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October 16, 2009 5:10 PM PDT

AVG Free 9 in pictures

by Seth Rosenblatt

AVG Free 9--photos

Most of what's new in AVG Free 9 is under the hood, with the security vendor talking up speedier scan times. There's also a new identity protection feature that's free to people in the United States.

Also in this slideshow, I show an easy way to keep the AVG security toolbar from repurposing your default new tab page.

Seth peers into the deep, dark corners of software so that you don't have to. He has yet to suffer a single nightmare about OS/2. You can follow him on Twitter.

Topics:: Security and spyware,; Windows Software

Tags:: AVG,; anti-virus,; anti-spam,; free

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Add a Comment (Log in or register) Showing 1 of 2 pages (46 Comments)


by wahoospa October 16, 2009 5:43 PM PDT: Jeepers, It's a whopping 71.2 MB.; Like this Reply to this comment

by SIGHUP October 16, 2009 6:10 PM PDT

Wow they install a toolbar, that will go great with the other 12 that I have.
http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia/files/2008/07/too-many-toolbars1.jpg

Like this Reply to this comment


by October 19, 2009 12:07 PM PDT: Too many toolbars? Try saying "NO" once in a while. Every piece of free software, and many paid programs also request permission to install toolbars when you install. You don't have to let them. With a search bar now included by default in IE8, I even uninstalled my long-time favorite "Toogle toolbar". No need for any of that. But in this case, (as is the case with Symantec's new antivirus products), the toolbar serves a second function. You definitely SHOULD let it be installed.; Like this


by wjsteele October 16, 2009 7:03 PM PDT: All I can say are three words: "Microsoft Security Essentials."

It's free with no nag windows and it's faster (doesn't slow down the machine as much as AVG.); Like this Reply to this comment


by retnep October 16, 2009 7:08 PM PDT: I hate AVG. It sucks up so resources and seems to run all the time.; Like this Reply to this comment

by casanegro October 16, 2009 7:33 PM PDT

If only every Windoze user would see the light and switch to Mac, then they will no longer have to bother with these anti-viruses. Macs never get viruses.

Like this Reply to this comment


by dowell100 October 16, 2009 7:44 PM PDT: Except the Mac is 25 years old and has never had more than a 5% market share. Even virus programmers ignore the Mac. Apple lost the computer battle two decades ago and only iPod and iPhone sales support the Mac today.; Like this


by mastahcow October 16, 2009 8:01 PM PDT: Actually macs and *nix clones DO get viruses. While, yes, Microsoft has the market share of them. But then when your OS is run by the majority of consumers, who do you think the virii authors will target?; Like this


by myles taylor October 16, 2009 9:30 PM PDT: No if that happened, the Macs would have tons of viruses. I'm happy in the 10% range or so.; Like this


by xim1970 October 17, 2009 12:58 AM PDT: Actually, with the usage of Unix as a base system, Mac OS version.anything is more vulnerable than ever. This has been known since Mac OS.(anything)...duh!; Like this


by DanRobinson October 17, 2009 7:16 AM PDT: Say what you will. It doesn't change the facts. Macs don't have viruses. Who gives a flying flock what PC apologists believe; I'm happy not having to putz around with Windows. I'm happy that my Macs have been virus-free for a quarter century and ten major OS upgrades.

<sarcasm>But I'm sure we'll get a virus any minute now. </sarcasm>; Like this


by edcase512 October 17, 2009 7:41 AM PDT: *Sigh* if every user swapped, then yes, yes they would. Why not just use what your happy with and quit preaching ?
If I want an Apple product I'll buy one.; Like this


by adasha76 October 17, 2009 9:30 AM PDT: "Macs never get viruses."

