AVG 2013 upgrade blew up my XP

[DaleMaley]

Sorry in advance if this topic has already been posted. I googled and did not find it posted yet.


I made the mistake of clicking yes on the popup for upgrading my 2012 AVG to the 2013 version.

When my XP 32 bit computer went to reboot after the upgrade it locked up. I had to use F12 and restore it to a previous date to get it to run again. I googled and found out many people are having trouble with the 2013 upgrade. I removed 2013 and tried to reload the 2012 version........and I got an installation error.

I gave up on AVG today, and am downloading Microsoft's free antivirus program. Hopefully it won't blow up my old XP computer.

Based upon my experience, I would recommend not upgrading to 2013 AVG.

[bottlecap]

I could have used this info about 10 minutes ago...

[chaz]

Microsoft's free antivirus program MSE works fine.

[DaleMaley]

Microsoft's free program found a trojan horse type virus as soon as I turned it on

Looks like I am done messing around with AVG.

[RyeWhiskey]

Microsoft Security Essentials work just fine for most. Also, wrong forum? Shouldn't this be in Consumer Issues?

[LadyGeek]

Yes, it should. It's moved. BTW, feel free to use the "Report post" button (the "!" in the top right corner of every post). One of the options is "Wrong forum."

[nonnie]

Microsoft's free antivirus program MSE works fine.

What about root kits?

[chaz]

Microsoft's free antivirus program MSE works fine.

What about root kits?

Do you have a root kit?

[DSInvestor]

What about root kits?

Here's a link to the features page of Microsoft Security Essentials. Rootkit protection is one of the features.
http://windows.microsoft.com/is-IS/wind ... 1=features

[Jerilynn]

I used AVG for a few years, never did like it. Based on reports on this forum, I switched to MSE and couldn't be happier.

Or in other words, +1.

[mike143]

AVG was the go to free option before MSE became a effective option. For free options I would only consider MSE.

[larsdad]

I have used AVG free for several years with no problems, however after reading your posts I thought I would look at MSE to see if it could be better. During my research I went to AV Test, The Independent IT Security site and found out that MSE for Windows 7 doesn't fare too well. In fact it scored a 1.5/6 in
Protection against malware infections(such as viruses, worms or Trojan horses) The Vista version did a little better at 2.5/6.
After seeing that information I've decided that AVG will still work for me.
You can see the info at:http://www.av-test.org/

[Ping Pong]

Isn't AVG in a jail somewhere in Guatemala?

[larsdad]

I think you've got your "viruses" mixed up. That was McAfee

[nisiprius]

I used AVG Free for a while. It made me nervous because it was far, far too aggressive about nagging me to upgrade to the paid version--and because during the time I was using it, there was an incident, which fortunately did not affect me, in which AVG gave a false positive and identified a legitimate Windows DLL, user32.dll as malware. Users who allowed AVG to delete that file ended up with unbootable systems.

[chaz]

Isn't AVG in a jail somewhere in Guatemala?

I read that McAfee is back in the US.

[kenschmidt]

Microsoft's free antivirus program MSE works fine.

What about root kits?

I use MSE on all of the computers in my home but my son got a rootkit virus that got past MSE and blocked it from running scans or removing it. This was a particularly nasty one - I think it was called Rootkit Zero. He got it from clicking a link in a Skype message sent from an infected computer of a friend. He knew as soon as he clicked he had made a mistake.

MalwareBytes could detect it and reported removal but it came back upon restart. I finally had to do a complete Windows 7 reinstall to get rid of it. Worst virus I have ever run across.

[chaz]

Microsoft's free antivirus program MSE works fine.

What about root kits?

I use MSE on all of the computers in my home but my son got a rootkit virus that got past MSE and blocked it from running scans or removing it. This was a particularly nasty one - I think it was called Rootkit Zero. He got it from clicking a link in a Skype message sent from an infected computer of a friend. He knew as soon as he clicked he had made a mistake.

MalwareBytes could detect it and reported removal but it came back upon restart. I finally had to do a complete Windows 7 reinstall to get rid of it. Worst virus I have ever run across.

But look:
Here's a link to the features page of Microsoft Security Essentials. Rootkit protection is one of the features.
http://windows.microsoft.com/is-IS/wind ... 1=features

[FrugalInvestor]

I've been using MSE for a long time with no issues but I am careful where I go and wary of out-of-the ordinary emails, links, etc.

[rustymutt]

Microsoft's free antivirus program MSE works fine.

Plus one

[1530jesup]

I have been toying with dropping AVG because of their clumsy handling of search protection.
I finally found a fix for their "oops" web site switch but reading these posts has me ready to take the Microsoft plunge.

BTW, I am still on XP professional with no real conflicts with AVG 2013 as reported here.
Yet, time to move on.
BTW(2), Malwarebytes and Spybot are my go to spyware tools
Rich

[zaplunken]

AVG is highly recommended on a computer talk radio show here by guys that have been in the business providing service to commercial accounts for 20 years. My sister was using the free version on her pc (based upon that) using XP and it filled her c drive (this happened a year or 2 after getting the pc and AVG) to the point nothing could run! We took it to a pc store locally where I bought it for her and he found the problem in a few minutes. We bought her Norton, removed AVG and she's had no problems since. IMO AVG is not worth using.

[nonnie]

moved to Getting Rid of Rootkits

[LadyGeek]

I think your partner will be OK.

Although I haven't used this in a while, here's a good utility that does the Dept of Defense spec data wipe: Darik's Boot And Nuke. Perhaps your partner is using this already? Increasing the number of passes might help, but you probably don't need more than 10 times.

