AVG Free 2012 - Installation Guide

The new version of AVG Free is out. Here are my instructions for installing/upgrading to AVG Free 2012. 


Download the latest version from these links and save the file to your computer.


32 bit version
64 bit version


Which version should I use?
To find out if your operating system is 32bit or 64 bit, click on Start, Control Panel and System. This will bring up a window that will show this information.
If that is too complicated: If you are running Windows XP, or if you got Vista as an upgrade, or, if you got Vista when it first came out, you should most likely pick 32 bit.
If you got Vista later, or if you are using Windows 7, you should, in most cases, download the 64bit version.

What if I install the wrong version?
If you are running a 64bit operating system, it will allow you to install either version. Either version will work fine in a 64bit system (but the 64 bit version will run faster). If you are running a 32bit operating system and you try to install the 64bit version, it won't let you install it. When in doubt, try installing the 64bit version first. If it lets you install it, then you have made the right choice. If not, ho harm, download and install the 32bit version.


These instructions assume you are upgrading from a previous version of AVG Free.
If you are installing AVG fresh (not upgrading from a previous version), the steps may be slightly different.


Print these instructions out before continuing.


Installation
Once you have downloaded the installation file (see link above), run the file.
* Accept the License Agreement
* Choose Custom Install. [Vista and Windows 7: also un-check Installs and displays the AVG Gadget...], Next
* Un-check Additional installed languages, Next
* Un-check both: I would like to set AVG Secure Search... and Improve my Internet protection..., and Next.
... wait for it to install ...
* Un-check: I would like to get news...
Choosed to check or uncheck (doesn't matter): I want to improve...
Restart Now
....
* Double-click on the AVG tray icon to open the interface. [Win7 - if it has disappeared, click on the little up arrow in the Notification Area, choose Customize, scroll down to the AVG icon and change the setting to Show icon and notifications. Okay]
* Hide Notification at the bottom (this is an ad for the paid version)
* Click Update Now. If there are any updates, Update Now. Repeat this until it says you are up to date - Update completed successfully.
 
Note: Although AVG automatically checks for updates once a day (once for definitions and once for the program), you should manually check when you first install it as there might be updates waiting and updating right away after installing lessens the chance that you might have to restart the computer again after a day due to a special program update).

Configuration
* Tools, Advanced Settings, Scans. Click on the tiny arrow beside this to open the subsections. Removable Device Scan. Enable, and check off (leave the other things checked that were checked off already - do not uncheck them): Automatically heal..., Report enhanced set of ..., and drag the slider under Adjust how quickly Scan ... all the way to the right. Apply, OK.

* Also in Advanced Settings: Schedules, Scheduled Scan: Enable this task. Run at specific time interval. Check for once a week. Default setting is every Wed at noon. Leave if this is okay for you, change if another time is better.

Note: if you have a computer that is less than 5 years old, then the AVG automatic scan should run fine in the background without slowing down your computer. If your computer is older and the AVG scan is slowing things down while you try to work, right-click on the tray icon, choose Running Scans and then Pause all scans. When you are done working, un-pause the scan.

* Make sure Run on computer startup if task has been missed is checked off. Apply, OK.
 
You can ignore My Apps, PC Analyzer, Family Safety and LiveKive.

* Close interface.
* Done.

It will download and install updates automatically, and run a weekely scan automatically. Sometimes program updates will require you to restart your computer. It will ask you to do this when applicable.

Note about the trial paid version.
If you do make the mistake of installing the trial of the paid version, and you would like to have the Free version instead, remove AVG (In XP: Start, Control Panel, Add or Remove Programs. In Vista/Win7: Start, Control Panel, Programs and Features). When you initiate the removal procedure, you will be given the option to convert to the Free version. 

AVG 2011 Bugs

Today I discovered a new AVG glitch while using the new AVG Free 2011 version.

When I tried to post a note in facebook, it added something that began with
#avg_ls_inline_popup{position: a
to the bottom of my note.
I could not get rid of it.

I discovered that this is caused by a glitch in the Search Shield, which is part of the Link Scanner.
To stop this from happening, Open the AVG main interface, double-click on Link Scanner and un-check Search Shield and Save Changes.
Restart your browser.

Hopefully they will fix this glitch soon. I write it off as growing pains of the new version (2011).