Too obvious man, should have kept the trolling more subtle; Like this


by papa2hot October 18, 2009 6:29 AM PDT: Macs never get viruses? Oh, so Norton makes anti-virus software for it "Just in case" someday someone decides to make a virus for mac? !toidI (reverse that please); Like this


by jmhx7 October 18, 2009 8:31 AM PDT: I had the opportunity to purchase a top of the line mac or a top of the line windows pc. I chose the windows pc. They're more customizable and have more power for the dollar. No one in their right mind would pay more for a 1gb ram 120gb hd computer vs getting an 8gb ram 750gb hd with i7 intel for almost half the price. Taking a few minutes to download an antivirus program then doesn't seem to be that bothersome.; Like this


by Nirvana3188 October 18, 2009 12:08 PM PDT: Id rather have 3 pc's with viruses than 1 mac, because that is about the ratio of a pc to mac cost.; Like this

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by VS_Dude October 16, 2009 7:34 PM PDT: I also dumped AVG in favor of MSE recently. I was pleased with reports showing it tied with AVG and also how it runs light and updates often. I'm on a we'll-see-how-this-goes basis for now.; Like this Reply to this comment


by Dan7637 October 16, 2009 7:57 PM PDT: dowell100 are you a ****, ipod and iphone is their only business? you obviously havent been to an apple store because you would have seen the main attraction is the mac computers; Like this Reply to this comment


by October 16, 2009 8:28 PM PDT: I hate dail up . It,s a slow death.; Like this Reply to this comment


by myles taylor October 16, 2009 9:33 PM PDT: AVG Free has so many advantages, even over the paid versions of some other antivirus programs. For those of you who thinks it's too big or slows down your system, try running Norton 360. Any antivirus software is going to slow down your computer somewhat. Get used to it.; Like this Reply to this comment


by das7282 October 16, 2009 10:47 PM PDT: I too switched all my computers (at home and at work) to MSE... It's free, lite and doesn't nag. Not that AVG did a lot of nagging but it did some and that's enough to annoy me.; Like this Reply to this comment


by hasan8268 October 17, 2009 1:40 AM PDT: I use Avast home edition (Free) , very light !!!; Like this Reply to this comment


by moongdss October 17, 2009 5:40 AM PDT: Another happy Avast Home user here :D; Like this Reply to this comment


by Qtechbg October 17, 2009 6:07 AM PDT: Avira 9... free ... nag screen easily removed... no sensible speed impact either...
However none of the important questions about AVG have been answered: how much resources does it consume; does it _force_ you to install adware; nag screens, etc?
Next time we'd appreciate if there is some actual info to read about ;); Like this Reply to this comment

by vickymiller October 17, 2009 9:41 AM PDT

Three words for AVG free........NO ROOTKIT PROTECTION. Avast and Avira are far lighter, offer more protection, and are MUCH lighter than anything out right now.

Like this Reply to this comment


by CSURAM October 17, 2009 5:26 PM PDT: NOT TRUE....AVG FREE NOT HAS FREE BASIC ROOTKIT DETECTION; Like this


by tbbabq October 17, 2009 12:05 PM PDT: I can see that AVG is trying, but why on earth would someone install this thing on their machines, especially since its not that reliable as is, too many false positives. I would rather use Microsoft Security Essentials, its far more reliable than any free antivirus I have seen thus far.; Like this Reply to this comment


by godat55 October 17, 2009 12:18 PM PDT: very good prgram; Like this Reply to this comment


by visgee October 18, 2009 7:39 AM PDT: I am happy with Avast Home edition. I don't use any other anti virus, though I am very often using the net without any virus attacks.Avast gives quite effective real time protection and stops most threats eff; Like this Reply to this comment


by jmhx7 October 18, 2009 8:32 AM PDT: I used to use AVG but found that Avast free home edition was better and caught everything vs AVG catching about 80% of the stuff.; Like this Reply to this comment


by hurstfriend1 October 19, 2009 4:31 AM PDT: to tell you the truth i want BOTH ! A Top notch PC with a core i7 processor 64 bit of course and a Mac, i mac or better. I think that both are productive and fun and people if the Mac is so different why is it you can install windows on it and run both OS's . Stop the fuss!; Like this Reply to this comment


by rfrye5 October 19, 2009 10:26 AM PDT: avg doesn't have exit in the system tray icon, if you need to exit to install a printer or some other program that you have to shut down all other programs you can't shut avg down,you would have to uninstall the program.; Like this Reply to this comment