AVG vs. Avira--My (limited) experience:

Just in the interest of contributing a tiny bit of knowledge to the forum:

I recently installed Avira's Antivir free package on my new Dell Vostro 1500. Ran it for almost two months. It worked well, but I did occasionally get a mildly annoying pop-up ad from Avira as the expiration date on the free software approached. But it seemed to catch or prevent everything; I had no problems. (I also installed SpyBot.)

I uninstalled it and installed AVG's free package directly from the AVG server. It is at least telling me about a lot more catches than the Avira did. Just about all are tracking cookies. So maybe it's just more "boastful" than the Avira.

I don't go to a lot of susipicious sites, so my usage pattern doesn't really test either package that much. But my personal impression is that the AVG is (at least so far) less annoying and possibly more effective. And the AVG doesn't have an expiration date.

 

The free Avira version renews the license automatically.
It's a bit annoying Avira doesn't make it clear.
4 weeks before expiration, the license will be prolonged.

 

Well now that the free AVG 7.5 is no longer updated as of this Sunday, June 1, what are NBR members planning to do with regards to virus protection?

I'm planning to switch to the Mac and check my e-mail on that side, but still need something to protect my PC-based browsing.

 

avg free will br supported til dec 2008

 

I gather from other posts that you get AVG free for one year, so my year is up on May 31. But I also read in the other thread how good Avira is, so my question has been answered.

 

AVG is good for as long as you want . i never had to renew anything withAVG in 10 years of use

 

You could use your Mac(or Linux) or you could use Avira Antivir.

 

Why not just re-install with version 8.0?

 

I heard v8 was filled with bloat and annoyances.

 

It just acquired an annoying pop-up that requests that I pay $57 for the privilege of buying v8.

Hm, that sounds too easy to me, I'm sure they mess with the registry, so the install date is there until I reformat.

Besides, I already said I would switch to Avira.

 

- it's easy to disable to popup in Avira:
http://www.elitekiller.com/files/disable_antivir_nag.htm

-AVG gives many false positives

Between Avira and Avast it's a close match.
-Avira has the better detection rates and smaller footprint
-Avast has password security and better web features.

My personal choice is Avira, but if you ever run suspicious files, you have to do it from a limited user account.

I had to learn that the painful way, here's the story: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=170458

 

I did that hack to disable popup in Avira and it still shows up from time to time. I just have to live with it, I guess.

 

Some asked about version 8 of the AVG, suggesting it might have a lot of bloatware. As far as I can tell, it doesn't--or at least it has so little that it's not slowing me down.

Given that the AVG includes anti-spy, I'm not sure why I still have SpyBot. I'm thinking about uninstalling it. Anyone have an opinion?

 

As not one antispyware program will catch everything, a second one for on-demand/weekly scanning is not a bad idea.
I would change Spybot S&D for either A-squared, SUPERantispyware or MBAM though.
Cheers.

 

then you have the triasl version , not the free
http://free.grisoft.com/

 

AVG 8 is not what I'd have hoped for. I've installed it on my new Vostro and while I don't like it as much as AVG 7.5 it still does the job and compared to Norton and the like it doesn't bog my system down in the slightest. It does annoy me that it seems to be getting away from what drew me to AVG to begin with, small and compact, hardly noticable.

I've not used Avira so I can't compare but I will say that despite some small gripes I have, AVG 8 is still a fine program.

 

There is a alternate way of hacking it, if you search Google for Avira popup you will find it.

Mine is working fine, but I'm using XP.