I just installed the free version, and it seems my machine is running slow as hell.
I used to have McAfee, but my purchase expired, and I didn’t think it was worth the cost. I have a wireless router, and I don’t do any high-risk web browsing or have anything important on my computer, as far as I know. I just use it to check news, read message boards, check my bank account, etc.
Is AVG free known for being slow?
TIA for any advice.
I run AVG free on my quad core, it’s not noticeably slow. Disable resident shield and link scanner temporarily to check. Did you completely uninstall mcaffee? Although I’m still running v8.5, not 9 so maybe I’ll continue with 8.5 as long as it updates.
Prevx is another app I recommend. It finds malware that others don’t. It will run free until it finds something, then you pay to cleanup.
i have used AVG for a few years now. it used to be “fast” as in un-noticed. now its bloated.
I run the free version of AVG on my computer at work. The computer was slow to begin with and AVG slowed it down a bit more. But I like how it checks links returned in search results, so I’ll keep it.
I was going to ask the same question as above. Make sure you completely uninstall McAfee COMPLETELY. I’ve seen more problems with McAfee than I can shake a stick at.
AVG will slow your computer. This is a common complaint and an issue I have had myself. I now use Avira.
Also, it is best to have only one anti-virus program at a time on your computer.
I know it’s only for businesses but I’ve been running Forefront on my laptops and it’s by far, no comparison, the best AV program I’ve EVER used!
Yes, it’s that good!
Agree with M4arc - AVG will cause issues with Vista and 7. We took it off our test machines during both our pilots, ProcMon was showing it was gobbling CPU unnecessarily.
We ended up running Microsoft Security Essentials (free version) on the user’s home machines, and Forefront on the production laptops/desktops. I still like Trend Micro on the servers.
Avast is also not too bad for freeware, but frequently shows up on BugTraq and SecurityFocus as needing a security patch to close a vulnerability.
And yes, McAfee is rarely your friend.
I used to use AVG, but they started harassing me to upgrade (and, more importantly, harassing my parents) with pop-ups and such. So I shit-canned them and use ClamWin now. It’s free and open source, if those things matter to you.
You dont consider checking your bank account online a high-risk or serious thing? Id be afraid of getting a keystroke logging worm and having your password stolen. anyways, I know a few ppl who use AVG, but i personally do not. I use Trens Micro PC-cillin as an antivirus, as well as Malwarebytes anti-malware scanner. seems to get the job done nicely.
Oh, for home use I’ve had great luck with Computer Associates (CA) version of anti-virus. Very good, no performance issues, no nasty shit getting through.
My work laptops are running Windows 7 and Forefront but I’ll check the wifes Vista machine to see what is running on there. She hasn’t had any issues either.
I shit-canned AVG a long time ago and have run avast! with no issues.
I’ve been using Mcaffe for free for years. I get it with my ISP originally was comcast, now with att uverse. They both offer a full line security suite for up to 7-8 machines on your account.
Never had any issues with it other than a little slowdown on Fridays when it does the full system scan.
+1 dump AVG. Avast! is a better product.
It talks to you telling you in an authoritative voice “Your virus definitions have been updated!”
Of course you can disable it. But I crank up the speakers when away and it scares the crap out of people around the computer. 
I think so; it didn’t show an uninstall option in the program list, so I did it through add/remove in the control panel.
Is there more to do?
You dont consider checking your bank account online a high-risk or serious thing? Id be afraid of getting a keystroke logging worm and having your password stolen.
That sounds bad. I thought a wireless router would protect against those kinds of threats. I don’t surf unknown sites, download unknown software, open attachments, etc. Am I still at risk of something an anti-virus program will stop?
I’m pretty computer illiterate.
McAfee actually worked pretty well, at least it was unobtrusive. I just didn’t want to pay for it anymore. I think I can get a version of it for free from Comcast.
Thanks for the help! Lots of good ideas.
For complete removal you have to jump through a few more hoops:
http://www.myfixes.com/articles/mcrem
That sounds bad. I thought a wireless router would protect against those kinds of threats. I don’t surf unknown sites, download unknown software, open attachments, etc. Am I still at risk of something an anti-virus program will stop?
I’m pretty computer illiterate.
McAfee actually worked pretty well, at least it was unobtrusive. I just didn’t want to pay for it anymore. I think I can get a version of it for free from Comcast.
Thanks for the help! Lots of good ideas.
In conjunction with a decent AV program, use Spybot regularly. That should catch the spyware/malware that sneak onto the system.
I use AVG 8.5 on Vista SP2, has worked well so far. However, I turned off all the active monitoring and scanning options (resident shield, scan on execute, etc), plus my machine is ridiculously overpowered. So your AVG experience may vary.
I used it a few years ago with XP and while I did not get a virus I found it to be a PIA as it didn’t update automatically.
I tried it with Vista and got a virus so I got rid of it.
avira free for me.
Both McAfee and Symantec have programs that can be downloaded to clean up after their horrible uninstallers finish missing remnants of the program. Once you do that run CCleaner or Glary utilities (both free for non-commercial use) to clean up the Registry.
A router just routes in your case a public IP to your LAN IP. A firewall with stateful packet inspection can prevent some issues if you write the rules correctly. However nothing but an AV/malware suite will keep your computer clean, and even then the malware writers are working faster than the AV companies to churn out virus variants designed to thwart the signature based virus detectors.
Even if you surf “safe” sites you can get infected. CNN, Yahoo!, etc. have all had customers hit by viruses from infected banner ad sites.