However, there have been other issues reported regarding the never version of AVG:
AVG 2011 Bug Affects Browsing Experience, Could Also Hurt Websites
This article mentions issues with Link Scanner components, but also see comments below the article for other issues.

I have not experienced any of the other problems mentioned in the article or in the comments below it - only the one problem I mention above. I'm using AVG Free 2011 on a Windows XP Pro SP3 machine and on a Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit machine.

UPDATE
I've discovered that AVG is aware of issues with Link Scanner components and that they are working on the problem.

I've also discovered that the Surf-Shield component of Link Scanner, as well as the browser add-on AVG Safe Search can cause problems for Java scripts, including Greasemonkey scripts for Facebook. I've disabled both of these (in AVG and in Firefox Add-ons) and the scripts work fine now.

.... later on - I turned Surf-Shield back on and things with scripts seem to work. It looks like the Firefox AVG Safe Search add-on was the culprit. So, so far with this and Search Shield disabled, all is good.

AVG Free 10, aka 2011, is out now

The latest major version of AVG Free is out now. You can download it here.

To upgrade to this new version, you have to download the file (at the link above), and run it (you can't get this new upgrade through the automatic update process in AVG Free 9). You will have to chose either the 32bit version (Most of you running Windows XP or Vista will choose this), or the 64bit version (most of you running Windows 7, and some running Vista, and the odd few running Windows XP will choose this).

MORE INFORMATION
CNET - AVG banks on better performance

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
Once you have downloaded the new installation file (see above)

• Run the file
• Accept
• Next
• Custom Install, and UNcheck the gadget installation (on the right side of the window - this doesn't appear in Windows XP, only for Vista and Windows 7), Next
• Uncheck Additional installed languages, (if you have MS Office installed, scroll to the bottom and check MS Office plugin), Next
• Uncheck Set Yahoo..., Uncheck Install the AVG Security Toolbar, Next
• ...
• yes to reboot
• (after reboot, it will finish installing)
• UNcheck I agree to participate ... and click Finish
• (then it will open and automatically begin updating)

• If, after a few minutes, you get an Analysis pop-up, you can ignore it. This will run the next time a scheduled scan runs.

• Things to check:
• Scan Options - Managed Scheduled Scans, Edit scan schedule.
• - Run at a specific time. Select a day of the week and time. Under Advanced Schedule, check Run on
• computer startup if ...

Also: to enable it to automatically scan removable devices, open AVG, click on Tools, Advanced Settings, click the + beside Scans.
Click on Removable Device Scan.
Check off Enable Removable device scan, Automatically heal/remove infections, and move the slider under Adjust how quickly Scan completes all the way to the right.
Apply, OK and close the AVG window.

Advanced Users

• To get rid of the advertisement (notification that drops down if you open up AVG)
• Go into Program Files\AVG\AVG10\
• Rename the following files by adding
• .bak
• to the end of each file name (after whatever extension is there in the name)
• avg_us.mht
• avgmwdef_us.mht
• avgresf.dll
• avgsals_us.mht
• avgsbfree_us.mht
• avgtrial_us.mht

Note: sometimes after updates to the program, it will re-introduce these files (so you may need to go back in and name the new batch of these files to remove the ad/notice).

My Top 20 Free Windows Programs - June 2010

In no particular order:

Backup
Cobain Backup - a free backup program that you can fully customize - scheduling, backing up to various drives including network drives, etc. Now uses Shadow Volume Copy so you can back up while you work on your computer.

Browser
Firefox - the latest version of Firefox is fast and very secure and remains the best with extensions of all the browsers. Check out Personas - an easy way to dress up Firefox.

Clean-Up
CCleaner - great for cleaning up temp files, temp files leftover from crashes, and cleaning up the Registry, disabling unnecessary start-up items and more.

Revo Uninstaller - an advanced un-installer program that enables you to remove the usual leftover registry items and folders.

Defraggler - from the makers of CCleaner, this program is a great replacement for the Windows defragment program. Works in all recent versions of Windows. This program lets you see what is going on (like the old program in XP). It is fast and can work even if you have less than 10% of the hard drive free.

Email
Thunderbird - an excellent email program from Mozilla (same group that brings you Firefox). I find this much easier to customize and to backup and move files around when need be than Outlook or Outlook Express. The latest version has tabs and the search feature is most excellent.

