Introduction
AVG has a long history of good, free antivirus software. They've been routinely supported by a large community of users, and rightly so.
However, basic, free antivirus isn't enough anymore. At the very least, a fully functional antivirus program is needed (such as AVG Anti-Virus). Even better, is a robust Internet Security suite.
With the 2015 version of AVG, there's a lot to like.
For starters, AVG's antivirus engine is much better (particularly in terms of system load), and it scored well in testing. And, on the surface, the user interface is much easier to read and navigate than their 2014 version.
One drawback to AVG is its tech suport. Their searchable knowledgebase is extensive, as is their community support, but good luck finding their tech support's phone number.
Even still, AVG Anti-Virus 2015 scored well despite this, mainly because of its overall virus protection.
Certified by:
AVG has a long history of good, free antivirus software. They've been routinely supported by a large community of users, and rightly so.
However, basic, free antivirus isn't enough anymore. At the very least, a fully functional antivirus program is needed (such as AVG Anti-Virus). Even better, is a robust Internet Security suite.
With the 2015 version of AVG, there's a lot to like.
For starters, AVG's antivirus engine is much better (particularly in terms of system load), and it scored well in testing. And, on the surface, the user interface is much easier to read and navigate than their 2014 version.
One drawback to AVG is its tech suport. Their searchable knowledgebase is extensive, as is their community support, but good luck finding their tech support's phone number.
Even still, AVG Anti-Virus 2015 scored well despite this, mainly because of its overall virus protection.
Certified by:
- AV Comparatives
- AV-Test
- ICSA
- VB Bulletin
- WestCoast Labs
Virus & Spyware Protection: 91%
AVG scored well with most antivirus testing labs as it did with ours. Scores were average to high for both real-time antivirus protection and virus removal.
In our own tests AVG had 90% success in blocking known malicious sites. Quite respectable, though other antivirus products scored better.
Also, we saw instances with rootkit removal where AVG had trouble removing them.
Rebooting a PC is not out of the ordinary with some of the particularly nasty threats we use, and AVG was no exception here, though it often required multiple reboots to finish a removal.
So why did AVG Anti-Virus 2015 earn such a high score in this department? As basic antivirus software, AVG still outperformed a lot of competitors in this class.
If basic antivirus protection is all you want, you can expect AVG to do the job nicely.
Resource Usage: 95%
AVG's resource usage was impressively low. Memory usage was at a low 22MB on a 2GB memory computer. CPU usage was less than 1% when idle.
During a full PC scan, memory averaged out to approximately 45MB, and about 40% of CPU used. Not bad.
With prior versions, we saw huge resource drains both in memory and CPU. Thankfully, those issues are a thing of the past.
User Interface: 80%
Rebooting a PC is not out of the ordinary with some of the particularly nasty threats we use, and AVG was no exception here, though it often required multiple reboots to finish a removal.
So why did AVG Anti-Virus 2015 earn such a high score in this department? As basic antivirus software, AVG still outperformed a lot of competitors in this class.
If basic antivirus protection is all you want, you can expect AVG to do the job nicely.
Resource Usage: 95%
AVG's resource usage was impressively low. Memory usage was at a low 22MB on a 2GB memory computer. CPU usage was less than 1% when idle.
During a full PC scan, memory averaged out to approximately 45MB, and about 40% of CPU used. Not bad.
With prior versions, we saw huge resource drains both in memory and CPU. Thankfully, those issues are a thing of the past.
User Interface: 80%
Click images to enlarge
On the surface, AVG's user interface is clean, modern, and easy to use. Big buttons label each section making it easy to navigate. Inside each section are clear and simple switches that activate or deactivate features.
However, if you need to make more detailed adjustments to any particular feature, the advanced settings can be confusing. The text is small and seemingly jumbled together.
Clicking deeper within the expanding tree, it can be difficult to know what to select or deselect. For an average PC user, it's not ideal.
The good news is the major features that really matter are all pre-selected and enabled automatically, so you may never encounter these things we dislike.
Technical Support: 70%
Technical support is AVG's weakest feature.
There's a searchable knowledge base with lots of good information, but getting access to full, free support from qualified technicians is invaluable, and with AVG, difficult to do.
Yes, they do have phone support, but first you have to fill out a form, complete with a description of the problem, to even get to SEE the phone number exposed on their site.
The best part: repeating the same thing you just entered into the form aaaagain for their techs moments later when you speak to someone. Maddening.
To us, this rigamarole is a huge wart on otherwise very good software. Clearly, the customer was not in mind when they built this system.
Next, AVG doesn't provide free help with virus removal as both ESET and VIPRE do.
This means if you get infected while using AVG, you're stuck with self-help options unless you're willing to pony up a $79 virus removal fee.
Conclusion - Overall Score: 85%
However, if you need to make more detailed adjustments to any particular feature, the advanced settings can be confusing. The text is small and seemingly jumbled together.
Clicking deeper within the expanding tree, it can be difficult to know what to select or deselect. For an average PC user, it's not ideal.
The good news is the major features that really matter are all pre-selected and enabled automatically, so you may never encounter these things we dislike.
Technical Support: 70%
Technical support is AVG's weakest feature.
There's a searchable knowledge base with lots of good information, but getting access to full, free support from qualified technicians is invaluable, and with AVG, difficult to do.
Yes, they do have phone support, but first you have to fill out a form, complete with a description of the problem, to even get to SEE the phone number exposed on their site.
The best part: repeating the same thing you just entered into the form aaaagain for their techs moments later when you speak to someone. Maddening.
To us, this rigamarole is a huge wart on otherwise very good software. Clearly, the customer was not in mind when they built this system.
Next, AVG doesn't provide free help with virus removal as both ESET and VIPRE do.
This means if you get infected while using AVG, you're stuck with self-help options unless you're willing to pony up a $79 virus removal fee.
Conclusion - Overall Score: 85%
- Best known for their strong user community
- Solid, basic antivirus protection
- Good real-time protection
- 30-day satisfaction guarantee
AVG Anti-Virus 2015 is solid antivirus software that improves tremendously on prior versions, especially in the area of resource usage.
It earned high scores in the majority of areas we test and was easy to use in getting the job done.
Were it not for the nonsense surrounding their tech support, it may have scored even higher.
Bottom line: AVG Anti-Virus 2015 is a good option for those needing basic antivirus software and troubleshooting / doing your own tech support is the preferred option.
It earned high scores in the majority of areas we test and was easy to use in getting the job done.
Were it not for the nonsense surrounding their tech support, it may have scored even higher.
Bottom line: AVG Anti-Virus 2015 is a good option for those needing basic antivirus software and troubleshooting / doing your own tech support is the preferred option.
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