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Warning - AVG 8 problems with install/uninstall/upgrade

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Carol Haynes:
Just spent a couple of hours trying to sort out a computer for a client/friend after he upgraded from AVG 7.5 Free to AVG 8 Free.

Not sure what caused the problems (he also has ZoneAlarm Free version installed and I suspect there may be a compatability issue there) but AVG 8 Free did attempt to uninstall the older version and install the new version. Trouble was it completely killed his internet connection.

What is worse is that AVG 8 refused to uninstall fully. The uninstaller ran and said it had completed but each network device in the device manager had an AVG miniport device installed with AVG 8 and it didn't uninstall them properly. Manually removing them was not possible as the device manager said they were required to allow the system to boot properly.

The only way I could get a running system going again was to use System Restore to restore back to the point where AVG 8 was installed. The problem now was that AVG7.5 was also partially restored in a half uninstalled/damaged state and the uninstaller wouldn't run because it was damaged. Add to that I couldn't find AVG7.5 as a download anywhere - even though many sites said they had it they actually had version 8.01 instead.

I was just considering backing up and attempting a manual uninstall of the remaider of AVG7.5 (not something I relished without some instructions) when I luckily remembered I still had an old copy of 7.5 on my own hard disk so I ran the installer and used the uninstall option to remove the old version completely.

All in all an expensive nightmare for my friend who really hadn't got a clue how to sort out a system that was left in a total mess - and there was no apparent help or support for this situation on the AVG website.

My advice would be to avoid AVG 8 Free like the plague - especially if you are using security apps from other developers. If you do want to try AVG 8 then unistall AVG 7.5 first and make sure you either have a backup image (or at least System Restore running) at the ready for retreat if there is a problem.

I installed AVAST for him which seems to work fine (though you do have to disable one feature because of an issue with Zone Alarm - it is described during installation but not in language that will make sense to the average user).

PhilB66:
Claus Valca's post Taming AVG Free version 8 covers many issues about AVG 8. Make sure to read the comments as well. And a follow up post Simple thoughts on AVG Free v8 that's worth reading.

ljbirns:
I had no problem upgrading to AVG 8.0 free  from 7.5 free on two XP computers and one Vista computer.  I also run Zone alarm on all three.

When the install asked about the tool bar I said NO.  It does take forever to scan.

Carol Haynes:
I'm not saying it isn't potentially a good product - just beware that the installation process and the uninstallation process are not exactly consistent if you run into problems. Also note that my friend does not appear to be an isolated case having connectivity problems given some of the problems quoted in the second article in PhilB66's post.

PCMag isn't hugely impressed either (with the Pro version), giving is an overall rating of 'Fair' (50%), and says that on a number of test machines there was a "significant manual cleanup on instruction from tech support" needed to get the Pro version to work properly. See http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2277377,00.asp

If you do a google search on "Problems AVG 8 Free" you will find a lot of common problems cropping up - lost connectivity being one of them.

cchian:
You can find current and older versions of lots of applications (including AVG) here http://www.filehippo.com/

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