AVG Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware Software

AVG Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware Software – September 2008

AVG Anti-Virus Version 8, on the market for about 6 months, has proven itself a winner.  AVG added functions that were lacking in the previous versions and improved existing features.  The following is a summary of the changes in AVG Anti-Virus Version 8:

New easy-to-use Interface (pictured below) – Click the icon to set the parameters for the desired component of the software.

New Anti-Spyware – is bundled with Version 8. This was a separate product.

New Anti-Rootkit – A rootkit is a collection of hard-to-detect software that can take over the administrative functions of your computer.  It should be noted that the anti-rootkit must be launched separately as it is not part of the regular virus scan.

Improved E-mail Scanner – scans incoming and outgoing e-mails for infections.  The Scanner can now handle many different e-mail formats including HTML.

Click the License icon to check your version.

New LinkScanner is composed of two items:

Surf-Shield – supports Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers and prevents infection from visiting infected web pages.

Search-Shield – supports MSN, Yahoo and Google search engines to give a safety rating for each site displayed in your search results.

New Web Shield – provides protection against downloading infected files and exchanging infected files when using instant messaging.

Improved Resident Shield – provides protection from infection when files are copied, opened or saved.  The Shield can now handle more simultaneous file open requests.

Improved Update Manager – allows the user to schedule AVG updates outside of regular business hours.  This should be set to update your software daily.  The new user interface is easier to use.

The cost of AVG Anti-Virus software is $38.99 per computer.  AVG Anti-Virus 7.5 will be supported until the end of 2008 and AVG is providing a free upgrade to all active users of this version.

Other products of interest from AVG include AVG Anti-Virus Network Edition that allows centralized control, AVG File Server Edition to protect file servers and AVG E-mail Server Edition for protection of e-mail servers.  Workstation editions of the software must be purchased separately for the File Server and E-mail Server Editions.

An unprotected computer can be rendered useless if infected.  Cleaning a computer can be costly.  Make sure you have the latest version of the software installed and set to automatically update daily.