AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition

AVG Free is one of the most popular anti-virus packages on the planet and it is used by 80 million users in over 150 countries, it maintains this status by joining solid protection and an extremely user-friendly interface. The company states that its latest version, 8.5 is an important step in the race against increasingly sophisticated malware

Today I'm going to share with you novelties and improvements of this updated version, focusing on its two main areas: Usability and Protection.



Note: If you already have AVG running on your PC, it is highly advisable to click on the upgrade option if available, as updates will be stopped for the previous version 7.5. On the other hand, if you are going to install it for the first time, I recommend that you disconnect your machine from the Internet as a non protection gap will occur.

User Interface
At first sight, we find that AVG underwent severe re-designing which resulted in a highly improved and intuitive user interface: now you can find what kind of protection is being provided and which issues need our attention through well defined icons which are located on the right panel of the main window, on the left panel we can see the tabs which allow us to access the rest of the information regarding scanning and updating issues. A simple and easy-to-understand GUI, couldn't ask for more!



Updating
Updating AVG is also as simple as a single click. Besides, it offers automatic updates on a daily basis via its Update Manager Component.





Scanning
The complete system or specified area scanning processes are really easy to start and they can be run in the background without causing any performance low-down. You can also see your scheduled scan tasks with an option to edit them. Scan options are Slow, Automatic and Fast from thoroughest to quickest (but less detailed). It also showed a pop-up notice telling this action started.





A positive detail which not all antivirus can boast of is that AVG allows us to pause the scanning process and to resume it later. Finally after an hour and a few minutes, scan results were displayed in an easy to understand results synopsis window. The virus cleaning was performed in an automated way.



Protection
Not only AVG Free brings the regular antivirus protection but additionally it offers anti-spyware protection without the need of installing plugins or additional programs. However, the most outstanding novelty in terms of features for this version is the LinkScanner, and I'm going to focus on it as other capabilities are well known and just standard.

To start with, LinkScanner is also available as a standalone download, it works with Internet Explorer and Firefox to check links found in Google, Yahoo and MSN searches in order to make sure that there is no risk when clicking on these links. There is a slight delay as the pages are checked but in my opinion, this small time loss is worth if we compare it with avoiding malicious (or hacked) sites.



Let's Take a Look at the AVG LinkScanner Technology

• Safe Search: LinkScanner Search-Shield checks Google, Yahoo! And MSN search results as you search and places safety rating next to each line.
• Safe Web-surf: LinkScanner Active Surf-Shield scans each and every web site and link within a web site before opening to ensure they are safe.
• Safe link navigation: AVG analyzes each Web link is found, whether in emails, documents, or instant messages, no matter the source, before opening to ensure they are protected in advance 100% of the time.
• Favorite security and Safe favorites exploration: AVG scans all your favorite sites before opening to ensure they are safe.
• Safe URL Scan. If you write the address of its website (URL) in your browser, AVG will scan the contents of the page before opening to ensure it is safe.
• Safe downloads: AVG will scan all new applications to install and all of Excel, Word, PowerPoint and other documents, music, videos and photos to ensure they are safe before you download.
• And finally, Safety ratings: Specific details of site security appear simply hovering the safety icons.

The Verdict
In my humble opinion, we are facing a great antivirus program with a lot of extra content and capabilities at no cost, amazing isn't it? But real and it is not just by chance, 18 years of constant research and development in the security field are being reflected in the shape of a solid, powerful and comprehensive security solution.

Have you tried AVG Free Edition? Well, let us know your opinion in the comments section below. Thanks!

Author: Lucas Artigas Review on: AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.5.336.1515