Entertainment
Winamp - best free media player overall - yes it has playlists and you can use it with your ipod or any other MP3 player. Works better than iTunes and doesn't install other programs behind your back, and you can customize its many settings (file formats to deal with, whether it launches on its own or by your command...). Great for doing live mixes as you can queue songs up.

DVDFlick - convert and burn digital video files (many formats supported) to DVD in regular DVD video format. Also has basic menu creation features too.

VLC Media Player - for playing a wide variety of video and music files, DVDs, and streaming. When Windows Media Player won't play it, this will. The user interface isn't that pretty, but it works.

File Sharing
uTorrent - the best little torrent program around. Pronounced MOO-torrent (as the initial u is actually the micro symbol)

Peerblock - lets you control who your computer "talks to" on the Internet. By selecting appropriate lists of "known bad" computers, you can block communication with advertising or spyware oriented servers, computers monitoring your p2p activities, computers which have been "hacked", even entire countries! They can't get in to your computer, and your computer won't try to send them anything either.

Productivity
Open Office 3 - the best free alternative to MS Office. And it can open .docx files. You can create a PDF directly from any of the programs in the suite with a click of an icon. Word processor, spreadsheet, drawing program, database, you can make it save things in MS Office format by default if you need to share documents with others have MS Office, and more. Currently on version 3.2.1

EssentialPIM - A personal information manager. Similar to many of the other features in Outlook (outside of the email part). If you want a PIM that is not bogged down by the email part of Outlook - just a basic appointment calendar, contact list, To Do list and notes - this is a great program.

Security
AVG Free - anti-virus and anti-spyware, and much improved since it first came out. Easy to use and works better than the big programs that must be purchased.

Malwarebytes - A good anti-spyware removal program to use along with your regular security program to occasionally check for bugs. Has a quickscan mode that takes about 10 minutes, and a full scan mode. Also adds as a context menu so you can right-click on a file/folder/drive and choose to scan it with Malwarebytes.

Mailwasher Free - filter out Spam before it gets to your email program. Works with a wide variety of email programs. Free version only works for one email address. Paid version will work with multiple addresses.

Utilities
TeraCopy - Improves copying speed for large files and for when copying a lot of files at once. Also has better overwrite and skip options. Install it and it replaces the Windows copy function. You can still use the usual cut/copy and paste shortcuts.

7zip - decompression and compression of many many compression formats, and free!

Foxit PDF reader - works directly inside a Firefox tab as well as on its own. Faster and with a much smaller footprint than Adobe Reader. They keep making this better with every version

Crossloop - enables you to remotely connect to another computer to give or get help. Very simple to use

Got any favourite free programs I left out? Add them in comments

AVG's false postive of TeraCopy

Copy your files faster with TeraCopy
AVG's latest definitions have been identifying TeraCopy as a threat. It is not a threat at all. Your technician (or yourself) has installed this program with the intent to use it to speed up and improve Windows copying process. The program takes over the Windows process for copying. AVG sees this as a threat. To have AVG permanently ignore TeraCopy as a threat you need to add it to the exceptions for the Resident Shield. To do this:
- Open AVG
- Click on Tools, Advanced Settings, and below Resident Shield, select Excluded Files.
- Click on Add
- Navigate to the Teracopy.exe file (usually: C:\Program Files\Teracopy\... and select Teracopy, click on Open
- Click on Apply and OK
- Close AVG. Done.

AVG voted best Antivirus application by Lifehacker users.

Best Antivirus Application: AVG - antivirus - Lifehacker
I have been using and recommending AVG Free for years now for a number of reasons
- It is very good at finding and removing threats compared to other programs (including paid ones). Many times I've cleaned up peoples' computer that were running paid versions of Norton or McAfee. AVG found and removed what these programs could not.
- The interface is very easy to use
- The annoyance factor is low - updates work in the background automatically. And there are few pop-ups trying to get you to upgrade to the paid version.
- It is far less of a resource hog than most security programs
- Fast - with version 9, it is faster at scanning than before
I've used other free security programs and still prefer AVG Free over the others.

And, occasionally there are glitches, but they usually minor and are quickly rectified with new program/definition updates. Most security software has glitches occasionally and some are worse than others.

