Avast AV vs AVG (Free Editions)

I have switched to using Avast! Free Edition on one of my pc's to
evaluate it, but i was just curious what other users think compared to
AVG. Is it a better product, worse, why? User opinions needed. So far
i kind of like it. The interface is not as intuitive as AVG's buts its
no worse than some i have seen from Norton or McAfee.

Is the detection and cleaning of virii/trojans good? AVG wasn't
always great with this.

TIA

NoneOfBusiness

NoneOfBusiness <> wrote in
news::

> I have switched to using Avast! Free Edition on one of my pc's to
> evaluate it, but i was just curious what other users think compared to
> AVG. Is it a better product, worse, why? User opinions needed. So far
> i kind of like it. The interface is not as intuitive as AVG's buts its
> no worse than some i have seen from Norton or McAfee.
>
> Is the detection and cleaning of virii/trojans good? AVG wasn't
> always great with this.
>
> TIA
>

How do you tell? You have to get a virus before you know whether the AV
program works. I doubt if any of the regulars in this NG ever gets a virus.

Virus avoidance is 99% about prevention to begin with. If you practice safe
browsing habits, your AV program is merely a safety net.

I use AVG, and the only time I ever saw it go off was when I inserted a
very old floppy disk to see if it was any good. AVG immediately reported a
boot sector virus on the disk. I suspected it was a false alarm, but
I destroyed the disk anyway.

NoneOfBusiness wrote:
> I have switched to using Avast! Free Edition on one of my pc's to
> evaluate it, but i was just curious what other users think compared to
> AVG. Is it a better product, worse, why? User opinions needed. So far
> i kind of like it. The interface is not as intuitive as AVG's buts its
> no worse than some i have seen from Norton or McAfee.
>
> Is the detection and cleaning of virii/trojans good? AVG wasn't
> always great with this.
>
> TIA
>

I recently tried both Avast and AVG. I preferred Avast slightly. Both,
however, failed to handle email scanning properly. I think because
neither of them handles errors on my mail server properly. I run
Outlook minimized 24 hours a day for email. Both Avast and AVG worked
fine for a few days, but then my incoming and outgoing email started to
"clog up" and failed to send and receive until I exited Outlook and then
reloaded it again.

I did have occasion to see both AVG and Avast catch viruses. AVG didn't
seem to handle them as well as Avast. Avast gave you more options when
it encountered a virus.

Anyway, after a few days of the email problems, I went back to Norton AV
2003 again, which always seems to handle errors well. Everything in
Norton works right. And that's what I want. So I'm now back to NAV...

On 22 Jan 2004 04:44:38 GMT, donutbandit <> wrote:

>NoneOfBusiness <> wrote in
>news: :
>
>> I have switched to using Avast! Free Edition on one of my pc's to
>> evaluate it, but i was just curious what other users think compared to
>> AVG. Is it a better product, worse, why? User opinions needed. So far
>> i kind of like it. The interface is not as intuitive as AVG's buts its
>> no worse than some i have seen from Norton or McAfee.
>>
>> Is the detection and cleaning of virii/trojans good? AVG wasn't
>> always great with this.
>>
>> TIA
>>
>
>How do you tell? You have to get a virus before you know whether the AV
>program works. I doubt if any of the regulars in this NG ever gets a virus.
>
>Virus avoidance is 99% about prevention to begin with. If you practice safe
>browsing habits, your AV program is merely a safety net.
>
>I use AVG, and the only time I ever saw it go off was when I inserted a
>very old floppy disk to see if it was any good. AVG immediately reported a
>boot sector virus on the disk. I suspected it was a false alarm, but
>I destroyed the disk anyway.

I ALWAYS practice safe computing. I know from testing and
troubleshooting others who had AVG how it was. I like AVG, but i don't
place as much trust in it as i do the Symantec Corporate AV. From
what i saw of Avast, I like it as well but i don't have a true feel
for the product yet.

On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 21:00:46 -0800, Kerodo <>
wrote:

>NoneOfBusiness wrote:
>> I have switched to using Avast! Free Edition on one of my pc's to
>> evaluate it, but i was just curious what other users think compared to
>> AVG. Is it a better product, worse, why? User opinions needed. So far
>> i kind of like it. The interface is not as intuitive as AVG's buts its
>> no worse than some i have seen from Norton or McAfee.
>>
>> Is the detection and cleaning of virii/trojans good? AVG wasn't
>> always great with this.
>>
>> TIA
>>
>
>I recently tried both Avast and AVG. I preferred Avast slightly. Both,
>however, failed to handle email scanning properly. I think because
>neither of them handles errors on my mail server properly. I run
>Outlook minimized 24 hours a day for email. Both Avast and AVG worked
>fine for a few days, but then my incoming and outgoing email started to
>"clog up" and failed to send and receive until I exited Outlook and then
>reloaded it again.
>
>I did have occasion to see both AVG and Avast catch viruses. AVG didn't
>seem to handle them as well as Avast. Avast gave you more options when
>it encountered a virus.
>
>Anyway, after a few days of the email problems, I went back to Norton AV
>2003 again, which always seems to handle errors well. Everything in
>Norton works right. And that's what I want. So I'm now back to NAV...


Thanks, thats more like the info i am looking for. Email scanning is
not as big for me as i don't use Outlook or OE, i don't open
attachments, i don't read HTML email, and i do not allow Javascript. I
just want a decent free scanner to keep from buying Norton or Mcafee.

