AVG 8.5 Free now available

[gene]

I don't know how long it's been there for downloading, but the Free
version of 8.5 is available. The download itself is straight forward,
but AVG/CNet makes the process confusing by popping up an offer to
provide a $34.99 license for free if the user tries or buys one of its
ad partner's offers (Columbia House, Staples, etc.). But if it's free,
what's all this, you may be wondering, as I did for awhile. Think of
it as a subterfuge to get users hooked on the Pro version for a year
(presumably that will appeal to some). A license comes with the free
version, thus all that can be ignored. See
http://download.cnet.com/AVG-Anti-V...l-10044820&subj=dl&tag=button&cdlPid=11009475
(that's a few clicks from http://free.avg.com/homepage-appf8).

Most publicized new features include the Security Toolbar for IE7 and
Firefox, which can be bypassed at installation or from within the
browsers (View > Toolbars). Also, Link Scanner with Search Shield and
Active Surf-Shield are new (partly available with 8.0 but not part of
the normal updates). The first tells the user if items or links found
with a google or Yahoo search are legit, while the second is a site
warning system. These also work only with IE7 and Firefox (with the
new Yahoo home page (ugh), it may be necessary to check the default
search). Since my first browser of choice is Opera, I'll have to
feel deprived. In any case, two restarts, first after the install and
then again after the update, seem necessary to get everything working
properly.

Gene

 

[robinb]

to add
if you have 8.0 free now and do not want to wait until the updater does
this- avg informed me they do not plan to do this for at least a month
you can download the installer and when it comes up -click on "repair
components"
I have installed it this way with no problems on 15 computers so far.
The only thing I did do is uncheck the toolbar in the installation
It will ask for a reboot to do the updates and complete the install.
You will need to update again because you will need to get it up to version
8.5.278

No problems in vista nor xp
robin

 

[gene]

Thanks, Robin. The instructions say that it can be installed over
previous versions - it handles the uninstall automatically - so I'm
not clear why a repair installation would be necessary. Not that it
necessarily matters, per your experience. I chose Custom to have more
control.

Gene

 

[robinb]

when you try to put it over a previous version there is no option for a
regular install because it sees that you have another one there now so you
only get 3 options:
add/remove components
repair components
uninstall softare


when you do repair components everything stays the same as you had before
except it adds any additional stuff it needs to update to 8.5.. The only
thing you should remember is to uncheck the toolbar- I just do not like
toolbars because they slow down the browser and I feel this one slows it
down even more. I would think you would want to do it as add/remove but
AVG advised me to do it as repair. I followed their suggestions and it
worked smoothly for all computers I did it on.

the only one they said to do it as add/remove components is for the Internet
Security Suite because you are actually "adding" the identity Protection
which none of the other paid programs have.

robin

 

[gene]

add/remove components made the most sense for me after reading in the
FAQ, "Follow the installation wizard to install the new AVG 8.5 Free
Edition (previous version of AVG will be automatically removed during
the installation process)." http://free.avg.com/faq.num-1250#faq_1250
The install screen could be clearer, since most people don't go
looking for the FAQ first.

Gene

 

[robinb]

yea, their site is not clear because it does uninstall it but not all of it-
seems it just adds the stuff it needs
robin