Thread: AVG Internet Security 8.0

AVG has made a bit of a name for itself by becoming one of the most popular free virus checkers on the Internet. To make sure your PC is secure, you will need something capable such as the paid-for AVG Internet Security 8.0. This software offers a far wider array of tools such as a Firewall.e-mail scanner and Internet protection,which includes the AVG Toolbar,designed to offer protection against malicious Web pages.

The set-up is quite straightforward and we were able to retrieve the latest updates from AVG's website (an easy process) during the process as well as configure a scan schedule and run a Firewall configuration wizard (you need to complete the wizard before the Firewall can be enabled).

It's a fairly painless process,after which the user is taken to the main interface where individual access can be found for each ofthe tools contained in the program When one is selected, the program displays a screen that allows the user to make changes or simply reports the current status.



For the latter cases (the Firewall,anti-virus,anti-spam and anti¬spyware components) you will need to open an advanced menu through the tool bar to get any degree of control. This isn't a particularly friendly approach and while the Firewall in particular does offer a swathe of configuration options, it's rather painstaking to browse through waves of drop-down menus in orderto make changes.
Most of the rest of the tools are quite well automated and there's a decent amount of information available here on the state of your system and any running applications or processes.

The Linkscannertool that is tied to the new AVGToolbarwill automatically and directly scan websites you visit.or if you perform a search,itwill scan each result to make sure the site is safe before putting a green tick on the toolbarfor peace of mind.This actually works pretty well and doesn'ttie up resources or greatly affect the speed at which you can browse.

Full system scans also appeared to be quite efficient and rarely tied up the computer to a point where we noticed an impact on performance.The software did manage to pick up all the test files we placed on the system, although in some instances there was not a lot of information available on whatthey are or how they m ig ht affect your computer. Overall,AVG 8.0 performs well, being quite fast, well automated and comprehensive in the range of threats it covers.