# Why I feel AVG 8.0 is better than Avast! 4.8



## Cool Joe (Aug 15, 2008)

Until now, if anyone asked me for my free antivirus recommendation, then I’d happily direct them to  www.avast.com but now it’s different. Previously, among free antivirus software, Avast! ruled the roost. But now, both Avast! and AVG have released their latest versions. Avast! Home 4.8 and AVG Free 8.0. I myself have tested both of them, so I can truly tell you which is better.

AVG has completely revamped it’s user interface. The old one was a dull, boring and totally uninspiring one. But the new one is slick and rather cool- looking. It’s based on a light blue colour theme. Avast! retains the old media player- like interface, and to be honest, I’m bored of it now. You can download skins for it though. In my opinion, AVG’s interface is much better and more like that of a professional antivirus.

In terms of features, there are quite a lot from both. AVG again, has new things on offer. The new version has an antivirus, antispyware, e-mail scanner, linkscanner and resident shield. It allows you to configure the various aspects of each of the components. You can, for example, add extensions which you want the resident shield to scan. You can also configure the way scans take place, for e.g- you can configure the type of scan- fast, slow or automatic. There are a lot more settings that can be configured by an advanced user. Even the default settings will do fine for a newbie. Avast doesnt have too many new features. All the old features remain, and are improved, that’s all.

In terms of resources, AVG consumes more than Avast! but isn’t very noticeable unless you have a snail for a PC. The size of the setup file is shocking- close to 46 MB! This makes it very inconvinient to download using dial- up connections. Once installed on your hard drive, however, it takes no more than 32 MB.

Overall, Avast! 4.8 is just an update to the previous version, where AVG Free 8.0 feels like a whole new antivirus program. Highly recommended by me.
Download AVG Free 8.0

*shishir007.wordpress.com/2008/08/15/my-antivirus-recommendation-avg-free-80/


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## Abhishek Dwivedi (Aug 15, 2008)

AVG 8.0 is best...lolz...it rox


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## Cool G5 (Aug 15, 2008)

I found AVG 8.0 heavy, back to my earlier favourite Avast 4.8 

Avast Rocks & AVG too . 

E- Peace


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## ashu888ashu888 (Aug 15, 2008)

agree to avg and avast too, 

i myself hv used NORTON (a real system HOG :grrr..., Avast professional (really lite on system but faisl to detect sum species of virus (esp. wen d/loading from torrents) then went on to NOD32 (the best and really lite on the system) but stopped using it as the definitions jus wouldn't update  then went on to use Kaspersky Internet security 2009 and using this currently.. 

______________________


Cheers n e-peace...


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## axxo (Aug 15, 2008)

Both Avast & AVG lags in detection rate. That's where Antivir comes in. It has got the best detection rate next to Kaspersky.


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## Ecko (Aug 15, 2008)

Using Avast past 3 years & never got any problem 
Fact is they aren't just use less resources their updates also are pretty small indeed *files.myopera.com/Tamil/Smilies/Happy.gif


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## ssk_the_gr8 (Aug 16, 2008)

@beta testing
^^ finally agree with u on something


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## Cool Joe (Aug 16, 2008)

^^ lol


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## ashu888ashu888 (Aug 16, 2008)

i think every other AV is good and its usage and protection depends on wat the users use them for..

eg: say i use torrents alot, so for me NOD32 and Kaspersky giv me alot more protection for TCP and UDP packets and ports as wel.. wich the avast wud fail in these conditions,, similarly there are many other instances where the AV fails for one user and succeeds for the other user... 


Cheers n e-peace....


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## ashu888ashu888 (Aug 18, 2008)

^^ 

not good for me as i d/load using torrents, so it does not check ports for malicious s/ware.. this is wat i said in my post here...



> i think every other AV is good and its usage and protection depends on wat the users use them for..
> 
> eg: say i use torrents alot, so for me NOD32 and Kaspersky giv me alot more protection for TCP and UDP packets and ports as wel.. wich the avast wud fail in these conditions,, similarly there are many other instances where the AV fails for one user and succeeds for the other user...


