AVG 6.0 Free Edition
The one thing that set AVG 6.0 apart from the rest was the fact that this software is available for free download. You have to pay for the one year technical support service, that's if you want the service. The product is an excellent example of software that turn the notion of 'free not being that good' on its head.
In our test it was quite effective when compared to the other anti-virus software. It performed proper heuristic analysis (the ability to scan for new viruses) and caught even the latest viruses such as the Kak virus. Its automatic update feature was a strong point as it could keep track of the latest viruses because it keeps updating itself as and when some new signatures are added on its Web site.
Since AVG is a freeware, it didn't ship with any help manual as such, though information was available from the product's Web site. It didn't install any help files with the package, so the help icons didn't work.
Installing AVG was as simple as installing any other freeware/shareware. In a few clicks and in less then five minutes the product was installed. One very good feature was that before completing the installation, AVG tested the system on which it was being loaded for viruses. In our test it easily detected all the viruses present on the system and disinfected the system before proceeding further. It also gave the option to make rescue diskettes and automatic live update during the installation.
The interface was quite user friendly and it also gave different configurable options during installation. You could configure Resident Shield, E-Mail Scanner, Control Center and Boot up scanner.
As far as its detection ability went, it could detect 87.4 per cent of the viruses. It did not clean the viruses at detection itself but the good part was that as and when a virus showed activity such as on opening a file or using a macro, AVG came into action and flashed a message about the virus, allowing you to disinfect the system. It could disinfect all the known viruses without any problem. But, in some cases, where it couldn't do that, the 'illegal operation' message cropped up. It also had the ability to detect for viruses during the booting process itself. Since it's free, it gives good value for money, though its cleaning rate didn't match that of other software such as McAfee or Norton.