AVG free, not free?

I went to their website:

Seems they have a 30 day trial then you have to buy it.

They also advertise a AVG Free at AVG.com

I simply use the free antivirus from Microsoft.

Pretty good marketing.. right after it expires it leads you to believe there's a bug on your computer.

You have to scroll down for the button to the free version.

http://www.avg.com/us-en/free-antivirus-download

That takes you, here, to CNET downloads.

http://download.cnet.com/AVG-AntiVirus-Free-2013/3000-2239_4-10320142.html?part=dl-avg_free_us&subj=dl&tag=button

Chuck AVG and go with MSE. If you want security, I recommend a browser like Chrome or IE as your first line of defense coupled with an ad blocker extension. Most attacks are 0-days, which no AV program is going to catch in the first place.

The only time where I would have third party antivirus products would be in a business or enterprise where I had to have audit capabilities and documentation that I had AV protection in place to make the legal eagles happy. Even then, Microsoft's SCEM (MSE's big brother) is still a top dog.

As previous stated, Microsoft Security Essentials is a freebie from Microsoft and is more than adequate for the average user to protect against virus's, spyware, malware. It will auto update itself and also run occasional scans of your system in the background unless you don't turn your pc on for several days. It will then give you a prompt to scan your system. After the initial install, go into setup and make a few setups such as the time/frequency for scans, etc.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5201

Thanks guys. I always get a good chuckle when I see everyone looking for antivirus software. Been running fine here for several years without any.

I will stick with AVG. I have run the free version for many years with no problems and yes, it does catch viruses. It is still free on CNET downloads which is one of the safest sites to download any software. JMO FWIW.

mlts22 wrote:
Chuck AVG and go with MSE.

The reason I don't tend to recommend MSE, though have used it in the past, is due to its consistently lower ratings in detection in Windows 7, sometimes referred to as protection, by three prominent independent security testing groups, AV-Test.org, AV-Comparatives.org, and VirusBtn.com. In comparison to popular free AV packages, MSE rated noticeably lower than AVG, aVast, and Avira in detection capabilities.

According to AV-Test.org's latest reviews, MSE was among 3 AV packages out of 25 tested that failed to receive their certification seal in Windows 7.

Though using MSE is better than having no protection, IMO, there are better FREE AV packages available if detection/protection is your primary concern. Do the research, and check the tests results for yourself.

AVG 2013 Free is in fact FREE. I've been using it for almost 10 years, and have never paid for it. I think what may have happened was that you received an upgrade offer popup for their Pro version, and agreed to do so. Just uninstall it, and re-install the FREE version directly from AVG at free.avg.com.

AVG is free if you scroll down to the bottom.

Avast still has free security software and that's what I use.