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## IronManForever (Aug 18, 2008)

Avast NEVER worked well for me. It seldom healed; just notified me about a virus attack.  Not that I hadn't made the correct settings; yet. But that was 1.5 year ago. and I don't know how it is now.

AVG Impressed me since the beggining; The older interface; though old-school kind, was slick and USABLE. The current one confuses me a lot; maybe Im the only one not liking it.
And I dont judge an AV by its looks; Avast disappointed me on its first encounter with a virus; nothing of the sort with AVG.

regards;
IronMan


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## evewin89 (Aug 18, 2008)

Avast  & nod32 both rox, both AV are better than norton & McAfee.


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## Kulz (Aug 18, 2008)

Avast is the one i would go for because it detects a lot of viruses while i download from limewire or so..AVG has failed in these cases for me..

Avast simply keeps you free of mind


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## NIGHTMARE (Aug 19, 2008)

avg having very long updates


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## Cool G5 (Aug 19, 2008)

I like avast detection capabilities but what I don't get is it fails to repair. Have to del or quarantine the infected file.


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## shaunak (Aug 19, 2008)

^^ Avast does have a Virus Recovery database, so a file [if indexed] can be restored.


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## max_demon (Aug 19, 2008)

Kaspersky FTW .


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## ashu888ashu888 (Aug 19, 2008)

^^
+1 
as the updatesa re the smallest i guess,
--------------

@ Cool G5:

totally agree to ur point buddy  and really good point noted.. 
-------------

@ shaunak (off topic), love reading ur siggy..lol..
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FOr me it was Norton (for a long time, 2 yrs) then as i was able to figue it out and others prompted me as well tat it was a system HOG :grr...:

then, i moved on to Avast Professional, it had gr8 detection rates but sum how on many occassions, it failed to delete the file and jus quarantine it. 

then moved on to NOD32, it was gr8, really lite on the system but sum how (thepast cpl of weeks) the update servers got overly loaded and hence updates were not working, not even manual updates..  so, 

i switched to Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 and using it past 4-5 days, its also gr8./..
----------------

so, overall, it wud be Kaspersky (or NOD32) for the 1st place 
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Cheers n e-peace....


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## New (Aug 19, 2008)

> so, overall, it wud be Kaspersky (or NOD32) for the 1st place


One more Kaspersky user here


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## nikhilpai (Aug 19, 2008)

Avast free has Anti-rootkit.
AVG Free doesn't have it.


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## thewisecrab (Aug 19, 2008)

Both are great AV 
Thanks for the review beta testing
You too a Chelsea Fan ??? 
Off Topic:
Is anyone facing prob with NOD32 update?


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## Zangetsu (Aug 19, 2008)

nikeel said:


> Avast free has Anti-rootkit.
> AVG Free doesn't have it.



AVG 8.0 has antispyware & anti-phishing mode...

virus detection type depends on antiviruses...like some files may be a virus for AVG
but not 4 Avast & vice-versa...

Q: can they both detect mobile viruses ?


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## Cool Joe (Aug 19, 2008)

@nikeel- though its not mentioned anywhere, AVG also checks for rootkits when it is scanning. if u need it, then u can download AVG anti rootkit from *www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,65198-order,1-page,1/description.html
(updates for it are no longer provided so no use i guess)

@new- i too was a kaspersky user b4. it really hogged my PC so i switched to avast 4.8. then i removed it and installed AVG 8.0. after that i wrote this review.

@ashu- i would like to c which AV u use next 

@thewisecrab- its obvious that im a Chelsea fan. look at my avatar, location and the FOOTBALL channel.


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## NIGHTMARE (Aug 19, 2008)

Kav +1


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## Cool Joe (Aug 19, 2008)

OK so let KAV be the best. but its paid. AVG is free.

y are v going off topic talking abt the best AV? for all that there is the official AV thread. this is my opinion abt y AVG is better than Avast. Kaspersky and NOD32 are totally irrelevant here.