"NoneOfBusiness" <> wrote in message
news:...
> On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 21:00:46 -0800, Kerodo <>
> wrote:

<snip>

> >Anyway, after a few days of the email problems, I went back to Norton AV
> >2003 again, which always seems to handle errors well. Everything in
> >Norton works right. And that's what I want. So I'm now back to NAV...

> Thanks, thats more like the info i am looking for. Email scanning is
> not as big for me as i don't use Outlook or OE, i don't open
> attachments, i don't read HTML email, and i do not allow Javascript. I
> just want a decent free scanner to keep from buying Norton or Mcafee.

TBH, if it's a simple cost thing, then it might also be worth taking a look
as CA's offering. Not sure what the price is currently (I'm still getting it
for $9.95 per annum).

Less than 3 cents a day with daily updates seems like a good price to me..
;o)

--

Hairy One Kenobi

Disclaimer: the opinions expressed in this opinion do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of the highly-opinionated person expressing the opinion
in the first place. So there!

NoneOfBusiness wrote:

> On 22 Jan 2004 04:44:38 GMT, donutbandit <> wrote:
>
>>NoneOfBusiness <> wrote in
>>news::
>>
>>> I have switched to using Avast! Free Edition on one of my pc's to
>>> evaluate it, but i was just curious what other users think compared to
>>> AVG. Is it a better product, worse, why? User opinions needed. So far
>>> i kind of like it. The interface is not as intuitive as AVG's buts its
>>> no worse than some i have seen from Norton or McAfee.
>>>
>>> Is the detection and cleaning of virii/trojans good? AVG wasn't
>>> always great with this.
>>>
>>> TIA
>>>
>>
>>How do you tell? You have to get a virus before you know whether the AV
>>program works. I doubt if any of the regulars in this NG ever gets a
>>virus.
>>
>>Virus avoidance is 99% about prevention to begin with. If you practice
>>safe browsing habits, your AV program is merely a safety net.
>>
>>I use AVG, and the only time I ever saw it go off was when I inserted a
>>very old floppy disk to see if it was any good. AVG immediately reported a
>>boot sector virus on the disk. I suspected it was a false alarm, but
>>I destroyed the disk anyway.
>
> I ALWAYS practice safe computing. I know from testing and
> troubleshooting others who had AVG how it was. I like AVG, but i don't
> place as much trust in it as i do the Symantec Corporate AV. From
> what i saw of Avast, I like it as well but i don't have a true feel
> for the product yet.

I've been trying out AntiVir, another free package. I like the way it
works, ie the interface is simple, and you don't have to register. I don't
know how good it is at catching viruses though, since I've not had one!

/bill

On Fri, 23 Jan 2004 17:27:42 GMT, Bill <> wrote:

>NoneOfBusiness wrote:
>
>> On 22 Jan 2004 04:44:38 GMT, donutbandit <> wrote:
>>
>>>NoneOfBusiness <> wrote in
>>>news: :
>>>
>>>> I have switched to using Avast! Free Edition on one of my pc's to
>>>> evaluate it, but i was just curious what other users think compared to
>>>> AVG. Is it a better product, worse, why? User opinions needed. So far
>>>> i kind of like it. The interface is not as intuitive as AVG's buts its
>>>> no worse than some i have seen from Norton or McAfee.
>>>>
>>>> Is the detection and cleaning of virii/trojans good? AVG wasn't
>>>> always great with this.
>>>>
>>>> TIA
>>>>
>>>
>>>How do you tell? You have to get a virus before you know whether the AV
>>>program works. I doubt if any of the regulars in this NG ever gets a
>>>virus.
>>>
>>>Virus avoidance is 99% about prevention to begin with. If you practice
>>>safe browsing habits, your AV program is merely a safety net.
>>>
>>>I use AVG, and the only time I ever saw it go off was when I inserted a
>>>very old floppy disk to see if it was any good. AVG immediately reported a
>>>boot sector virus on the disk. I suspected it was a false alarm, but
>>>I destroyed the disk anyway.
>>
>> I ALWAYS practice safe computing. I know from testing and
>> troubleshooting others who had AVG how it was. I like AVG, but i don't
>> place as much trust in it as i do the Symantec Corporate AV. From
>> what i saw of Avast, I like it as well but i don't have a true feel
>> for the product yet.
>
>I've been trying out AntiVir, another free package. I like the way it
>works, ie the interface is simple, and you don't have to register. I don't
>know how good it is at catching viruses though, since I've not had one!
>
>/bill
I guess i can get a few virii to see how it responds to them. Its
worth a shot.

I tried both recently.
I haven't had any viruses surface recently so I can't
discuss that part. However, as far as the interface is
concerned, Grisoft has Avast beat.

I felt that Avast is very rough around the edges, not
user-friendly. Grisoft has done an outstanding job in the
usability and "look and feel" departments. In fact, I'd say
that the program could be a model for software design. It is
that good. Updates are frequent, slick, and fast. I think
that Avast has some work to do to carch up with their Czech
brethern in this regard, a very important one to me.

Most programmers, alas, don't realize that there are real
flesh and blood humans who use their creations. Grisoft has
proven a good exception.

I'm impressed.

Richard

"NoneOfBusiness" <> wrote in message
news:...
> I have switched to using Avast! Free Edition on one of my
pc's to
> evaluate it, but i was just curious what other users think
compared to
> AVG. Is it a better product, worse, why? User opinions
needed. So far
> i kind of like it. The interface is not as intuitive as
AVG's buts its
> no worse than some i have seen from Norton or McAfee.
>
> Is the detection and cleaning of virii/trojans good? AVG
wasn't
> always great with this.
>
> TIA
>