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AVG Anti-Virus Free 2012

Martin Brinkmann — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 13:42:51 +0000

Every computer security company under the sun releases new versions of their product line once a year. AVG is no difference, and the latest versions of the company’s security software has just been released to the public.

AVG Anti-Virus Free 2012 is, the name implies it already, the free basic version of the company’s security software line-up. The other two programs are AVG Anti-Virus 2012 and AVG Internet Security 2012. How do the programs differ from each other?

AVG Anti-Virus Free 2012 comes with anti-virus and anti-spyware components, e-mail protection, a link scanner and identity protection.

Users who need more protection or better support need to look at the other two products which offer that. The Internet Security 2012 version for example comes with a firewall, anti-spam, anti-rootkit an online shield and free technical support.

The AVG Software Installer offers a custom or automatic installation. It is usually better to select the custom install options, as it can be used to disable modules like the LinkScanner that may not be needed by all users.

The installer furthermore tries to make AVG Secure Search the default search provider and to install the AVG Security Toolbar.

The interface looks very streamlined in this updated version of the software. Users find the available modules lined up in the main interface. Next to those are options to scan the system and update the program right from the main screen. The only other prominent link or button in that interface is the My Apps link which apparently links to a list of AVG Apps that are installed on the user’s system.

Additional tools and information are available in the menu at the top.

A click on a module in the main interface opens a new page with settings and information. Here it is possible to make changes to the configuration, for instance by including tracking cookies in the scan, managing exceptions or running a root-kit scan on the system.

The free version of AVG Anti-Virus comes with a PC Analyzer component that scans the PC for Registry errors, junk files, fragmentation or broken shortcuts. It has been a trend in recent years to add system maintenance tools to top of the line products.

One interesting tool that has been added in the new version is a monitoring tool that notifies the user if a web browser is consuming to much memory. It then offers to restart the web browser which often resolves the high memory situation.

Other tools that have seen improvements are AVG’s Linkscanner browser extension which now uses heuristics to react to threats that are not known yet and AVG Accelerator which is a tool to speed up the streaming of files on YouTube and the downloading at Download.com.

Existing AVG users can use the Tools > Update menu to update their version to the latest. Those who do not want to use the internal updater can download the latest version of AVG Anti-Virus Free 2012 from the official AVG website.

AVG LiveKive Lauched, Get 5GB Online Storage For A Year

Martin Brinkmann — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 20:16:22 +0000

Dropping transfer rate costs per Gigabyte and faster connection speeds make the online storage niche attractive. One of the latest players to enter is AVG, developer of the popular antivirus solution.

AVG announced the LiveKive service in February and promised that a beta would soon follow. The beta has just started and everyone who participates gets 5 Gigabytes of free online storage for a year.

The LiveKive beta is limited, and places are served on a first come first serve basis. You can head over to the beta signup page right now to grab your spot before someone else does.

The beta runs under the codename AVG AirSpace. Users need to register a free account over at the beta signup page after filling out a small survey about online backups. The software client is compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, sorry no Linux or Mac support in the beta.

AVG LiveKive Review

Installation of the 16 Megabyte setup file is straightforward and requires no user interaction. A setup assistant is launched after installation. Here it is necessary to enter the email address and password that was used to register the beta account at the AVG website

and enter a name for the PC or device the software is running on

It is optionally possible to click on Data Encryption Settings to create a custom passphrase for the application. AVG LiveKive will create one otherwise automatically.

The main application interface divides information on five pages and subpages that can be reached via tabs at the top.

The status tab displays backup, sync and share activities, queued files, actions that are currently performed, a log and statistics.

The backup tab suggests five pre-defined categories that can be backed up. The categories are desktop, documents, movies, music and pictures, all part of the my documents folder structure.

A click on advanced displays the computer’s folder structure with options to select additional folders and files for backup. A search is provided to find specific files or folders, and a switch to display hidden files and folders as well in the file browser.

The View Restore tab displays all backed up files and folders with options to download or restore selected files or folders. Files and folders are restored by selecting them first in the browser, and clicking on the Download icon afterwards. This opens the page below with options to download or restore the selected files and folders.

The sync tab offers configuration options to synchronize files and folders between different folders. The folders can be located on the same local computer, for instance an internal hard drive and external drive, or two different computer systems.