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## thewisecrab (Aug 19, 2008)

^^
+1
The AV debate will rage on till eternity 
[/offtopic]
@beta testing
Great man...another Chelseaite like me... 
Chelsea rocks!!!!!!


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## ashu888ashu888 (Aug 19, 2008)

thewisecrab said:


> Off Topic:
> Is anyone facing prob with NOD32 update?


 
well, yes there is a problem  (the worldwide) abt NOD32 not updating itself either automatically or manually, it jus says, "the virus defs are up to date and there is no need of an update", even though the defs are older..
there is no difference even if u change the servers in advanced tree mode > updates. 

hence i switched over to KAV... 



KaranTh85 said:


> AVG 8.0 has antispyware & anti-phishing mode...


welll,the same modes are for KAV too.. : )



> virus detection type depends on antiviruses...like some files may be a virus for AVG
> but not 4 Avast & vice-versa...


 agree to that,

esp, many AVs detect key generators as trojans (and many of us use key gens and cracks to update our version of s/wares to full/professional versions..lol..  )



> Q: can they both detect mobile viruses ?


 
u mean wen any mobilephone is connected to the PC ?? or any mobile device (like pen drives, PSPs, Ipods etc..etc) ???

Well, the AV will detect mobilephone viruses only if the virus is a windows affecting virus, say a mobile phone using a WIndows Mobile type of OS.. for all other types of OSes (on mobile phones) its inaffective...

For mobile devices like Ipods, PSPs, the format is different than the one on our PC (FAT or NTFS) hence viruses cannot travel to these devices, but even if they do, they are ineffective, coz there is NO windows platform for them to get activated.. 

but since in pendrive, the format is FAT32, they penetrate into them and cause havoc.. : )



beta testing said:


> @ashu- i would like to c which AV u use next


Well, im sticking to KAV , infact will stick either to KAV or NOD32 (not anything else) until i get proper updates yaar.. 

since ther was an update problem in NOD32, iss liye had to switch over to KAV (jus 5-6 days ago) 



> @thewisecrab- its obvious that im a Chelsea fan. look at my avatar, location and the FOOTBALL channel.


Well, chelsea are a force to be recon with this time.. 

u wanna knw whic club is my fav?? (look at my avtaar icon) 
-------------------------------------

Cheers n e-peace....


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## Cool Joe (Aug 19, 2008)

k k no more going off topic. man this thread should b renamed as the offtopic thread. v ve talked abt kaspersky and NOD32 and such. and now we are talking abt football!!???!


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## ashu888ashu888 (Aug 20, 2008)

^^ 
yup, well since the thread is ONLY abt AVG vs Avast, then my vote goes to avg 

+1 for AVG...


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## Power UP (Aug 22, 2008)

Avast for me , 
small updates & uses less resources.

Works wonderfully for a free av


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## D@rekills4 (Aug 22, 2008)

*Avast!*



Power UP said:


> Avast for me ,
> small updates & uses less resources.
> 
> Works wonderfully for a free av



I accept what you said Power UP
And still there is a tough competition between Avast and AVG


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## apoorva84 (Sep 11, 2008)

i use Antivir these days


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## R2K (Sep 11, 2008)

avast                 =      best freeware av
kaspersky av 2009=      best paid av

and i am using kaspersky av 2009


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## Power UP (Sep 30, 2008)

AVG Free

* AVG Free contains basic antivirus protection (base level only).
* AVG Free does not contain Anti-Rootkit protection so rootkits may be hidden in your system.
* AVG Free does not contain the new Safe Downloads & Instant Messaging protection (Web Shield technology) so it does not screen your downloads and communication for viruses and spyware.
More info

Avast Free

*www.avast.com/eng/avast-compare-home-professional.html


Its quite clear that Avast free provides much of the features of its pro version unlike AVG.

