Virii are definitely a threat to anyone on the Internet, regardless
of what O/S is used. The P.C. market with Windows being the largest
O/S in use has a real problem regarding the chances of getting a
virus. This isn't just because of the various security holes that
are constantly being found and plugged, but also because with the
largest user base .... more virus writers tend to migrate to it. So, there are options available. You can pay for a large Company's
product, like MacAfee, Norton etc. or scout around for the latest
free virus checkers available. One of the virus checkers on the go at present that has a free
download (as long as you are using it on a single computer) is the
AVG package. The package can be found at the companies website which is
See AVG Screengrab 1 I installed the package to give it a try as some of my friends have
found it to be very welcome on their drives. The package installs easily after downloading and the questions are
kept to a minimum. No surprises with the install and everything went
smoothly on mine. After a reboot, as per usual, you notice that AVG
does a check on bootup. Fear not, if you don't want it to, you can
customise the program to suit yourself. I'm afraid the screengrabs aren't all that good this time around, but
I'm sure you can get the gist from them. (Duel Editor Ray Hawkins to the rescue.) For some strange reason the
text on the screengrabs became very distorted, However as I also use
this excellent program I tried to duplicate them myself. Oddly
enough the screengrabs using WindowsXP turned out fine! See AVG Screengrab 2 The program has a few options that can be found in the main control
centre page. These are the resident shield, where you can decide
what exactly the program checks for and whether it will do it
automatically or ask you first. See AVG Sreengrab 3 The next option is the email part, where again, you decide whether to
check all your incoming and out going mail (a boon just in case you
were already infected and hadn't checked the system first) and the
certify option. This appends a signature stating that the mail has
been checked by AVG before being sent. This also is an indication
that nothing has interfered with the operation of AVG. This program also has a plugin for Outlook Express .....just in case
you use that program for your mail. See AVG Screengrab 4 The update manager does exactly what it says and allows you to use
the scheduled updates function, and where to get the updates. With
this you can specify how often to try for an update and if it fails,
how long between retries. Again, you can decide whether the program
accesses the internet automatically or asks permission first. See AVG Screengrab 5 The scheduler isn't for updates, but when to perform tests on the
computer it is installed on. The next option "information" is the first grab shown at the start of
the article. See AVG Screengrab 6 Maybe I should have shown the main page first .... This is where you
can instantly check your computer and enable/disable the functions.
Being a virus checker, it is also possible to check removable media
and the memory. If you decide to run the complete test, you'll get
something like this popping up. See AVG Screengrab 7 Execution of the tests is fast and complete. The program also logs all tests and results, so you can see not only
what you have checked but when. Of course, it wouldn't be much good
to you if it didn't have any help files, just in case you had doubts
about all the options and this is shown in the page below. See AVG Screengrab 8 The AVG system also allows you to make a rescue disk. Next is the
grab for that particular bit. See AVG Screengrab 9 Again, straight forward and only requires you to insert a disk. On the main page which was shown above, it has a database of known
virus files with some information on them. You can read to your
hearts content about the exploits of these and it does tell you that
these are only a small selection of the virii that it will contain.
You can even have a small piece of information about your computer
displayed showing exactly what it is running and what AVG decides
that you have. See AVG Screengrab 10 As you have seen above, it isn't just a straight forward check
program but can be altered to do what you particularly want your
virus checker to do. I keep a couple of virii locked inside a zip
file for testing, and AVG passed with full colours by discovering
them....something which I found not to be the case with another free
checker! For the cost of a download and with free updates, this is a cheap
option for a virus checker. The program worked efficiently on my
system and I had no problems either installing or taking it back off.
All the options are fairly self explanatory and easy to find. The
help system is pretty cursory but doesn't really need to be any
larger. All in all, something to keep if you need a checker and don't wish to
shell out money for it. At the very least it will expand the options
available to you. The program states that it works with all versions
of Windows. Not exactly a must have (since most systems come with a virus checker
nowadays), but definitely one to keep in mind if you fancy a change
or you need another checker for whatever reason. Final note from Ray Hawkins WindowsXP does not come bundled with a virus checker! Microsoft
place all their faith in their new firewall! WindowsXP can also
become unstable with some virus checker programs. AVG has been
installed on my PC for just over 3 weeks and has performed fine...
A recommended 5 star download.