AVG Free

[WindyGeorge]

This was the anit virus ware we had been using but in the last few weeks AVG
Free has morphed into somthing strange. We have appreciated the use of AVG
Free because we are seniors and look to limit expenses where ever possible.
It started calling home with "use Data" and just today I discovered that AVG
is setting Scheduled Tasks to perform. Hmmm! I have deleted those tasks.
I was looking to see if other tasks I had set up were changed because my
system was crashed twice, I think during the running of a defrag task that
had been running perfectly for months.

My question; "is there a way to prevent ANY other operator but myself from
setting scheduled tasks?" Can the system refuse to accept scheduled tasks
from any other source but me? Would I be better off to switch to a user more
limited in allowed capabilities when leaving the system asleep? The OS is
Vista, still pre SP1 but up to date with updates.

Thanks for your help.

George

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

This was the anit virus ware we had been using but in the last few weeks
AVG
Free has morphed into somthing strange. We have appreciated the use of
AVG
Free because we are seniors and look to limit expenses where ever
possible.
It started calling home with "use Data" and just today I discovered that
AVG
is setting Scheduled Tasks to perform. Hmmm! I have deleted those
tasks.
I was looking to see if other tasks I had set up were changed because my
system was crashed twice, I think during the running of a defrag task that
had been running perfectly for months.

My question; "is there a way to prevent ANY other operator but myself from
setting scheduled tasks?" Can the system refuse to accept scheduled tasks
from any other source but me? Would I be better off to switch to a user
more
limited in allowed capabilities when leaving the system asleep? The OS is
Vista, still pre SP1 but up to date with updates.

Thanks for your help.

George

There is an option during install which asks if you do not mind it
collecting information and sending it back to the AVG base. It is clear
enough..

There may well be a way to disable this feature.. one way is to uninstall
and then re-install taking care to uncheck the box which gives it rights to
phone home..

I don't think that the 'phone home' is a malicious thing..

Personally, I wouldn't worry about it too much..


--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=newswhelp&style=toc
Mike's Window - My Blog..
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx

 

[WindyGeorge]

Hello Mike:

In fact that is exactly what I did; un-install and reinstall AVG Free making
sure no other features except the virus checking were installed. There is no
option about the scheduled tasks, do you suggest ignoring those too?

George

 

[Malke]

Hello Mike:

In fact that is exactly what I did; un-install and reinstall AVG Free
making
sure no other features except the virus checking were installed. There is
no option about the scheduled tasks, do you suggest ignoring those too?

Try Avast free instead.

Malke

 

[Mike Brannigan]

This was the anit virus ware we had been using but in the last few weeks
AVG
Free has morphed into somthing strange. We have appreciated the use of
AVG
Free because we are seniors and look to limit expenses where ever
possible.
It started calling home with "use Data" and just today I discovered that
AVG
is setting Scheduled Tasks to perform. Hmmm! I have deleted those
tasks.
I was looking to see if other tasks I had set up were changed because my
system was crashed twice, I think during the running of a defrag task that
had been running perfectly for months.

My question; "is there a way to prevent ANY other operator but myself from
setting scheduled tasks?" Can the system refuse to accept scheduled tasks
from any other source but me? Would I be better off to switch to a user
more
limited in allowed capabilities when leaving the system asleep? The OS is
Vista, still pre SP1 but up to date with updates.

Thanks for your help.

George

AVG is scheduling tasks because you have set it to do a scan at some regular
interval etc.
If you wish to only do manual scans then go into AVG and set the schedule
accordingly.

As regards who can schedule jobs - it is only those with admin level
privileges or the operating system itself.

 

[Richard in AZ]

| WindyGeorge wrote:
|
| > Hello Mike:
| >
| > In fact that is exactly what I did; un-install and reinstall AVG Free
| > making
| > sure no other features except the virus checking were installed. There is
| > no option about the scheduled tasks, do you suggest ignoring those too?
|
| Try Avast free instead.
|
| Malke
| --
| MS-MVP
| Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
| FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

Avast Free is a bad choice in this case.
The free version has no automatic update or scan scheduler and senior's tend to forget these tasks.

 

[Malke]

Avast Free is a bad choice in this case.
The free version has no automatic update or scan scheduler and senior's
tend to forget these tasks.

This is incorrect. Avast free updates itself. You may be correct about the
scan scheduler but I would have to look and none of the Windows machines
are on right now. Considering the recent issues with AVG 8.0 and the
nonsense they pulled with their link scanner, I will continue to not
recommend AVG. I haven't liked AVG in a number of years.

Malke

 

[WindyGeorge]

AVG is scheduling tasks because you have set it to do a scan at some regular
interval etc.
If you wish to only do manual scans then go into AVG and set the schedule
accordingly.

As regards who can schedule jobs - it is only those with admin level
privileges or the operating system itself.