Get AVG Free's latest version here at Filehippo.

Read more about AVG Free here.

AVG Free version 9 in now available

AVG Free v9 Installation Instructions
(Basic installation instructions with some changes to reduce annoyances)

Download from here Download AVG Free - FileHippo.com

Close all open programs.
Run the installer file (avg_free_stf_en_9...)
Next
Check off "I have read the license agreement"
Accept
Check off "Custom Installation"
Next
Username and License number appear - no need to do anything in this window
Next
Destination Folder - no need to do anything in this window
Next
Do you want to create the directory? ... - Yes
Component Selection - no need to do anything in this window
Next
AVG Security Toolbar - UNcheck "Install the AVG Security Toolbar (recommended)"
Next
AVG will now check for and install updates

Schedule Regular Scans and updates
- Updates - once a day (this is usually checked as the default setting). This section may be greyed out. If so, don't worry about it - you can always change this in the program later via the Update Manager section.
- You can set up your automatic scan schedule here, or later after you have installed the program. Once a week is usually a sufficient schedule.
- If you have or often have removable devices (external USB sticks, drives, memory cards) attached to your computer, check off the "Enable automatic scan of removable devices..." box so these are scanned too.

Next
Finish

Restart computer - Yes

After your computer restarts, eventually, this will pop up:
AVG Optimization Scan
Yes, run this now.
(This only takes a few minutes and it will make your scans run faster in the future.)

And finally, if you don't want it, delete the new AVG icon on the desktop. You can always access the program from the system tray icon.

Update: As of Sept. 2010, there is another pop up regarding adding some other Yahoo or AVG toolbar to your browser. Uncheck the bottom check box and then the top one and continue/okay...

For advanced computer users only:
If you want to remove the annoying notices that show up below the program window when you open it, this is how to remove them:

Make sure you can see hidden folders and file extensions.
Go to the Program Files\AVG\AVG9 folder
Alter the names of these files by adding something like
.bak
after each one (example: avgfree_us.mht.bak)

avgfree_us.mht
avgmwdef_us.mht
avgresf.dll
avgsbfree_us.mht

avgtrial_us.mht

AVG Free version 9 to be released by mid-October 2009

Download AVG Free Edition 8.5.420 - FileHippo.com
Watch the above link mid-to-late October for the free version of AVG 9 (anti-virus and anti-spyware).
AVG 9 claims to be much improved in performance/speed and in threat protection.

AVG Free ad campaign - pop-up

If you use AVG Free 8.5 you may have noticed pop-ups recently asking you to upgrade to the paid version.

If you don't want to get the paid version, click on the Maybe Later button.

Apparently, AVG will run a campaign every once in a while to try to get people to upgrade to the paid version. During these times, this pop-up will come up every day or every few days for a while. Although this can be annoying, they are just trying to make some money from their product, and, if you want to stay with the free version, the simplest thing to do is just click on Maybe Later when the pop-up appears.

AVG glitch shows iTunes as a Trojan

Technical Bulletins - AVG Software | AVG antivirus & Internet security software support
If you haven't update AVG since July 25th and you have iTunes, AVG might think that iTunes contains a trojan. Update AVG to fix this. If AVG has moved part of iTunes to its vault, click on the above link for the steps to restore the important iTunes files.

Hold off on that McAfee patch!

McAfee AV Patch Leaves Some Computers Unbootable | Maximum PC

Oopsy-daisy! According to complaints on McAfee's message board, a mandatory service pack for the company's antivirus VSE 8.7 software has left some machines unbootable. The update, which was issued on May 27 and later pulled on June 2, was intended to squash minor security bugs, but also inadvertently flagged some Windows system files as malware.

This is another reason why I recommend NOT using one of the big commercial anti-virus programs.
I recommend using AVG Free.

AVG Free v8.5 - Anti-virus and Anti-spyware

AVG has released a new version of their program, but you have to download it and install it to get it (you can't update to it via updates in 8.0).

To update to version 8.5, download the new version here at Filehippo.
Then, run the file - choose Repair Install when asked which installation.
Make sure to un-check the Security Bar and un-check daily scans (if you don't want these options).
When done, reboot the computer and manually run the updater to immediately get the latest updates (or you can let it update itself the next day).