[dragoncar]

[nonnie]

Cute - Sheesh, I thought I only had to worry about Adobe. It's almost enough to get me to start thinking about a keyboard for my Android tablet-- if only there was something better than Roboform for password security.

[plats]

AVG is highly recommended on a computer talk radio show here by guys that have been in the business providing service to commercial accounts for 20 years. My sister was using the free version on her pc (based upon that) using XP and it filled her c drive (this happened a year or 2 after getting the pc and AVG) to the point nothing could run! We took it to a pc store locally where I bought it for her and he found the problem in a few minutes. We bought her Norton, removed AVG and she's had no problems since. IMO AVG is not worth using.

AVG also filled up my home and office Vista PCs with huge files in a folder called "dumps." It's a hard folder to find. I finally found it using a freeware called TreeSize Free, which lists files on the hard drive by size. I uninstalled AVG, but I believe to rid yourself of all traces of AVG (from the registry, for example) is impossible without formatting the hard drive. Microsoft Security Essentials has been working fine for years.

[Tom_T]

BTW(2), Malwarebytes and Spybot are my go to spyware tools

Malwarebytes is pretty good for cleaning up, but Spybot... I'd get rid of it. Spybot had a good reputation years ago, but it has since fallen hopelessly behind most other products. You are better off using Microsoft Security Essentials (not my favorite, but far, far better than Spybot.) PC Magazine gave Spybot a one-star rating not long ago (that's one star out of five.)


FWIW, I recently switched to Avast, and I'm happy with it thus far. I also keep Malwarebytes around.

[1530jesup]

BTW(2), Malwarebytes and Spybot are my go to spyware tools

Malwarebytes is pretty good for cleaning up, but Spybot... I'd get rid of it. Spybot had a good reputation years ago, but it has since fallen hopelessly behind most other products. You are better off using Microsoft Security Essentials (not my favorite, but far, far better than Spybot.) PC Magazine gave Spybot a one-star rating not long ago (that's one star out of five.)


FWIW, I recently switched to Avast, and I'm happy with it thus far. I also keep Malwarebytes around.

One of the reasons I alternate running both is that each has found something the other program missed. Not an expert, but maybe different users attract or are vulnerable to different malware/spyware attacks. Not that I am catching stuff on a regular basis; on line I live a fairly clean life.

[Tom_T]

BTW(2), Malwarebytes and Spybot are my go to spyware tools

Malwarebytes is pretty good for cleaning up, but Spybot... I'd get rid of it. Spybot had a good reputation years ago, but it has since fallen hopelessly behind most other products. You are better off using Microsoft Security Essentials (not my favorite, but far, far better than Spybot.) PC Magazine gave Spybot a one-star rating not long ago (that's one star out of five.)


FWIW, I recently switched to Avast, and I'm happy with it thus far. I also keep Malwarebytes around.

One of the reasons I alternate running both is that each has found something the other program missed. Not an expert, but maybe different users attract or are vulnerable to different malware/spyware attacks. Not that I am catching stuff on a regular basis; on line I live a fairly clean life.

I agree with your two-pronged approach. I'm just saying that Spybot's best days are long past, and that you could easily substitute it with a better and still-free package.

[EternalOptimist]

My tech guy recommended and installed free avast and am totally satisfied with it. I used to have AVG on my XP and this is less problematic. Good luck

[nonnie]

Holy f*&$Kin' AVG-- I just ran a full scan with MS Security Essentials (had been using AVG) and it found 8 Malware items-- "quick" scan did not find anything. 2 Trojan installed -- one of which was embedded in an AVG file, 5 Java exploits and a locked corruputed driver file-- found w/ TDSS Killer. I'm asking AVG for my money back, seriously.

Nonnie

[stratton]

I use MSE on all of the computers in my home but my son got a rootkit virus that got past MSE and blocked it from running scans or removing it. This was a particularly nasty one - I think it was called Rootkit Zero. He got it from clicking a link in a Skype message sent from an infected computer of a friend. He knew as soon as he clicked he had made a mistake.

You have to keep the MSE signature files current with software update. Microsoft generally issues new ones at least once a month. Sometimes two or three in one month. They are painless to install and don't require a reboot.

Paul

[Mudpuppy]

I use MSE on all of the computers in my home but my son got a rootkit virus that got past MSE and blocked it from running scans or removing it. This was a particularly nasty one - I think it was called Rootkit Zero. He got it from clicking a link in a Skype message sent from an infected computer of a friend. He knew as soon as he clicked he had made a mistake.

You have to keep the MSE signature files current with software update. Microsoft generally issues new ones at least once a month. Sometimes two or three in one month. They are painless to install and don't require a reboot.

MS issues new definition (signature) files pretty much on a daily basis (and often twice a day). You can schedule daily quick scans and set it to download the latest definition files right before that. That way, you'll be kept up to date on the definition file. It also used to default to updating the definition files on a regular basis, although I had to disable that on my machine since it would spike the I/O at all the wrong times, so I don't know if that is the default these days.

[johng]

I wouldn't be particularly confident that microsoft security essentials is the best choice.

This article in http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-57556340-12/security-essentials-fails-latest-av-test/ references tests by av-test http://www.av-test.org/en/tests/home-user/ which indicated it doesn't provide as full coverage as some other products.

I've seen av-test referenced by other reasonably reputable sources but I don't know for sure how good they are. I'd welcome any info people have on them.

My own personal approach is to actually use different AV vendors products on different machines. If one product misses a particular threat then I may be lucky enough for it to be noticed and caught on another machine.

John.