Data synchronization is setup in four steps: You select a name and optional description in step one. The two folders are selected in the next step. Only folders that have been added to the backup process can be synced. The interface lists all folders and the devices that have been setup for backup.

Files that should not be synchronized are added in the third step. You can add file names and extensions that should not be synchronized. The last step displays a verification of the settings. A click on Start Sync synchronizes the selected folders for the first time. Synchronizations can be scheduled in the status or options.

Share finally can be used to share files and folders with friends, colleagues or business clients. Individual share links can for instance be created in the View / Restore tab.

You can also create a publicly accessible, protected, url that you can use to share data. To do that you need to define a name, password and share folder that is then accessible via a newly generated url. Users can then access the files online if they have the right password.

Users with permission are then able to download folders and all files within, or individual files from the shared space. The owner of the files can change the password at anytime, and delete the share if it is no longer needed.

The preferences contain several interesting options. It is possible to define file size and age limitations, exclude files or folders with wildcards, schedule backups, syncing and sharing of files and configure network settings.

A local copy of data that is backed up can be saved by AVG LiveLive automatically. The local data is prioritized whenever files or folders need to be restored. This improves the speed of large restorations, and can also be beneficial if no Internet connection is available, or if the AVG servers are not reachable. The local copy of the backup needs to be activated in the Copy preferences.

Data that is exchanged with the help of the backup program is encrypted from start to finish, from the user’s computer to the AVG server and the other way round. Data on the AVG server remains encrypted so that no one can access the data on the server without the password.

AVG LiveKive In Short

AVG LiveKive is a file backup, synchronization and sharing solution in the cloud that is currently in beta. Beta users get 5 Gigabytes of free storage space for a year, and can install the software on PCs that run Microsoft Windows.

All activities can be scheduled to run regularly from the Status tab or the Schedule preferences in the program options.

Beta Verdict

No word yet on the pricing. The Get More Space button in the interface leads to a non-existing page on the AVG website. It is apparently not possible to save more than 5 Gigabytes of data in the beta.

The application is a bit slow reaction-wise sometimes. It happens that a click takes a few seconds to process. Not all the time but sometimes. This is likely a beta quirk that will be resolved in the final product.

AVG LiveKive adds a few interesting ideas to the online backup world. Especially the option to store a local copy of the backup is interesting as it offers several advantages and a fallback option. The developers should add the option to create custom categories, Windows Explorer integration, support for other operating systems and devices, and easier options to access backed up files.

The pricing, and the availability of a free account, are the two factors that make or break the product. Users who are experiencing problems should take a look at a sticky post in the AVG LiveKive support forum which lists several issues and fixes.

AVG To Launch Cloud Based Storage Solution AVG LiveKive

Martin Brinkmann — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 18:55:27 +0000

Most users who hear the name AVG think antivirus in a heartbeat and maybe AVG TuneUp or LinkScanner on second thought. It appears though that the popular security company aims to launch a new cloud based storage solution in the coming week. We do not know a lot about AVG LiveKive yet, only that users will get five Gigabytes of free storage space on “leading-class secure storage”. Plans are to make the storage solution quick and easy to use with immediate access to contents from all synced devices.

Devices will include apps for popular smartphones like Apple’s iPhone or Android powered devices. There is however no final list available with all compatible operating systems and mobile devices.

Many questions at this point in time remain unanswered. Among them how data can be backed up and accessed. Will AVG LiveKive use a Dropbox like solution to give users access both via a native file browser integration and website? Will they provide a software for the access?

I have contacted AVG but have not heard back yet. AVG plans to kick of a public beta in the coming week which means that we will know more about the service by then at the latest.

AVG Internet Security 2011 Review And Giveaway [Ghacks Christmas Giveaway]

Martin Brinkmann — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 09:05:35 +0000

AVG is one of the few long-standing names in security software for the Windows operating system. I cannot really recall a time when there was no AVG security product available for the computer.

AVG Internet Security 2011 is AVG’s flagship product which offers a complete security package for Windows users. The program comes with several modules, including antivirus, antispam, firewall and identity protection, plus a lot of tools for heavy online users who like to be on social networking sites like Facebook or download a lot from the Internet.