To get rid of the notification ads, make sure your settings allow you to see hidden files and extensions, go to Program Files\AVG\AVG8 and look for
avgfree_us.mht and rename to avgfree_us.mht.bak
Also add .bak to
avgmwdef_us.mht
and
avgresf.dll

Works fine in Windows 2000 to Vista (x32 and x64)

Done.

Feb. 2, 2009 updates in AVG not working

AVG Free - Download update

If you can't update and you open AVG, you may see a message stating that a .bin file is missing.

To solve this problem right away (it may solve itself in a day or two), go to the above link and download the last 2 files in the Updates list (of 4 files).
Once you have downloaded these bin files, open AVG, click on Tools, Update from directory...
Point to the folder where you saved the bin files and okay.
It should be fixed now.

My Top 15 Free Windows Programs for 2008

Inspired by the post at Lifehacker, and, since it's been a while since I've written up a top-list, here is my top 15 list of free Windows programs.

In no particular order:

Firefox 3 - the latest version of Firefox is fast and very secure and remains the best with extensions of all the browsers

AVG Free 8 - anti-virus and anti-spyware, and much improved since it first came out. Easy to use and works better than the big programs that must be purchased.

7zip - decompression and compression of many many compression formats, and free!

Foxit PDF reader - now works directly inside a Firefox tab as well as on its own. Faster and with a much smaller footprint than Adobe Reader. They keep making this better with every version

Crossloop - for remote connections with clients for help/repair - free and very simple to use

Shutdown Guard - for stopping Windows Updates from automatically restarting your computer (XP and Vista)

Winamp - best free media player overall - yes it has playlists and you can use it with your ipod or any other MP3 player. Works better than iTunes and doesn't install other programs behind your back, and you can customize its many settings (file formats to deal with, whether it launches on its own or by your command...)

Quicktime Alternative - streamlined and unobtrusive version of Quicktime

Realplayer Alternative - streamlined and unobtrusive version of Realplayer

Open Office 3 - the best free alternative to MS Office. And it can open .docx files now. You can create a PDF directly from any of the programs in the suite with a click of an icon. Word processor, spreadsheet, drawing program, database, you can make it save things in MS Office format by default if you need to share documents with others have MS Office, and more.

Thunderbird - excellent email program from Mozilla (same group that brings you Firefox). I find this much easier to customize and to backup and move files around when need be than Outlook or Outlook Express.

Picasa - a good, free program from Google for viewing, sorting and editing your photos and more

Superantispyware - A great 2nd program for manually scanning your computer after AVG Free 8 to catch and fix anything that might have been missed. I like this better than Ad Aware and Spybot put together.

CCleaner - great for cleaning up temp files, temp files leftover from crashes, and cleaning up the Registry and more.

Cobain Backup - a free backup program that you can fully customize - scheduling, backing up to various drives including network drives, etc.

Got any favourite free programs I left out? Add them in comments.

Happy New Year!

AVG Free 8 - remove annoying pop-ups when not connecting to the server

If you cannot connect to the server to update, and you are getting constant annoying pop-ups related to this, here is how to turn them off:

Open AVG
Click on Tools
Click on the little + sign beside Schedules
Click on Virus Database update schedule
UNcheck "Run the update again as soon as the internet connection is available"
Click on Program Update Schedule
UNcheck "Run the update again as soon as the internet connection is available"
Now click on the Apply button, OK, and close the AVG window.
The constant pop-ups should be gone now.

See the previous post for how to manually update AVG Free 8 from files.

Manually update AVG Free 8

AVG Free - Download update


If your AVG Free 8 is having trouble connecting to their server to update itself, AND, you can manage to access this update site, then you can update it manually via the avaialable update files.

Go to this page.
Scroll to the bottom.
Click on each item that you have missed by date and save to your hard drive.
Open AVG Free 8.
Click on Tools.
Choose Update by directory, then point it to the directory where you saved these files.

Now you will be up to date. Ignore any further pop-ups today that say that AVG cannot connect, and ignore the red circle with the exclamation mark on the AVG icon in the system tray. You are still protected and up to date.

AVG "Invalid Update Control CTF File" fix

Error "Invalid Update Control CTF File" when updating AVG Anti-Virus 8.0 - The Winhelponline Blog

There are 2 files that can be deleted as AVG will recreate them. If they become corrupted you will have to remove them manually.