Hello Mike:

The tasks that had been set up by AVG were triggered by AVG Install. I
decided that that trigger had nothing to do with scanning on a daily basis
and indeed AVG has not previously required a scheduled task to scan the
system. I have tried Avast in the past and we are trying Avira right now.
I will report back as to our final choice. Thanks.

George

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

| WindyGeorge wrote:
|
| > Hello Mike:
| >
| > In fact that is exactly what I did; un-install and reinstall AVG Free
| > making
| > sure no other features except the virus checking were installed. There is
| > no option about the scheduled tasks, do you suggest ignoring those too?
|
| Try Avast free instead.
|
| Malke

Avast Free is a bad choice in this case.
The free version has no automatic update

Not at all true. It updates automatically, often more than once a day.

or scan scheduler

That's probably true, but one of my favorite things about Avast is
that you can set it to run automatically every time your screen saver
comes on. In my view, that's even better than a scheduler.

and senior's tend to forget these tasks.

Hey! I'm a 70-year-old, and I don't forget those things. ;-)

Ken

 

[Nonny]

| WindyGeorge wrote:
|
| > Hello Mike:
| >
| > In fact that is exactly what I did; un-install and reinstall AVG Free
| > making
| > sure no other features except the virus checking were installed. There is
| > no option about the scheduled tasks, do you suggest ignoring those too?
|
| Try Avast free instead.
|
| Malke
| --
| MS-MVP
| Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
| FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

Avast Free is a bad choice in this case.
The free version has no automatic update or scan scheduler and senior's tend to forget these tasks.

It definitely has automatic updating - both definitions and program.

 

[Alex Clark]

I held off on upgrading to v8 as long as possible, but the constant nagging
of "No more updates" concerned me enough to make the leap.

I can live with the various annoyances of the new version, but one thing
that really bugs me is the ridiculous memory usage. Looking at it right
now, sitting there idle in my tray with that stupid red exclamation because
I disabled the link scanner, it's using over 50mb. Quite what it needs such
a huge working set for I don't know.

I read somewhere that Grisoft were releasing SP1 for it fairly soon, so
hopefully they'll sort it out some.

~Alex

 

[Mark Veldhuis]

Looking at it right now, sitting there idle in my tray with that stupid red

exclamation because I disabled the link scanner,

Uninstall AVG Free, and install it again from the command prompt as
follows:

C:\avg_free_stf_en_8_100a1295.exe /REMOVE_FEATURE fea_AVG_SafeSurf
/REMOVE_FEATURE fea_AVG_SafeSearch

This assumes you saved the installation file to C:\ , and the version
number might be different so you'll have to change the command
according to the filename of the setup-file you download from AVG.
The result of this: no more linkscanner, and no more "stupid" red
exclamation.

--



Met vriendelijke groet,
Mark Veldhuis.

 

[WindyGeorge]

Uninstall AVG Free, and install it again from the command prompt as
follows:

C:\avg_free_stf_en_8_100a1295.exe /REMOVE_FEATURE fea_AVG_SafeSurf
/REMOVE_FEATURE fea_AVG_SafeSearch

This assumes you saved the installation file to C:\ , and the version
number might be different so you'll have to change the command
according to the filename of the setup-file you download from AVG.
The result of this: no more linkscanner, and no more "stupid" red
exclamation.

--



Met vriendelijke groet,
Mark Veldhuis.

Hello Mark & John & Alex:

Until the last two weeks or so we have been very happy with and I
recommended it to hundreds of persons. I like the sound of Mark's suggestion
and I will try that approach shortly. Thanks very much.

George

 

[IDontBelieveIt]

Hi

The new free AVG 8 seems to be working ok for me (I'm using Vista Home
Premium) BUT, at the beginning of the installation process I did get a
warning message saying that the Roxio DVD Creator program I had was not
compatible and to go and fetch an updated version (a link was given).
Unfortunately, the link was of no use and I couldn't find a free update so,
in the end, just went ahead and installed the new free AVG 8. Did anyone
else have this prob please?

Cheers
John (IDontBelieveIt)
(To reply to me only, omit the "z")

 

[Bob Willard]

I held off on upgrading to v8 as long as possible, but the constant nagging
of "No more updates" concerned me enough to make the leap.

I can live with the various annoyances of the new version, but one thing
that really bugs me is the ridiculous memory usage. Looking at it right
now, sitting there idle in my tray with that stupid red exclamation because
I disabled the link scanner, it's using over 50mb. Quite what it needs such
a huge working set for I don't know.

I read somewhere that Grisoft were releasing SP1 for it fairly soon, so
hopefully they'll sort it out some.

~Alex

It doesn't take nearly that much memory on my PC; probably because I have
disabled the Resident Shield (to increase responsiveness). Disable the
Resident Shield on your PC, and then reboot, to see how much memory is
then used.