Whenever someone asks me for a good free antivirus the first one I always recommend is AVG. I used if for several years and it never let me down. By putting a free antivirus solution on the computer for people I never have to worry about them being unprotected, because most people I know don’t care when their antivirus subscriptions end.
Luckily most of the computers I setup AVG on are for families who own only one computer. Why is that a big deal? TMCnet said that they started receiving a message from their Free AVG saying they were using the antivirus against their terms. The window, pictured above, states:
Dear AVG user!
You may not be aware that you might be using your AVG Anti-Virus Free in conflict with our License Agreement. AVG Anti-Virus Free is for private, non-commercial, single home computer use only.
We are certain that you appreciate not only the attractive price but especially the additional features of our AVG Network Edition.
Take advantage of our special offer now and keep your data safe!
I had never noticed anywhere in the terms that had said AVG was only for a single computer. They must be tracking the IP addresses of their users and if they receive more than one request from the same IP address then they assume you are violating their license.
Looking through the license agreement I found the spot that says “You must not use the program in a network or on more than one computer.” If I was still using Free AVG I wouldn’t be forking out the money…instead I would head on over to Avast! They say that “avast! 4 Home Edition can only be used by home users that do NOT use their computer for profit.” I didn’t see anything about a single computer only. AVG is making Avast look awfully appealing now!
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Tags: Software
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That is rather weird. Haven’t faced such a problem yet.
Have you tried avast? If so how is it?
I have tried Avast and I do actually think it is more configurable, which I like. Just like AVG you still can’t schedule a scan yourself unless you pay for the professional version.
For a more computer savvy user I would recommend Avast while AVG is more for the people that ask you to fix their computers.
-Ryan
Sounds wierd (-only 1 comp per home). I will be heading towards Avast shortly. Thanks Ryan.
My colleague mentioned this too, he’s had this message appear. It’s a shame really. We use AVG at home, we’re a pretty big family (4 kids) and we’re all fond of computers so there’s quie a few PC’s and laptops with AVG
I have used avast! for a while, and switched to AVG because avast! slowed my computer down.
No problem. I’m not trying to say AVG is a bad antivirus I am just a little disappointed in their terms. I guess that is up to them though.
I wonder when you tried Avast because the most recent version seems to run as good as AVG always did for me. Unfortunately I don’t have any benchmarks to back that up but they seem fairly equal.
There is also the option to try out AOL’s new antivirus which is powered by Kaspersky. I know I know, AOL is putting it out but look at this post from Neowin where someone compares the two pieces of software. It really isn’t that different.
-Ryan
How’s AntiVir Personal in comparison to AVG and Avast in terms of comparison and memory usage??
I have never actually used AntiVir so I’m not sure how it would compare to the other two. I was reading through the user comments on CNet about it and several people have said that it uses less memory.
-Ryan
My main reason choosing AVG besides it being free was because of the low CPU resources it uses. I have a good computer, but I like the save the resources for bigger apps.
Will give AVAST a shot.
The writer is being pretty harsh to AVG! Talk about complaining - the damn thing is FREE and you’re saying Avast is looking good!?!!?!? AVG/Grisoft have every right to stop that kind of thing. They offer a home Free version and paid network versions. If people are using the Free one on Networks then they should pay for it. Oh, and why would they track IP’s? Like, How, on a network, are there going to be more than one PC with the same IP? huh? They have a licence key they track.
I’ve been using avast! Home for a year now already and on my PC, it doesn’t. At least, not much.
What’s more interesting is that I’m using a s***ty Intel Celeron D PC, and it still works fine without slowing down or crashing Windows.
Anyhow, sometimes, a virus scanner HAS to slow down your PC to do his job well. avast! Home comes with a P2P Shield, a Web Shield, a Mail Shield, a regular scanner, an IM Shield, and so on.
With all these engines running, it’s no wonder that your PC becomes a bit slower. I don’t think that AVG offers all those shield…
The people at the Coolness Roundup say that you shouldn’t use any virus scanner at all, because it lets 80% of the viruses slip through.
Why? Because they didn’t have the chance to make a new virus definition after a new virus outbreak.
They also say that you should use your brain. No virus can activate itself without something you did (opening an attachment) or didn’t (patches) do.
Of course, this is not my opinion, but I wanted to share it because they have some interesting arguments.
Additional reading:
Gizmodo
Download MP3 (of the show where they talk about antivirus)
I’m not saying that AVG is a bad antivirus I am just saying that avast! Home is very comparable and does not restrict the user to one computer at home. avast! Home is also FREE so that is why it is looking good. Much like AVG they have a professional version that you can pay for in order to get more features.
Well, they are going to track the IP and the license key. If you have more than one license key coming from the same IP then they know that you are running more than one version.
-Ryan
May these links from Grisoft’s forums enlighten thou:
AVG Free License Issue
You MAY be using AVG contrary to the license!?
(taken from alt.comp.freeware, posted as “AVG Free tells me I may be running it illegally?”)
>They say that “avast! 4 Home Edition can only be used by home users that do NOT use their computer for profit.â€
That’s not much better. Anyone who has a job and brings work home, sells on ebay, writes articles or stories they may sell, makes a website that sells anything or collects ad revenue, etc., would be in violation of that.