The AVG installation offers to install the most common components right away or install based on the user’s custom selection so that only security modules that are wanted by the user get installed. It is recommended to take a look at the custom installation to avoid overhead. AVG opts to install the AVG Security Toolbar during installation which can be unselected if it is not needed. A restart of the system is required before the program is fully functional.

The firewall has been designed to be automatically compatible with a variety of applications. It was for instance no problem to start Google Chrome or Thunderbird. The AVG firewall will display a dialogue if an unknown program gets started, which was the case for the latest Firefox Minefield or the RSS reader RSSOwl.

The screen prompts for action. Available are to allow for all networks, for selected networks or network adapters or to block the application. Users who work with an application regularly should make sure to check the “Save my answer as a permanent rule” box to avoid prompts on future application starts.

AVG Internet Security 2011 will automatically update the program with the latest definition files. It furthermore prompts for a full system scan on first run which is highly recommended. That scan can take a while depending on the speed of the PC, the size of the storage devices and the amount of files and folders.

The test ran in the background without affecting work on the Windows PC at all. There may be computer systems where this is not the case though.

The AVG Internet Security 2011 interface displays important information on first glance. A big “You are protected” is placed on top next to the AVG logo if AVG found no security risks on the computer. The left sidebar lists the time of the last program update and scan of the computer system. The main area lists the available security components and their status. This means that every component is directly linked from the main interface, which is great for fast access.

A double-click on a component in the interface displays information about it on a new page. This includes statistics, for instance the number of blocked packets if the firewall module is selected, or the number of emails that have been scanned by the e-mail scanner. There is unfortunately no direct way of configuring the selected component on that page. Only a link points to the configuration menu where this can be done.

Some settings can usually be configured straight away, including system notifications to the user but also if the component is enabled or disabled.

The settings are very extensive, and can be intimidating for new users, especially since there is no direct help overlay that explain the settings in layman terms. Tech savvy users on the other hand can configure the security program to their liking with just a few clicks.

There are a few things that users may want to do after installing AVG Internet Security. This includes configuring the system tray notifications which inform the user about updates, scans or firewall related information. Users can configure the notifications in detail by clicking on Tools > Advanced Settings > Appearance in the menubar.

Most modules are configured to run fine out of the box. The firewall is already configured to support known applications for instance which reduces the initial configuration time noticeably.

AVG has built-in several interesting features that deserve to be reviewed in detail. The software for instance supports firewall profiles, which is great for laptop or netbook users who work in different locations with their system. Profiles can be used to create firewall settings and rules based on the computer’s location. A basic example would be one configuration for home use, one for office use and one for Internet cafe or public Wi-Fi use.

Profiles can for example block or allow applications or system services to run on the computer.

Another interesting feature is game mode which gets automatically activated when an application is launching in full screen. Game mode prevents the display of notifications so that they do not interfere with the full screen application.

AVG Internet Security 2011 sports several new features over its predecessors, including AVG Protective Cloud Technology and the AVG Community Protection Network

AVG Cloud Technology, new for 2011, constantly carries out tests ‘in the cloud’ over the internet to identify the latest emerging threats. Once we have identified threats we develop solutions and then update AVG on your computer in near real-time.
AVG Community Protection Network is new for 2011 and is like an online neighborhood watch, helping everyone in the online community to protect each other. Information about the latest threats is collected from customers who choose to participate in the product improvement program and shared with the community to make sure everyone receives the best possible protection.
Stay protected on social networksAVG Social Networking Protection. Automatically checks links exchanged on Facebook and MySpace in real time so that you and your friends stay safe. NEW!
AVG Social Networking Protection is new for AVG 2011 and is unique to AVG. Links that are exchanged within Facebook and MySpace are automatically checked in real time so that you and your friends are safe. AVG Social Networking Protection will activate as soon as you install AVG – there’s no need to bother with account or application settings.

AVG Internet Security 2011 Giveaway

We have 15 one-year licenses for AVG Internet Security 2011 to give away. If you want one just say so in the comments. We will pick 15 lucky winners from all commenters and notify them per email about their win.
A free trial version of AVG Internet Security 2011 is available for download at the AVG company website.