Avast free comes with the high performance engine with features like webshield, P2P program protection, Instant Messenger protection, Anti-rootkit protection, Anti-spyware protection, Skinning support, very small updates, uses less system resources etc.

And Guys do remember , most of the antivirus review sites mainly review the paid version only. So if a paid version gives good performance, it does not automatically mean its free version gives equivalent performance.
Avast free on the other hand gives the closest performance to its pro counterpart.

So for a free antivirus (Avast or AVG) , 

Avast is probably ur best bet


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## Zangetsu (Sep 30, 2008)

Has nebody used BitDefender 2009  its excellent


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## toofan (Oct 2, 2008)

I use a combination of Avast and spybot search and Destroy. Which makes my pc  full proof.

I had AVG at my office but personally i feel that avg has a tendency to leave some viruses specially from downloaded torrents. But i always has a habit of scanning the files downloaded in office, at home. And many times avast finds viruses left alone by AVG.


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## Cool Joe (Oct 3, 2008)

Any security checklist won't be complete without a firewall. Make sure you have a firewall like Zonealarm or Comodo.

And BTW, AVG does detect all sorts of malware, even from torrents. Sometimes, the keygens you download won't really be malware but Avast! reports them as malware. AVG is smart, it knows that these are quite harmless and so doesn't report them. If they really are dangerous, AVG reports them as well.

And don't forget Avast! doesn't have an anti phishing toolbar that integrates with the browser. AVG has it's own AVG toolbar. Almost all the other features of Avast! are present in AVG. IMO, the only useful feature of Avast! which is absent in AVG is the boot time scan. This is a very useful feature which can be used to remove viruses  which load themselves into memory upon startup.

And at close to 12 MB, I wouldn't exactly consider Avast! updates as small.


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## Power UP (Oct 4, 2008)

beta testing said:


> And BTW, AVG does detect all sorts of malware, even from torrents. Sometimes, the keygens you download won't really be malware but Avast! reports them as malware. AVG is smart, it knows that these are quite harmless and so doesn't report them. If they really are dangerous, AVG reports them as well.


Sure it detects pal but only in the pro version. Avg free one has a very inferior engine when compared to its pro version. Just test both of them for some time and u will understand what i am trying to say here.
And Avast mostly only reports Keygens which are harmful in nature, like modifying registry or system files etc. which some of these illegal keygen & cracks & patches etc do.
And even AVG reports keygens too.

And in any case its better , for all we know the so called harmless keygen could be silently installing a backdoor.
Prevention is better than cure 



beta testing said:


> And don't forget Avast! doesn't have an anti phishing toolbar that integrates with the browser. AVG has it's own AVG toolbar. Almost all the other features of Avast! are present in AVG. IMO, the only useful feature of Avast! which is absent in AVG is the boot time scan. This is a very useful feature which can be used to remove viruses  which load themselves into memory upon startup.


Whats the use. Almost every major browser has integrated anti phishing technology in their browser and they do a much better job.
And please read this, what Avg free lacks and what Avast free gives


> AVG Free
> 
> * AVG Free contains basic antivirus protection (base level only).
> * AVG Free does not contain Anti-Rootkit protection so rootkits may be hidden in your system.
> ...





beta testing said:


> And at close to 12 MB, I wouldn't exactly consider Avast! updates as small.


Dude its only 20 to 30 KB


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## Edge-of-chaos (Oct 14, 2008)

Avast is good in detections, but it doesnt really fix the viruses!


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## x3060 (Oct 14, 2008)

avast is good for detection and not cleaning dont know about avg,i use nod32


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## axxo (Oct 14, 2008)

antivir is better than these two


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## Cool Joe (Oct 14, 2008)

lol I had forgotten all about this thread.

@ Power UP-



> Sure it detects pal but only in the pro version. Avg free one has a very inferior engine when compared to its pro version.


I'm comparing AVG free with Avast! free here. It doesn't matter if AVG doesn't bundle too many features from the pro version. But when you compare AVG free with Avast!, these sort of things don't matter. 



