AVG 9.0 not recommended

In the past I had no problem recommending AVG Free 8.5, however I cannot recommend the version 9.0 because of apparant problems.
A couple of days ago I downloaded AVG Free 9.0, uninstalled v8.5, installed v9.0 and went thru the settings; most were left as default. This AM while on the internet, the AVG scan started, that is when the problems started. I attempted to go from Yahoo home page to Yahoo mail. I was unable to redirect and IE8 showed (Not Responding) but yet system tray internet connection showed as still being connected. I of course did the diagnose internet connection, it would not return a result so I ended both it and IE. I then attempted to open the user interface from the system tray, unable to do so. Attempted to stop process but it was not evan showing up in Applications. About the only thing I could do was restart the computer and do the uninstall upon load up.
Did not reinstall v8.5 because daughters computer while this was going on, was asking for a restart from AVG automatically downloading and installing v9.0.
It would appear for whatever reason while performing the scan, it takes control of the computer instead of in the past allowing you to set priority, unless there is a setting that needs to be changed.

I also used to be able to recommend AVG. I used it for about 3 years or so, and it worked fine, but slowly got worse and worse. Sure, it kept my comp clean, but every version got slower and slower. Up to 8.0 was ok, but it was getting so full of crap that it was just slowing me down if anything.

I never actually had it not "let me" do anything, but the way it was going, it's not surprising.
I hate programs that take over and slow things down when there's no reason for it. Also, with AVG, there were about 6 processes running constantly and when it started to get more and more intrusive/bloated, I had to change.

MSE is great for what I need it for, since I don't do a whole lot of "odd things". I haven't had a virus in a long time, so i'm still not sure how good MSE or AVG are at catching things.

If I wanted my comp slowed down for no reason, i'd use Norton or McAffee. Apparently AVG is getting to be that way now too. Too bad, because it used to be pretty unnoticeable while it was running.

Confirming that AVG Anti Virus Pro, Version 9, [ paid version] works extremely well on 2 x laptops running Vista Ultimate 64 - bit. Have also used it for years on XP Pro with never a glitch.
No complaints whatsoever here. I find it light, fast & user friendly always.

Hmmmmmmmm I was scanning with the free AVG for years and it never found a thing. After awhile I figured it was a placebo. Free malwarebytes seems to work way better on my machines.

I recently reconfigured my friends PC to run more smoothly for him. He had AVG free installed which I had previously used and really didn't like. I uninstalled AVG free and installed Microsoft Security Essentials; the first thing Microsoft Security Essentials found was quite a nasty piece of malware which AVG was clueless about. Due to this I have lost all confidence in AVG and now use Microsoft Security Essentials or McAfee (which my ISP gave me 7 free lifetime licences for) as well as Malewarebytes.

@JMH

As stated previously, I too had been using it with no problems, but only recently did 9.0 become available and it is with that version that problems then devolped.

The 9.0 version that is/(correction) was auto installed on the daughters computer had to also be removed. While the wife was attempting to attach a pic to an email to send, AVG caused IE8 to (Not Responding). It had to be closed and at that point I uninstalled AVG. All is back to normal.

Maybe the paid version is devolped further than the free. I am not going to buy it to find out.

Still using the other apps; spywareblaster, Spybot and malewarebytes; while I look for another free one to take it's place.

cwl7454 said:

@JMH

As stated previously, I too had been using it with no problems, but only recently did 9.0 become available and it is with that version that problems then devolped.

The 9.0 version that is/(correction) was auto installed on the daughters computer had to also be removed. While the wife was attempting to attach a pic to an email to send, AVG caused IE8 to (Not Responding). It had to be closed and at that point I uninstalled AVG. All is back to normal.

Maybe the paid version is devolped further than the free. I am not going to buy it to find out.

Still using the other apps; spywareblaster, Spybot and malewarebytes; while I look for another free one to take it's place.

Click to expand...

It would behoove you to give MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials) a try. It is free. I used AVG for years until MSE came out. I was totally surprised at the tiny, unobtrusive footprint made by MSE. It is top notch IMHO.

I have looked at the reviews for MSE from such likes as PCWorld and others. As any app some love it, some say so, so. Some say great for this but not so great for that. Am going to go thru the availible ones, one by one and give them a try. For now have installed Panda Cloud Antivirus to see how it fares.

cwl7454 said:

I have looked at the reviews for MSE from such likes as PCWorld and others. As any app some love it, some say so, so. Some say great for this but not so great for that. Am going to go thru the availible ones, one by one and give them a try. For now have installed Panda Cloud Antivirus to see how it fares.

Click to expand...

Good luck. Whatever works best for ya.
My only problem is, ya can't tell if anything is doing it's job until it actually has to catch something. lol

Hopefully you won't have to worry about it though.:D

That's the thing, up untill now, avg wasn't bad. But then like everthing they get into to big of a hurry to release without giving it a good beta. Same thing happened with Acronis, upgraded from 2009 to 2010 but had nothing but major problems from the get go. When you talked with technical they wanted you to jump thru hoops, forwards and backwards, to get it to work. Wasn't willing to do that so just uninstalled and went back to tried and true 2009.
Part of their biggest problem I think, is they have decided to enter into the security part of it like Norton. Updates and upgrades used to be simple with them, not so anymorre.

Well, had to uninstall Panda Cloud Antivirus today. Not sure how it fares as a antivirus app, but I do now know that it is one of those third party apps that for whatever reason causes Microsoft Word to become a (Not Responding) program when attempting to print a doc: either saved or just written. Thought that I was over that delemia but alas it rears it's ugly head again. Well, have downloaded Avira and will give it a try, to see wahat happens.

Just remember if you do not have reliable av you are leaving yourself wide open to infections. It takes less than a milisecond to get infected.

I used to use AVG, but i found out that it didnt have good on-live scanning, as I surf the internet. So now, I downloaded and subscribed to avast home edition, and it works great, I like it how it has so many shields, like web shield, so if I accidentally downloadsomething nasty, avast will probably detect it.

Haven't had Avira long enough to really evaluate but while the guard appears to always be active there has been no conflicts so far with any of the others installed. Will continue to utilize and perform eset once in a while as the true test, I guess!