AVG Free Resource Usage Woes

Martin Brinkmann — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 08:52:37 +0000

Jojo mailed me yesterday with some interesting information about AVG’s latest free antivirus software. I could not believe it at first, but confirmed it after installing AVG Free on a test system. Basically, Jojo mentioned that AVG was running eight background processes after installation, and that it’s size of installation was exceeding the 500 Megabyte mark, with the majority of that installed on the system drive, regardless of the drive selected during installation.

That did not sound well, and it frankly reminded me of Nero and how the company turned a lightweight and excellent CD and DVD burning software into an overweight beast.

AVG 2011 Free can be customized before installation. Doing so provides options to install it on a different drive, or add and remove features from the program before installation. If you remove features you are likely to end up with a lower size on the computer’s hard drive and less background processes. For the sake of this article though, I have decided to install all suggested modules. I did however select an installation directory on another system partition and decided to remove the AVG widget from the installation. The widget basically offers options to quickly run a scan and see if the system is protected, nothing that you cannot find out by clicking on the AVG icon itself. And AVG will notify you if it encounters problems.

Lets take a closer look at the components that are installed by AVG Antivirus Free:

Personal E-Mail Scanner: Monitors email clients using POP3, SMTP and IMAP for phishing and spam.
LinkScanner: Blocks dangerous websites in browsers automatically, and checks links on popular search engines such as Google and Yahoo.
AVG Search-Shield: Compatible with Google, Yahoo, MSN and Live search engines, displays safety information about search engine links.
AVG Surf-Shield: Protects users from drive by downloads and other exploits: Selected by default.
Identity Protection: Monitors the way programs behave on the computer, blocking any activity that could lead to ID theft.

AVG downloads roughly 130 Megabytes during installation, if the offline installer was used to install the antivirus software.

The size on the hard drive however turns out to be more than that. The AVG installation folder on the hard drive will use roughly that size alone. What’s puzzling is that AVG creates another folder on the system drive, regardless of the selected installation path. This additional folder is located in Users\All Users\AVG10 on Windows 7, and uses 302 Megabytes on the hard drive. That’s a lot. Most of the space is taken by the SetupBackup folder. I assume that folder is there to prevent the user from having to download the setup files again when making changes to the antivirus software. It takes up 223 Megabytes on the system partition. The second biggest folder is the update folder with a size of almost 70 Megabytes.

It is definitely not a good practice to store files of that size on the system partition, especially not if the user has selected a different partition for installation of the software. At least a notification should be displayed to inform users of this fact.

If you take a look at the system processes you may be in for another shock. On the test system, AVG was using six background processes all the time. Jojo even mentioned eight processes on his system. Lets take a look at their names and their functions:

avgchsva.exe: AVG Cache Server Process, the process is apparently used to cache all system files in the background. avgchsva.exe will minimize its system resource usage after the cache has been populated, but keep on running nevertheless.
avgcsrva.exe: The core scanning module of AVG.
AVGIDSMonitor.exe: AVG Identity Security Monitor process. Monitors processes and behaviors in realtime.
avgrsa.exe: AVG Resident Shield Service, scans files as they are copied, opened and saved, and if a threat is found forbids the activation. It also provides vital protection for the system areas of the computer according to AVG.
avgtray.exe, AVG Tray is monitoring application over all AVG components and is responsible for showing pop ups by AVG (email scanning, computer scanning, Resident Shield / LinkScanner detections, etc.).
avgui.exe, likely linked to the graphical user interface of the AVG program.

Another annoying thing is that it is not possible to reduce the number of processes by disabling features of the program. I would expect that disabling Identity Protection would remove the AVGIDSMonitor.exe process. This is apparently not the case.

The processes do not seem to be using lots of resources, at least not when they are idle. The biggest idle processes are avgui.exe followed by AVGIDSMonitor.exe and avgtray.exe.

The biggest problems that I see are the massive size of the setup and update files on the system partition, and the number of running background processes.

What’s your experience with AVG’s latest antivirus software? Let us know in the comments.

How To Update Last Year’s Security Software To This Year’s

Martin Brinkmann — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 16:05:49 +0000

Most security software companies, like Kaspersky, Symantec or Bitdefender, release new products ever year. The updated programs often come with additional security modules, better detection, engines, resource usage and other features that make them more powerful than last year’s version.