> And in any case its better , for all we know the so called harmless keygen could be silently installing a backdoor.
> Prevention is better than cure



I agree here. But sometimes, when you know that a keygen is harmless (through the comments section), you'll be annoyed. Anyway, keygens are illegal, so Avast! helps thwart some pirates with it's warnings .



> Whats the use. Almost every major browser has integrated anti phishing technology in their browser and they do a much better job.


True. But it's for added protection. You can't just depend on the browser's anti phishing tools. Some malicious sites may not be in the browser's list of malicious sites.



> Dude its only 20 to 30 KB


Are you talking about automatic updates? Downloadable updates are close to 12 MB. If you're talking about automatic updates, then I agree, AVG's updates are not so small.


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## Power UP (Oct 17, 2008)

beta testing said:


> I'm comparing AVG free with Avast! free here. It doesn't matter if AVG doesn't bundle too many features from the pro version. But when you compare AVG free with Avast!, these sort of things don't matter.


Dude even i am only talking about free version here. The point i am stressing here is Avast free has more features and performance compared to Avg free. 



beta testing said:


> I agree here. But sometimes, when you know that a keygen is harmless (through the comments section), you'll be annoyed. Anyway, keygens are illegal, so Avast! helps thwart some pirates with it's warnings .


Some viruses wait for some time before detonation  but prevention is the best in most scenarios.



beta testing said:


> True. But it's for added protection. You can't just depend on the browser's anti phishing tools. Some malicious sites may not be in the browser's list of malicious sites.


A feature but not a dealbreaker when compared to what avast free has to offer. Get the latest version of FF or Opera and u will get the latest anti phishing technology.
And with tie ups from sites like stopbadware etc. u can be rest assured that u have the updated list.


beta testing said:


> Are you talking about automatic updates? Downloadable updates are close to 12 MB. If you're talking about automatic updates, then I agree, AVG's updates are not so small.


Almost every major antivirus suite has a 10+ mb downloadable updates. But this feature is only useful for people who don't have net access.
Almost most of the people set it to automatic for a hassle free service, and this is where Avast trumps.


But anyway people , use whats easy & best for u.


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## Deidra Davis (Oct 23, 2008)

I am avg lover because it is free, it not take more time for update and daily update
Online Financial Tools


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## Cool Joe (Oct 23, 2008)

Deidra Davis said:


> I am avg lover because it is free, it not take more time for update and daily update
> Online Financial Tools



I'm not against AVG, but I must say, even Avast! is free and it too has quick updating. I know that you're not interested in the topic of this thread. You just want to find a way to make your spam posts.


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## Evil_Eye (Oct 24, 2008)

i use Avira Antivir Personal edition
its a freware too, and i think its good


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## denharsh (Oct 26, 2008)

dude i better suggest download....nod32 which is the best...and talkign about avg n avast...avg is much btr then this,,.!!!

u can download the ful version of this antivirus from my blog


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## Cool Joe (Oct 26, 2008)

I request all to please stop spamming this thread.


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## lywyre (Oct 26, 2008)

Avast has been more than sufficient for me. I can't say anything about AVG 'cause Avast has not failed me to the extent to consider any other option. Yes, it does have failed on some occasions, but no single AV can detect ALL the virii/worms etc..

* Light on resources
* Slick and responsive
* Fast and small updates

I do feel that Avast would be much better if it could repair a file instead of deleting it altogther. Having said that, most virii/ trojans are spread by portable devices and deleting is a better option as they replicate much faster than the human population explosion


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## nikhilpai (Nov 12, 2008)

Read this:

*news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10093875-83.html


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## Cool G5 (Nov 12, 2008)

nikeel said:


> Read this:
> 
> *news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10093875-83.html





BTW who wins if we compare Avast vs Antivir on basis of detection & removal?

I am using Avast! & am satisified with it, but seeing some positive responses on Antivir front, I am curious.


