Adware Report: Grisoft AVG Professional
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Product: AVG Antivirus Professional Price: $29.95 Vendor: Grisoft Editor Rating: 3 stars |
Pros
+ Easy user interface
+ Frequent updates
Cons
- Spotty testing record
- Falls out-of-date more often than other products
- Very slow scan time
- Occasional technical problems
Grisoft AVG Antivirus Professional Review
Grisoft AVG Professional is a well-known antivirus solution. While it provides generally adequate protection, it has a history of problems such as occasionally falling out-of-date and crashing users' computers.
Usability
Installation of Grisoft AVG was fast and easy, taking less than 5 minutes to finish.
Effectiveness
Grisoft AVG has recently passed certification tests from all three major testing labs (Virus Bulletin and Checkmark Level 2). To pass these tests, an antivirus program must successfully detect and disinfect all known viruses, without generating any false positives. AVG last failed one of these tests in October 2005 and has a long history of occasional failures, which should caution users that this product can occasionally leave their computers vulnerable to viruses.
(Editor's Note: AntiVirus tests should be performed by specialized testing labs to ensure that dangerous viruses are not released onto the internet.)
Ease of Use
AVG has an attractive and easy-to-use interface that is quite simple to use.
The AVG Test Center is the main interface used to control the program. From here you initiate a full system scan, scan folders or removable drives, or check for updates. AVG provides an advanced mode as well. This exposes advanced features for expert users. We found the advanced mode to be somewhat difficult to use, and it didn't provide much functionality over the standard mode.
Grisoft AVG Test Center
Other than kicking off an occasional scan, you will hardly ever need to interact with the program as it automatically runs in the background. By default, it will automatically scan floppy disks and CDs when they are inserted. It will also scan incoming email and memory resident programs as well.
A major complaint we have with AVG is the scan speed. At 38 minutes, the program took much longer than other products. Our computer ran noticeably slower during scanning as well.
Updates
The program automatically checks for updates every day, although you can download updates manually as well.
Other Options
AVG provides a scheduler, but to access it you must delve into the "advanced mode" interface. The product also comes with a virus encyclopedia, but we found many of the entries simply read "The exact description is not available".
Customer Support
Grisoft provides only email support, which is quite limited in comparison to most other vendors.
Other
Many AVG users were rudely shocked to find that an update on December 6th, 2006 crashed their computers. The fix recommended by Grisoft did not work for everyone, and many people had to reinstall Windows to get their PCs running again.
Summary
While Grisoft AVG Antivirus Professional is a reputable program, it does occasionally fall out-of-date and has a spotty testing record. Scan time is quite slow and customer support options are limited. For the price, there are better options so shop around.
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Adware Report (http://www.AdwareReport.com) delivers objective news and reviews about the best and the worst spyware removal products.