If you are running last year’s version, say Kaspersky Internet Security 2010, you are bound to use it even after the 2011 product has been released by Kaspersky. At least that’s what many users believe. The update in the software confirms their views, as it will only update the 2010 version of the product, and not the update to the 2011 version.

What many users don’t know is that it is quite possible to update from last year’s security software to this year’s release, without additional costs. The only requirement is a valid license of the security software.

Lets exemplify the process: To update Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 to Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 a user would do the following.

Download the latest product version of the security software from the Kaspersky website
Install the product after the download, without uninstalling Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 first.
Reboot the PC to complete the installation.

Kaspersky automatically detects that last year’s version was installed, and will take over the license. Licenses usually run for 365 days, and the user can use the new version of the software for the remaining period without additional costs.

The same updating option is provided by software from other security software companies. It is for instance possible to update Norton Antivirus 2010 to 2011 this way, or Bitdefender 2010 to 2011.

Below are download links of the latest versions of popular security suites and programs:

Bitdefender: Antivirus Pro 2011, Internet Security 2011, TOTAL Security 2011
Kaspersky: Kaspersky PURE, Kaspersky Internet Security, Kaspersky Anti-Virus
Symantec: # Norton 360, Norton Internet Security 2011, Norton AntiVirus 2011
Eset: ESET Smart Security 4, ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4
Avast: avast! Pro Antivirus 5.0, avast! Internet Security 5.0
AVG: AVG Internet Security 2011, AVG Anti-Virus 2011
Avira: Avira AntiVir Premium, Avira Premium Security Suite, Avira AntiVir Professional
Panda: Panda Global Protection 2011, Panda Internet Security 2011, Panda Antivirus Pro 2011

Please note that we have not tested updating all software programs listed above. It is however very likely that updates to newer versions are supported by all of them, considering that this increases the likelihood of the customer staying with the company for another year, once the license runs out. If you are not sure, contact your company to get an official response before updating the software.

Update: Users who want to be on the safe side need to uninstall the installed product first, reboot the PC and install the new version on the next startup.

AVG Anti-Virus 2011 Offline Installer Downloads

Martin Brinkmann — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 16:52:36 +0000

New releases of popular applications usually cause a huge amount of blog posts and news about the product update. AVG’s release of Anti-Virus 2011 somehow did not catch the attention of that many news sites yet, which is quite puzzling, considering the popularity of the antivirus software. Regardless of that, it pays to read user comments on sites that have posted news about the latest version. Many were complaining about two aspects of the software.

Some criticized the size of the download, which at 135 Megabytes felt bloated, especially when compared to the last version of AVG Anti-Virus and other comparable solutions such as Avast Free Antivirus.

The second area of criticism was the fact that AVG seemed to only offer a web based installer for their antivirus application, which seemed to make it impossible to install and use it on an already infected computer system.

After some digging on the AVG homepage we came up with the direct download links for AVG Anti-Virus 2011 Free. Linked below are both the downloads for the full installers of the 32-bit and 64-bit edition of the antivirus software.

AVG for Windows Web Installer
AVG for Windows 32-bit (135 Megabytes)
AVG for Windows 64-bit (153 Megabytes)

Update

AVG changes the file names of the offline installation files regularly. You can visit the following page that offers direct download links for all three versions listed above:

http://free.avg.com/de-en/download.prd-afh

Those download links may change over time, as they contain version information in the filename. If that is the case, visit this download page directly for the new links. The links to the offline installers, documentation and updates are displayed on it.

Additional information about the changes in AVG 2011 can be found in the official press release on the AVG website.

AVG Anti-Virus 9

Martin Brinkmann — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:37:54 +0000

The guys over at giveaway of the day are offering the popular antivirus software AVG Anti-Virus 9 today. The security program offers several additional features over its free counterpart (named AVG Anti-Virus 9 Free or AVG 9 Free) which will be the focus of this review.

AVG 9 Free offers the core features that one would expect from an antivirus software. It protects the computer system from viruses and spyware, offers basic rootkit protection, an email scanner, phishing protection and integrated Linkscanner module for protecting the computer user during online sessions.