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## nikhilpai (Nov 12, 2008)

Cool G5 said:


> BTW who wins if we compare Avast vs Antivir on basis of detection & removal?
> 
> I am using Avast! & am satisified with it, but seeing some positive responses on Antivir front, I am curious.



IMHO, Antivir Free is better than Avast Free on basis of detection & removal. However, Antivir Free does not support checking your POP3/IMAP based mail clients like Outlook for viruses. 

If u only use webmail & don't use Outlook/Thunderbird, use Antivir Free. If not use Avast.

Myself, I use Avast & am very happy with it.


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## Cool G5 (Nov 12, 2008)

^Thanks.

I use webmail, so I think I should give Antivir a shot.


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## skippednote (Nov 12, 2008)

Moved from AVAST 4.8 to AVG 8 Free Edition....i feel secure.


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## mrintech (Nov 12, 2008)

AVG is a whole lot of better than Avast. No matter, which is better... they all detects almost all viruses which comes from Removable Media. You have to bother about best AV if you regularly visit PO*N sites or just download heavy viruses from Torrents / P2P...

Rest a-squared is quite good in removing trojans and other malicious programs.

Rest I am using AVG for the last 4 years without any problem, sometimes it detects some viruses but fail to qurantine/remove that, I use a-Squared or SuperAntiSpyware...

Always read more here: *www.techsupportalert.com/pc/security-tools.html

Cheers!!


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## kumarmohit (Nov 12, 2008)

I have been using both AVG8 on desktop and Avast on laptop though I plan to move completely to Avast coz its updates are smaller


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## thewisecrab (Nov 12, 2008)

I'm still on NOD32 and I am loving it


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## mrintech (Nov 12, 2008)

kumarmohit said:


> I have been using both AVG8 on desktop and Avast on laptop though I plan to move completely to Avast coz its updates are smaller


I update manually AVG everyday... the updates are just 40-60 KB.... Also I am on dial up


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## Krazzy Warrior (Nov 12, 2008)

Avg Rocks Dude


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## mrintech (Nov 12, 2008)

Krazzy Warrior said:


> Avg Rocks Dude


+10000

Asal mein sabko apne Anti-Virus se Pyaar ho gaya hai isliye badal nai paata koi usse


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## kotushka (Dec 18, 2008)

i think Avast is better that AVG because the downloads are faster but the speed is not constant.the detection rate of avast is better than AVG though it detects them as viruses,but that is not a problem because you must know the keygens that are in your system.
AVG is on my nerves because i can not install kaspersky after installing AVG..........on my pc.So i don't recommend to install AVG if you have a plan to change your virus guard soon.
over all 
This is a question related to formatting of hard disc if any of u have an idea regarding this please reply,
are there any side effect on the hard disc  if u format it a bit often about once a three months?????


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## Cool Joe (Dec 18, 2008)

^^No problem with formatting your disk every often.
BTW, installing Kaspersky after using AVG is a pain, I admit. First, uninstall AVG. Use software like TuneUp Utilities or CCleaner to remove any leftover registry entries. Then install Kaspersky. The problem's only with Kaspersky, all other AVs can be installed AFAIK.


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## denharsh (Dec 22, 2008)

kotushka said:


> i think Avast is better that AVG because the downloads are faster but the speed is not constant.the detection rate of avast is better than AVG though it detects them as viruses,but that is not a problem because you must know the keygens that are in your system.
> AVG is on my nerves because i can not install kaspersky after installing AVG..........on my pc.So i don't recommend to install AVG if you have a plan to change your virus guard soon.
> over all
> This is a question related to formatting of hard disc if any of u have an idea regarding this please reply,
> are there any side effect on the hard disc  if u format it a bit often about once a three months?????



I have tested few trojan using Avast and it was installed without any detection when i used UPX packer but AVG detected it though it was unable tom delete it and i needed to install trojan remover for it.
I don't know how many of use nod32 but I'm happy to use it from long.


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