AVG Antivirus Free 2013 download available

By Martin Brinkmann on September 6, 2012 - Tags:Windows software

AVG Technologies today has released the annual update for their AVG Free Antivirus 2013 security application for Windows introducing new and improved features as well as a new user interface. AVG Anti-virus Free is one of the most popular free antivirus solutions for Windows PCs. It has grown in recent years from an application that was designed purely to protect the system from malicious software, to a program that does a lot more than just that. Critics say the program has become bloated because of that and there is certainly some truth to that when you look at the included modules:

• Antivirus protection
• Email Scanner
• Linkscanner
• Social Networking Protection
• Do Not Track
• Identity Protection
• WiFi Guard

Good news is that you can disable several of the modules that you do not need during installation, so that they won’t be installed along with the core antivirus app. You can block the installation of the AVG gadget, personal e-mail scanner, identity protection and AVG Surf-Shield during installation.

Bad news that the installer contains offers to install AVG Secure Search as the default search provider and the AVG Security toolbar in supported web browsers. To avoid this, select custom install and make sure the items are unchecked before you proceed with a click on next.

First thing you will notice when you start the program is the new user interface that displays the protection status and links to core program features.

You do find advertisement for the company’s own Antivirus 2013 and Internet Security scattered throughout the interface. About a fifths of the interface is reserved for ads that highlight some of the benefits of upgrading to one of the company’s commercial offerings. AVG thankfully included an option to hide that notification so that it does not get into your way all the time.

You will also find upgrade hints in various modules. The email scanner for instance highlights that spam protection is available in the commercial products on top of the email scanning of the free version.

So what is new in AVG Antivirus Free 2013?

We have previously mentioned that AVG Linkscanner has been discontinued and replaced by AVG Secure Search. The tool is available as a standalone download and also as part of the latest Antivirus free iteration. It is basically Linkscanner plus the AVG Security Toolbar, and – optional – changes to the browser’s default homepage and search provider. You can disable the inclusion by selecting the custom install option.

WiFi Guard is another new feature, which according to AVG, “helps you avoid rogue Wifi access points used by hackers by alerting you when your PC tries to access such a network”. Windows may connect your PC to a wireless network that you have been connected to in the past if it has the same name, even though it may not be the same network. WiFi Guard will recognize this for you and display a notification so that you have time to disconnect from the network. This module has actually been included in AVG 2012 updates.

Do not track is another feature that AVG introduced in a 2012 lineup update. It informs AVG users about data collected by Internet sites. The feature collects information about ad networks, social buttons and web analytics that you come across on the Internet, giving you options to block some or all of the scripts from your browser to protect yourself from being tracked by the scripts.

AVG Antivirus Free 2012 includes the following additional changes and improvements:

• Reduced footprint while running when compared to the 2012 release
• Better detection algorithm
• File reputation, a cloud based service that improves the program’s detection capabilities

The program is a bit heavy on the notification side of things. You can disable some or all notifications, e.g. scan finished, under Options > Advanced Settings. Here you can also disable the boot time improvement notifications that you may see on reboots or new starts of the system.

Here is a video that is announcing the new version and the thought process behind it.

Download

AVG Antivirus Free 2013 is available as a web installer and offline installer. The web installer has a size of 4 Megabytes and will download the rest of the installation files from the Internet during installation. The offline installer is available as a 32-bit and 64-bit version, with a size of 118 Megabytes and 130 Megabytes respectively, that includes all components and does not require an Internet connection during installation.  Both versions can be downloaded on this page.

Processes

AVG uses several processes while running. You need to enable Show processes from all users to display them all. Please note that you may have additional or less processes depending on the modules that you have installed with the program:

• avgcsrva.exe – the core scanning module, server part
• avgemca.exe – the email scanner
• avgidsagent.exe – the identity protection service
• avgnsa.exe – AVG online shield service and resident shield service
• avgui.exe – user interface, only process running under the user account
• avgwdsvc.exe – watchdog service

Closing Words

The new interface is definitely  a step in the right direction, as are the options to block certain modules from being installed with the program. I’d highly suggest to use a custom install to remove all the security modules and offers that you do not want installed on your system.

Windows 8: The return of the browser choice screen

By Martin Brinkmann on September 6, 2012 - Tags:Web browser, Windows 8

I had hopes that the EU would not force Microsoft to integrate the browser choice screen, or browser ballot as it was called, in its newest Windows 8 operating system. Why? Because it does not make sense. If you know about other web browsers, chance is high that you are already using a different browser as your default browser, and in this case, won’t get to see the browser choice screen anyway. If you do not know about other browsers, you won’t be able to make an educated decision about the browsers offered to you as you are only presented with a paragraph of text created by the creators of the browser. And while you could do some research to find the best browser for you, or pick one or multiple browsers from the list to test them out, it is likely that the majority of users won’t go through that length.

Anyway, if you have installed the Windows 8 RTM on a system and are currently residing in a country that is forcing this upon its citizens, then you will find an important update on Windows Update. The update does not get installed automatically, likely because it is being held back and unleashed once the final version of the OS comes out.

You can however install the update manually, and if you do and restart your PC, you will notice that the browser choice screen gets loaded on the next start. That is, unless you have installed  a program or tweaked the system to skip the start page on boot. If you did, you won’t see the options menu as it is a startpage app. What’s interesting in this regard is that it is possible to load Metro apps right on system boot.