In Windows XP, go to:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Avg8\update\download
and delete
avginfoavi.ctf and avginfowin.ctf

In Windows Vista, go to:
C:\ProgramData\avg8\update\download
and delete these 2 same files.

Re-run the update.
Fixed.

UPDATE
To be able to see the CTF files, you need to have Show Hidden Files enabled in Explorer. Open Windows Explorer, click on Tools, Folder Options, View, and check off show hidden files and folders. Now you should be able to see the CTF files.

UPDATE 2
If this doesn't work, uninstall AVG and re-install it.
Here is the link for the latest version.

AVG Free 8 and No One Is Getting My Emails

If you are using the new AVG Free 8, and you are using Thunderbird or maybe even a version of Outlook or another Email program, and no one is receiving your emails even though it looks like they are sending okay, it may be a setting in your AVG. Open AVG, double-click on Email scanner, UNcheck Scan Outgoing mail, and Save Changes.

Now you can send emails again and people will receive them.

Test things out. If people can receive your emails now, then that was the problem. If not, it is something else...

AVG Free 8, Thunderbird and Hotmail

Currently, AVG Free 8 blocks outgoing Hotmail (aka Windows Live Mail) emails, when Hotmail is set up in your Thunderbird.
To alleviate this, open AVG, go to the Email scanner and disable scanning of outgoing email. This will let Hotmail setup within Thunderbird send mail out properly.

AVG Free - new version 8 available

The new version of AVG Free is available. Download it from here.

The new version has an improved interface, and integrates anti-spyware, as well as a Security Toolbar for IE and Firefox browsers, and a Link Scanner - all additional protection.

Installation notes:
Close other programs before installing.
Choose to let it automatically uninstall version 7.
Choose custom install.

Now, here are a couple of things you need to choose from:
1) if you find you end up with spyware and viruses on your computer occasionally or often, then you should install the Security Toolbar and leave the Link Scanner on.
2) if you are very careful and find you manage to not end up with spyware and or viruses on your computer, and you would prefer to continue to have your browser and internet speed perform as fast as possible, then do not install the Security Toolbar and turn off the Link Scanner.

Choose to install the Security Toolbar, or not.
Disable daily scanning (as this will slow things down every day - but remember to run a full system scan every once in a while).
Next, etc, ..... Finish
Allow Prevalance Reporter to access the internet (if your firewall asks).
Reboot
Update
Allow AVG updater to access the internet (if your firewall asks).
If you have decided you don't want Link Scanner running, you can turn if off now.

I am going to test having the Link Scanner enabled for a while to see if it slows things down much or not. I'll post my results in here in an update.


UPDATE
The Link Scanner does slow down the browser some, annoyingly slow at times. So, I've decided to remove it. To manually remove it and the security toolbar:
To install without the browser toolbar or the link scanner, or, to remove these if already installed:
Put installation file in root of C:
run:
c:\avg_free_stf_*.exe /REMOVE_FEATURE fea_AVG_SafeSurf /REMOVE_FEATURE fea_AVG_SafeSearch
Choose Repair if already installed and just removing the features.

Note: replace the * with the rest of the file name.

Another blog, Grand Stream Dreams has a great detailed review for advanced users.

UPDATE 2
I've found that after a while the Link Scanner does not slow things so much, so, you can leave it on.

To have the updates fully automatic, open AVG, click on Tools, Advanced settings, Schedules, Virus Database Update Schedule. Make sure the last 4 check boxes are checked off. Go to Program Update Schedule and make sure the last 4 check boxes are also checked off.

To configure the Email Scanner so it does not mark your messages, click on Email Scanner (in Tools, Advanced Settings) and make sure Check incoming and check outgoing are checked off, then UNcheck Certify email below each. Apply

To keep AVG from running an automatic scan every day, in Advanced, Tools, Schedules, Scheduled Scan, UNcheck Enable This Task.


UPDATE 3
I've found that you can install AVG Free 8 normally, and then if you don't want the Security Bar or the Link scanner features, you can disable them in the browser instead of repair installing and typing in all that stuff in Run.

To do this in IE - go to Tools, Manage Add-ons, and Enable or Disable Add-ons.
To do this in Firefox - go to Tools, and Add-ons.