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Every computer needs a functional program to counter threats of viruses and malicious spyware, in both preventive and reactive aspects. Certainly, there is a plethora of quality anti-virus software in the market that a reasonable amount of money can buy. Given this market’s high level of competitiveness, one would be overjoyed if there is software that provides rock-solid protection free-of-charge. Without a shadow of doubt, the AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition has indeed brought smiles to faces of millions of users around the globe.

AVG Free Edition is not a new entry into this market; in fact, it has been around for a few years. According to Grisoft (the manufacturers), AVG has a total user count of approximately 60 million worldwide. The software is free to download and offers fundamental protection against modern electronic threats like spyware, Trojans and root kits.

The software allows you to scan your computer selectively, or to scan the entire hard drive, which is the default setting. The Test Centre can be accessed from the basic navigation window. From the Test Centre, updates for the software can be downloaded from the Grisoft server, which is rather redundant, in my opinion, since automatic updates are run every 2 hours by default. The scheduler can be configured manually to arrange for scans every fixed interval, as well as to set the time when you want AVG to update its virus database. The scanner automatically integrates itself in Outlook and becomes the default email-scanner, and with manual configuration, it can work together with other programs as well.

AVG Free Edition also has a very useful Resident Shield, which offers ‘real-time protection’ of your computer and your files. This means that it works as you surf the Internet and open files, it guarantees that your files in your computer would not be infected by any potential harmful viruses that may be transmitted.

In the unfortunate event that a file does get infected and become corrupted, the AVG Free Edition is still fully equipped to handle that eventuality. The infected files are quarantined in the Virus Vault, and can be eliminated from the computer. Of course, system files will not be deleted but secured inside the Vault and access restricted to prevent the virus from triggering.

The basic difference between the paid version (AVG Anti-Virus Professional) and the Free Edition is that in the Pro edition, there is much more advanced options on the scanner, making the scanner a hugely versatile tool. Also, users of Free Edition are lower on the priority list when updating the database as Pro users will take precedence. However, these two issues are not a significant concern - home users do not need more than the basic scanning functions and control for home protection; and the Grisoft server is so fast that it does not make much of a difference, be it Pro or Free.

Holistically, the fundamental features of AVG Free Edition are more than satisfactory, and can definitely provide security against malignant viruses. However, a significant amount of spyware can still get back the Free Edition’s defenses and as such, requires the download of another AVG product - the AVG Anti-Spyware. The Free Trial is available for download and once the trial period expires, some features will be locked but it still remains a functional anti-spyware program. The scanning process is comprehensive enough for domestic use and the Resident Shield is a potent line of defense against viruses. It requires very little computer resources and scanning is very fast compared to scanning on Norton or BitDefender.

What I was disappointed with was that the scanner on AVG could not scan external drives, for example my USB thumb drive. It will detect the virus and prompt you to quarantine files but is unable to get rid of the threat. Also, as mentioned earlier, the AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition remains vulnerable to spyware intrusions. Moreover, the nature of an anti-virus software is that it is not stand-alone and it should work hand-in-hand with programs like anti-spyware and firewalls to fully protect a computer from external threats and this means that you would have to purchase or download yet another program like ZoneAlarm.

All in all, it is an easy interface to work with, most functions being self-explanatory and I would highly recommend AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition to all home users who require protection against basic threats.

Click here to download the latest version of AVG Anti-Virus software
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