Topic: Reassurance for a numpty please?

[Hyacinth]

I've 2 PCs...no1 is v. old now, in fact my puter man looks for the crank handle to start it :P and has been protected by AVG free edition + usual Spybot etc. which have all worked well but  it 'freezes' daily as it downloads AVG's updates.

No2 is state-of-the-art high powered laptop and fair zips along at all times. No.2 has AVG pre-installed and is coming to the end of its free trial. It happily downloads daily the updates with no loss of performance.

Question = is it worth buying AVG for the laptop?

My tentative answer to myself is NO....the speed of the downloads reflects the laptop's superior 'whatever' ???

All the reading I've done suggests that AVG free download is the way to go.

But what do you PC literate peeps think, please?

Many thanks for any replies....but....keep them simple, eh?

 ;D Lishka

[redimp]

I used AVG Free but found it was getting a bit bloated for my steam powered pc so changed to avast.  It stops my computer when downloading updates so it will be back to AVG for me soon.  Certainly don't think anti-virus is worth paying for with AVG and Avast available for free thought - they are better than the ones I have paid for in the past.

[grawrc]

There are problems with AVG. Geek son is asleep at the mo : I'll ask him when he gets up!!

[mrf94]

For a really good antvirus program  download "Avira Antivir" , its free its much better in my opinion than the other free programs you have mentioned, It wont stop your puter when d/loading, but then the others shouldnt either.

Ive used programs ive paid for  like norton , trend micro, mcafee.
and a few free ones ,
Antivir is the one ive settled with and it hasnt let me down once

mrf

[Hyacinth]

Well! A mixed bag....thank you Mr.F for your input, that's interesting. Ann, what does your son think of the Avira suggestion please?

[woppa30]

My 2p worth.
Your old computer probably just needs a "rebuild" As long as you are not trying to run the latest games an look at youtube all day long old computers, with suitable software, are perfectly viable. Is it win98??
If you are brave or can find some helpful sole I would recommend a rebuild of any windows PC at least every two years. You would not believe how fast it will feel after all the rubbish has been wiped off and you have a clean install of windows and your applications.
I would also go with AVG, I haven't tried any of the other free ones, never needed to and for me that says it all. Four comps in house, all kept clean by AVG and spybot.
Best wishes,
Woppa

[jmassane]

Stick with the AVG free if I were you. When I used to use windows it was what I relied on and it never failed me. Spybot is good too. Of course you could always consider something like Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com/) for your old machine as it has no need of antivirus/spyware tools and would likely run a little faster on old hardware.

[Hyacinth]

Thank you all. The old Pc's going to go to PC heaven - or hell? soonish - but it's the new laptop I'm concentrating on (the one that's got the free download AVG for another two days).....once I've transferred all my files etc onto the new PC & got the funds I  intend then to replace the old desktop PC ....it's Iron Age stuff we're talking about here, in all its components; I just wanted to know if AVG free, or an equivalent) is the way to go and I think you're pretty well agreed that is is. So thanks for the reassurances, everyone 8)

Lishka

[grawrc]

Apparently avg is fine - he just doesn't like the interface very much (whatever that means!) ::) ::)

[morton]

Using AVG free and update automatically everyday. But yesterday the update box said encountered a problem and had to close. Now the icon in the bottom corner of the screen is blue and a box keeps coming up saying priority update but it will not let me install it.
Any ideas out there in words of one syllable please?