AVG Anti-Virus 9 comes with all of those features plus some. It offers advanced rootkit protection instead of the basic protection offered in AVG 9 Free, an online shield mode which protects the computer when downloading and sharing files online and a game mode that guarantees uninterrupted playtime.

And that’s it. Both AVG 9 applications do not offer a software firewall, identity protection and anti-spam protection, both of which are integrated into AVG Internet Security only.

Update Just found out that the version of AVG Anti-Virus 9 offered at the Giveaway of the Day website is only a 90-day trial version of the program, not a full version that works for a year. It is therefor probably not worth the troubles of downloading it.

Positive

Advanced Rootkit protection
Online shield
Game Mode
Compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows

Negative

Only a 90-day trial
No Firewall and anti-spam

AVG Anti-Virus 9 can be downloaded today only at the Giveaway of the Day website. Additional information about the antivirus software can be found at the AVG website.

Antivirus Software AVG 9 Released – AVG 9 Free Downloads Soon

Martin Brinkmann — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 07:35:07 +0000

Security software companies like Symantec, Kaspersky or AVG are releasing new versions of their software programs every year. This year will be a special year though with the release of Microsoft’s new operating system Windows 7 on October 22. Many users will now not only ask about the new features and improvements of the antivirus programs but also if and how they will run under Windows 7. AVG hat a bad year with AVG 8. Many users felt that it was a resource hog, slowing down system start and operations in Windows. It is still one of the most popular (and free) antivirus software programs out there and many of its users are waiting for the AVG 9 free release.

AVG has already release the commercial version of AVG 9 which can be downloaded and purchased from the AVG homepage. AVG 9 Free will be released on October 15 to the public and downloads will be available from the usual sources including the AVG website but also every major download portal.

So what has changed between AVG 9 and AVG 8.5?

The homepage lists three new and improved features without going into detail:

NEW Enhanced Firewall (only available in AVG Internet Security) Prevents hackers from seeing inside your computer
NEW Superior Phishing Protection Checks to make sure web pages really are what they appear to be
NEW Enhanced Anti-Spam (only available in AVG Internet Security) Blocks spammers and scammers from clogging your system

AVG goes into greater detail when it comes to the performance improvements in AVG 9. They say that their newest antivirus software AVG 9 runs up to 50% faster than previous versions, boots up to 10-15% faster, uses 10-15% less computer memory while running and that it now takes less time and clicks to complete installations of the AVG software.

AVG 9 Free downloads are not live yet but will be from October 15 on. The downloads for the free version of AVG will be available at this site. Upgrades from AVG 8 will be handled by the installer of AVG 9 automatically. AVG 9 and AVG 9 free will be compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP.

AVG Antivirus Linkscanner

Martin Brinkmann — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 07:36:26 +0000

Users of the antivirus software AVG already know the AVG Linkscanner as it is included as a module in the antivirus software. AVG has now made it available as a standalone application for the Windows operating system compatible with the Internet Explorer and Firefox web browser. The difference lies in the detail. AVG Linkscanner will install a software program but also an add-on on the computer system if the Firefox web browser is installed next to Internet Explorer.

Firefox users do not need the AVG Linkscanner program to be running in the background as they rely solely on the add-on for their web browser. Internet Explorer users on the other hand need the background application.

The background application does provide access to a few configuration settings and updates which the add-on does not offer (except for the updates probably). AVG Linkscanner wants to install a toolbar upon installation. This toolbar is not needed for the program to work properly but gives quick access to some of the functions of the security program.

Once installed AVG Linkscanner will automatically scan search result lists in popular search engines such as Google or Yahoo. It will query a database maintained by AVG that returns a safety rating for each website in the results. A green icon indicates a safe website whereas a red icon indicates danger. AVG will display a general warning about the page if a link that has been rated as dangerous is clicked on. The user can select to go back or continue to the website in question.

AVG Linkscanner is a viable alternative for users who feel insecure on the Internet. Experienced users on the other hand usually have the tools, knowledge and experience to analyse a website by themselves.

Anti Virus Software Removal Tools Overview

Martin Brinkmann — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 08:00:36 +0000

Uninstalling anti virus software on a computer system is sometimes not a trivial task as they tend to add their components deep into the system to provide protection from various threats PC users face these days. The need for anti virus software removal tools arises if the default uninstallation fails. This usually leads to a messed up computer system that could throw all kinds of errors at the user. It could also break other anti virus software either during installation or usage.

