Grisoft’s AVG Anti-Spyware Free
Grisoft’s AVG Anti-Spyware Free
Reviewer’s Rating of AVG Anti-Spyware Free: 3½ out of 5
Overview:
AVG Anti-Spyware Free is an anti-spyware application that hails from the same people who develop and program AVG Anti-Virus (Free Edition). This application scans your system for adware, dialers, keyloggers, spyware, trojans, and worms. TechnologyTips recommends using at least two (if not three) anti-spyware applications on your computer as each application may detect different threats. You should install the free Windows Defender, and AVG Anti-Spyware Free on your computer as well as at least one of the following commercial anti-spyware products: CA Anti-Spyware 2007 or Spy Sweeper.
If you want a solid, dependable anti-spyware application that is free for home, personal, and non-commercial use to complement your other anti-spyware applications, get Grisoft’s AVG Anti-Spyware Free. Please note, you should only use one real-time anti-spyware shield. Using real-time protection from two or more anti-spyware applications may cause conflicts.
Pros of AVG Anti-Spyware Free:
Super easy to use.
The program interface is easy for any level of computer user, navigation is a breeze with easy-to-read and clearly marked buttons. This application scans inside archived file types such as .ZIP, .RAR and .CAB files for malware, unlike other similar anti-spyware products. A great complementary program to add to your other anti-spyware applications as it may detect threats that other scanners may overlook. Automatic daily updates are nice too, there is a downside though, see Cons. What you see is what you get, there are no hidden payware options bundled into the program interface – unlike Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware 2007 Free. The help file is very helpful. This application even features a file shredder utility within the tools section. The reports are detailed and outline what was detected and where on your computer it found those questionable files.
Cons of AVG Anti-Spyware Free:
Upon installation, the program automatically sets itself to start when Windows does and the real-time protection shield is enabled by default. It would be best during installation for the application to ask if you want those options enabled or not. The real-time live anti-spyware shield and automatic updates are nice – except they only last 30 days. To keep the real-time protection and automatic updates functioning after 30 days will cost money. The big blue ‘Buy now’ button is intrusive and annoying on the main status page. When running an anti-spyware scan, system resource use was all over the charts, CPU went from low to high usage and RAM usage increased incrementally during the course of the spyware scan. On Vista, after one day of testing, I encountered a trial expiration notice that the resident real-time shield and automatic updates were disabled – must be a Vista glitch.
Comments:
A capable anti-spyware scanner that is a welcome addition to your security applications and anti-spyware arsenal. Should prompt if you want real-time protection and automatic start up or not. Lacks technical support for free version, they do have a help forum, though.
Price: Free for personal non-commercial home use via Internet download.
Related TechnologyTips Articles:
- How to remove spyware
- Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Security, Spam, Spyware and Viruses
- FAQs: How to Stop Spyware