AVG Anti-virus

These days, it is so easy for a personal computer to become infected with a virus or malware, is it makes sense to protect your device with anti-virus software. Norton is the leading provider of such software, however, if you are on a budget, but still want to protect your computer, then AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is the software for you. This is for one simple reason, and the clue is in the name of the software...its free. Just like software you need to pay for, AVG release a new updated version each year to ensure that your computer is protected from advanced virus's.

The brilliant thing about this software is that it is extremely easy to use. Once you have download the software from the Internet, all you have to do is follow the simple on screen instructions to install onto your system. Depending on the speed of your computer, this should take no more than ten minutes. After installation is complete, to start the software for the first time, just click the shortcut from your desktop to open the program. Once opened, you will be displayed with three main dialogue boxes, each directing you to a seperate function of the AVG software. In order of how they are displayed on the screen, you have the Overview menu, Scan Now option, and finally the option to Update Now.

The best way, in mu opinion, to describe the Overview option, is to compare it to a file directory, like the countless you have on your computer. All of the individual files of the software will be displayed for you to take a look. Beside the name of the file, will be a short description which will tell you what function the file play in terms of the operation of the AVG program. In order for the software to work correctly, I wouldnt advise editing these files, as unless you are technologically able, you could damage the program and it wouldnt work effectively if at all.

The Scan Now option is the essentially the main part of the software, and it does exactly what you would expect it to do. From this menu, you are able to configure automatic scans of your system, at periods determined by you. For example, you could set it up to scan on the first day of every month, or if you wanted, every time you started up your computer each day. In addition to this, you are also able to see the date and time or your last scan, you if you chose to manually scan your system, you know how long it was since the last one. As well as being able to determine the time of your scan, you can also select the level of scanning involved. You can choose to either have Full Scan, Partial Scan or a Anti Root Kit Scan.

The Full Scan does exactly as you would expect, it scans the entire system on your computer, searching every file, folder and component, for virus's and malware. This is the most concise option out of the three, but it does take the longest in terms of timing. On my computer for example,it takes roughly 45 minutes, and I choose to do this type of scan on a weekly basis. Of course, it goes without saying that the more files you have on your computer then the longer to scan it will take. A computer brand new out of the factory would take only a fraction of the time, as it would only contain a fraction of the files.

The Partial Scan doesnt take no where near as long, about 3-7 minutes, as it onlysearches pre-selected files. For example, you may only want to scan files you have received by email or downloaded from the Internet. This type of scan would be great when you first start up your system at the beginning of the day, as it takes almost no time at all. The Anti Root Kit Scan is a bit more complicated, as it looks deep down in the core of your computer system, searching the drivers that make your computer operate effectively. It primarily searches for Trojan Horses, and other virus's which embed themselves onto a core component, being virtually untracable during a normal scan.

In addition to all these option, you will be able to look at a log of all your past scans, including information such as date and time, and whether anything was found in the searches. One good thing about this software is that when you download a file, the software will scan it automatically for you, and provide you with an alert if it discovers anything harmful to your system.

The final function with this software is the ability to update the software itself. AVG provide security updates on a periodic basis, providing the software with details on new virus's it should be on the look out for. This is a major advantage, as, again, it alerts you as to when an update is available. I wouldnt advise ignoring these updates, as they could include vital information to keeping your computer safe.

I have rare experiences when it comes to computer virus's, and that is because I use software like AVG. Without it, I would open up my system to all kinds of virus's, some of which may permanently damage my computer. In is great this is free, so now nobody has an excuse for not protecting their computer. A definite recommendation from me.

Thanks for reading.

This review can also be found at http://members.dooyoo.co.uk/virus-protec​tion/avg-antivirus-free-edition/1639070/ under my Dooyoo account Dan1991