So called anti virus removal tools have been created to effectively remove traces of anti virus software from the computer system. They usually run a series of processes that delete files, Registry settings and other parameters or options that have been installed by the antivirus software during installation.

Below is a collection of anti virus software removal tools that have been created by the developers of the programs to aid their users if they encounter difficulties uninstalling it.

Did we miss antivirus software uninstallation tools in the list? Let us know in the comments.

AVG Remover

Martin Brinkmann — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 09:20:00 +0000

Software companies that release specialized tools to remove their software programs from a computer system are usually regarded with suspicion by many users. Many feel that there should not be specialized uninstallers as the regular uninstaller should be able to handle the uninstallation as good. The question that comes up is why they do not make the specialized uninstaller the default one.

AVG Remover has been specifically designed to remove the antivirus software program AVG Antivirus from a computer system. It will remove all parts of the AVG installation from a computer system including all Registry settings and files on disk. The program has been designed by AVG software developers as a last resort. They let us know that the AVG Remover tool “is the least option to be used in case the AVG uninstallation / repair installation process has failed repeatedly”.

The software program could therefor prove to be useful to remove AVG after a system crash or some other catastrophe that rendered the default uninstaller useless.

Similar tools exist for Kaspersky software in the form of KAV Remover and the Norton Removal Tool.

AVG 8 Update Marked User32.dll As Virus Infected

Martin Brinkmann — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:06:20 +0000

An update of the popular anti-virus software program AVG let a false positive slip through quality control which caused widespread panic on the Internet by desperate AVG users looking for help. The update detected a virus, more precisely Trojan Horse PSW.BANKER4.APSA, in the important system file user32.dll in Windows XP. User32.dll allows programs to implement a graphical user interface and is considered a core component of the Windows XP operating system.

Users who followed the advice of the AVG software program were greeted with a Blue Screen of Death as soon as they clicked on the Heal button to remove the virus. Any attempts to boot the system afterwards failed because of the missing file. AVG was quick to react and released another update that corrected the issue.

This does not help those users who already cleaned the file in Windows. Here is the official information on how to fix the system for those users:

The system can be restored by following the steps in one of the comments on forum (using safe mode or recovery console and copying c:\windows\system32\dllcache\user32.dll into the right location)
If you need to restore deleted files from AVG Virus Vault you can do it this way:
- Open AVG user interface.
- Choose “Virus Vault” option from the “History” menu.
- Locate the file that was incorrectly removed and select it (one click).
- Click on the “Restore” button.

A possibility would have been to cross-check the detected virus with another anti-virus software or an online virus scanner to be sure that it is indeed infected before deleting the file.

AVG Anti Rootkit free

Martin Brinkmann — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 08:46:31 +0000

Rootkits received a publicity boost with Sony’s rootkit infested CDs that was supposed to be some kind of copy protection. Since then rootkits have become an ever growing threat on the Internet in line with Viruses, Trojans, Phishing and Spam. The major problem with rootkits is that most users think that their virus scanner protects them from rootkits as well which is most of the time not the case. Rootkits are much harder to detect by normal means and software that can scan systems for rootkits should be used by inexperienced users to be able to detect at least the most common ones.

AVG Anti Rootkit is a free software that scans a computer for rootkits and removes them if one or more of those have been identified. The anti rootkit application can be used to either quickly scan the computer for possible rootkits and the other to make an in depth scan which takes longer but is more thorough. The in depth scan for Rootkits takes some time depending on the amount of files and size of your hard drives.

Update: AVG Anti-Rootkit Free has been discontinued in 2006. The program has been integrated into various AVG products including (in 2010) in AVG Anti-Virus Free, AVG Anti-Virus 2012 and AVG Internet Security 2012.

The free version of AVG Anti-Virus is available on the official AVG website. Just download and install it on your Windows system to protect the PC from malicious software and Internet based attacks.

Please note that the free version has limitations, including less frequent and prioritized updates, no email or telephone support, less interface and software customizations as well as no server support. The free product version may also only be used on home and non-commercial use systems.