectly.
I know many in the end user community like those big "In your face"
applications. I prefer defensive software that never shows up unless there is
something legitimate to warn me about.
re: Major software switch - Dropping Grisoft's AVG and trying out Avast!By Charles Robinson on 07/30/2008 at 02:17 PM EDT
I've been using Avast for a long time and I really like it. It's light on
system resources and easy to configure. I have also tried AVG, which works
well but I never could figure out how to unload it on demand, and Avira, which
I think had issues when files were dragged in and out of VMWare Workstation. I
have also tried Norton 360 and Norton 360 2.0. They're both extremely
intrusive, hard to configure, and way too heavy.
Even with Avast loaded I still run SpyBot since that will also notify me of
Registry edits.
system resources and easy to configure. I have also tried AVG, which works
well but I never could figure out how to unload it on demand, and Avira, which
I think had issues when files were dragged in and out of VMWare Workstation. I
have also tried Norton 360 and Norton 360 2.0. They're both extremely
intrusive, hard to configure, and way too heavy.
Even with Avast loaded I still run SpyBot since that will also notify me of
Registry edits.
I'm a fan of S&D as wellBy Andrew Pollack on 07/30/2008 at 05:48 PM EDT
I like the resident "Teatimer" application S&D comes with. It protects the
registry well while in the way of things as little as possible.
Anti-virus and anti-spyware aren't the same thing -- Avast! seems to do a good
job of protecting the system against websites with bad code embedded in them.
I ran into one today and the way Avast notified me was perfect.
registry well while in the way of things as little as possible.
Anti-virus and anti-spyware aren't the same thing -- Avast! seems to do a good
job of protecting the system against websites with bad code embedded in them.
I ran into one today and the way Avast notified me was perfect.
re: Major software switch - Dropping Grisoft's AVG and trying out Avast!By Joe Litton on 07/31/2008 at 11:37 AM EDT
I also dropped AVG when 8.0 came out. Reasons for choosing Avast:
- great reviews
- free
- versions for Windows *AND* for linux
That last one was a biggie for me. I've been trying to get my home systems to a
point where they are all Ubuntu (except for wifey's iBook), and I was quite
happy to see that Avast has had a linux version for some time.
The updates are automatic and very unobtrusive. Works well (as I found out when
some web site or email did include some nasty code which Avast caught)
- great reviews
- free
- versions for Windows *AND* for linux
That last one was a biggie for me. I've been trying to get my home systems to a
point where they are all Ubuntu (except for wifey's iBook), and I was quite
happy to see that Avast has had a linux version for some time.
The updates are automatic and very unobtrusive. Works well (as I found out when
some web site or email did include some nasty code which Avast caught)
re: Major software switch - Dropping Grisoft's AVG and trying out Avast!By Paul Gagnon on 08/03/2008 at 09:34 PM EDT
I had loaded AVG last fall on my wife's laptop, after the mcaffee suite that
came with it started pestering us for subscription money. AVG has been a solid
product for a long time. Then version 8. Today I was doing a google search
and sure enough those green checkmarks were showing up and things were
crawling. That was enough. So I switched to Avast. I was pleasantly
surprised to see it do a non-windows-gui full scan on bootup. So far so good.
came with it started pestering us for subscription money. AVG has been a solid
product for a long time. Then version 8. Today I was doing a google search
and sure enough those green checkmarks were showing up and things were
crawling. That was enough. So I switched to Avast. I was pleasantly
surprised to see it do a non-windows-gui full scan on bootup. So far so good.
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That's incredibly sensible. Please keep us posted on your thoughts over the
next few weeks. I haven't noticed AVG causing any particular problems, but am
open to switching if there's something better.