- Quick specs
- Price: Free
- Operating system: Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows 2000
- Date added: October 22, 2009
- Total Downloads: 232,373,797
- Downloads last week: 2,765,821
- See full specifications
- CNET editors' rating: stars
- Average user rating: stars out of 19734 votes
See all user reviews
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: Seth Rosenblatt on October 15, 2009
AVG Free provides the bare necessities when it comes to security, but that should be enough for savvy Windows users. You'll get a combined antivirus and antimalware engine, LinkScanner, and e-mail scanning. AVG Free 9 introduces a few new features, with improvements focused on performance, including claims of faster scan and boot times. One new feature is the Identity Theft Recovery Unit. Only for users in the United States, ITRU is a business partnership with Identity Guard which provides "consumer identity theft solutions," accessible only from the AVG toolbar in Firefox and Internet Explorer.
The interface is nearly unchanged from the last version, and generally it's easy to use. From the main window, though, you must double-click to get further information on any feature, whether virus scanning, LinkScanner settings, or updating. Streamlining this to one click would be helpful. A scheduling utility automates both scans and updates, while the upgrade ad at the screen's bottom can be easily hidden using the Hide Notification button. When starting a scan, a slider makes it easy to jump between Slow, Automatic, and Fast scans: the faster the scan, the less comprehensive it is, so users should take advantage of the scan optimization that is recommended during installation to speed up that first scan. A progress meter for regular scans would've been useful, though. Should a virus create serious problems, AVG creates a rescue disk to scan your computer in MS-DOS mode.
The LinkScanner feature protects you from third-party code exploits before they load in your browser and for ranking search results. Annoyingly, when you install its optional toolbar, it commandeers your new-tab page, decidedly inappropriate behavior. The program doesn't obviously tax your system when scanning or when running in the background, although CNET Labs determined that it will significantly slow down your system's boot time, and slightly delay shutting down. AVG also detected some image files as threats, when two other scans decided they weren't--we decided these were false positives. AVG might not be the fastest or the most effective free security option, but it still gets the job done and you're better off with it.
Watch the CNET video review of AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition:
Publisher's description
From AVG Technologies USA :AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is an anti-virus protection tool available free of charge to home users. Rapid virus database updates are available for the lifetime of the product, thereby providing the high level of detection capability.
The new 9.0 edition is faster, safer and easier to use. AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition gives you free rock solid protection for your basic security needs. The combined anti-virus/anti-spyware scanner in AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition runs up to 50% faster than earlier versions and doesn't get in your way. AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition also delivers new anti-phishing detection techniques, which can quickly and accurately determine whether or not a web page is hosting a phishing attack. Additionally, version 9.0 comes with basic anti-rootkit protection to ensure protection against sophisticated hidden threats.
CNET Editor's Note:
The Download Now link will download a small installer file to your desktop. Remain online and double-click the installer to proceed with the actual download.
To learn more about AVG products and to ask questions and receive answers from AVG company representatives, please visit CNET's dedicated AVG Forum.
What's new in this version:
Version 9.0 runs and installs faster, delivers new anti-phishing detection techniques and introduces the AVG LinkScanner to proactively screen the Web pages you haven't even visited yet. For added peace of mind, you also get safety ratings for your Google, Yahoo! and Bing/MSN search results.
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User reviews
- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 19734 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 107 user reviewsSee all 107 user reviews
This software version | All versions -
Version: AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 9.0.698
"Since running AVG everyday I've had no malware attacks"
Pros: Doesn't take up too much processor memory or speed
Cons: Nothing really
Summary: I like AVG because it updates almost daily so it finds the news malware. I has a resident which watches over the system in the background and alerts to any virus's and other malware
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Version: AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 9.0.698
"it works and the price is right"
Pros: it works and the price is right
Cons: not much wrong with it
Summary: it works and the price is right
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Version: AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 9.0.698
"9.0 ruined my Vista Home Premium install"
Pros: This WAS a great product up until 8.5, but the new version is terrible.
Cons: Upon upgrading to 9.0, I began to experience weird issues with my system. It would not return from sleep properly, and it would hang anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes after being woken.
Summary: The bottom line is this: what was once a great program was effectively screwed up by this update. Zonealarm did the same thing with their personal firewall when they released it for Vista. Two programs that I have used for nearly 10 years have go... read more >>
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Version: AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 9.0.698
"Terriblet. I would give it zero stars, if I could."
Pros: Seemed like it was going to another good AVG product.
Cons: Terrible. I found my fairly new computer running XP Pro started to just hang. Firefox and I.E. would hang. Would have to click 3 or 5 times to get it to go to a site. My friend also had the same problem. We unloaded 9.0 and went back to 8.5
Summary: Bad revision, stay with 8.5. No stars for this product.
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1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 9.0.698
"Seems to prevent programs and websites loading properly"
Pros: It's free, and does what it's supposed to do
Cons: It seems to prevent programs and website from loading properly. They go so far, then you have to reload or refresh, to get them to finish loading. Other times they won't even start, and you have to click numerous times to get the loading to start.
- See all 107 user reviews Write review
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