You can select to install any of the browsers offered to you – Safari is missing – click on tell me more links for additional information, use the select later button to not make a decision at this point in time, or close the window by click-dragging the window from top to bottom (or using Alt-F4). You can reopen the app at any time as it is linked on the start page and classic desktop for easy access., or remove that tile with a right-click and the selection of unpin from start.

Here are important information about the browser choice screen:

• Browsers that you have already installed won’t be removed from the operating system when you select to install a different browser. It may happen that they are updated though. The update will however unpin Internet Explorer from the system’s taskbar.
• Users in the following countries will receive the Browser Choice update: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland
• The browser descriptions may appear in English and not your native language if the creators of the browser have not provided Microsoft with a translated version for that language.

What’s your take on the integration of browser choice in Windows 8? (thanks Ilev for the tip)

Firefox: see if increased memory consumption is caused by addons

By Martin Brinkmann on September 5, 2012 - Tags:Firefox add-ons, Firefox Tips, mozilla

Mozilla fixed most add-on memory leaks in Firefox 15, and while that is a good thing and all, some users have reported that they are witnessing the exact opposite, that Firefox 15 is gaining memory rapidly when the browser is in use. The majority of Firefox users should not see that behavior, but if you do, you probably would like an explanation why this is happening on your computer.

There are several – like always – explanations for this. While Mozilla did fix most add-on memory leaks, some remain, and you may have installed one add-on, or multiple add-ons, that still leak. This is for instance the case for the Scriptish add-on, a Greasemonkey fork, or the Speed Dialadd-on.

You have multiple options to find out if one of your addons is causing the leaks. Nicholas Nethercote notes that you can use the built-in error console for that. Click on Firefox > Web Developer > Error Console, or use Ctrl-Shift-J, to open it in the browser. Locate the filter at the top right and paste TypeError: can’t access dead object into it. If you see results, one of your add-ons is trying to access memory that has been cut by the browser. I suggest you work as usual for at least 15 to 30 minutes before you check for that to make sure the log is filled with information. Please note that this only reveals add-ons that started to leak after Mozilla implemented the memory improvements.

Another option that you have that requires a bit more of work on your side is to run Firefox without add-ons. The easiest way to do that is to start the browser in safe mode. For that you need to launch Firefox with the –safe-mode parameter. If you have the program pinned to your taskbar or startmenu, right-click it and select properties. Add the parameter to the end of the target field in the window. Firefox should now offer to start in safe mode. Make sure you accept that and not the reset option that is displayed as well. Firefox will start without add-ons, themes and other modifications.

Monitor the browser’s memory usage afterwards for a while to see if it stays on a normal level. If it does, one of your add-ons is the culprit. To find out which, you need to start Firefox in regular mode again, disable all of your add-ons, and enable them one by one to see which is causing the issues. You could try a divide and conquer strategy instead, enable half, disable half, to speed up things.

But there is a second reason for high memory usage in Firefox. Web services like Google Readermay also be responsible. Several Firefox users have reported that Google Reader is causing the memory to increase over time when it is open in the browser. If you are using Google Reader regularly, you may want to make sure to close and re-open the tab regularly to avoid this from happening, if you are affected.

JavaRa 2.0: manage Java on your PC

By Martin Brinkmann on September 7, 2012 - Tags:java, Portable software, Windows software

JavaRa is a sweet little program that allows you to manage Java on your PC. It comes with functionality to uninstall old Java versions, update the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) to the latest version, install the latest version of Java, and perform a number of other features related to Oracle’s Java technology.

JavaRa 2.0 has just been released by its author, introducing several improvements to previous versions of the application. Please note that the JavaRa 1.1.6 legacy version remains available on the developer’s website as well. The core difference between the versions is that the legacy version does not require the Microsoft .Net Framework.

To use the program, simply download it to your computer and unpack it to a folder on the system. You can run it right from that folder without installation afterwards.

The program window displays the core options that are at your disposal.

• Update Java Runtime can use Oracle’s own jucheck.exe tool to check for and download updates, perform an online version check, or download and install the latest JRE version right away without check.
• Remove JRE offers to remove any version of Java that is currently installed on the system. It is recommended to try the official Java uninstaller first before you run the tool.
• Additional tasks lets you remove startup entries, check the Java version directly, and remove outdated JRE Firefox extension frmo the browser.

The new version offers improved detection of native JRE uninstallers, an option to automatically check for program updates, French interface translations (incomplete), file and directory removal support for the definition file format, and a fix for an issue that caused settings to be ignored.

JavaRa 2.0 is an excellent program for Windows users who either need to troubleshoot their Java installation, want a more comfortable way of updating it to the latest version, or need to remove Java from the system but can’t use the official uninstaller for that.

How to uninstall the AVG Security Toolbar

By Martin Brinkmann on September 7, 2012 - Tags:antivirus

AVG Technologies AVG Security Toolbar is included in the company’s latest range of security software, as a standalone application, and as a third party offer included in the installer of software such as TuneUp Ztilities, SlimCleaner or PowerIso. Yesterday’s release of AVG Antivirus Free 2013 included the AVG Security Toolbar as an offer, and if you did not select custom installation, you’d end up with the toolbar in Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.

So what’s the purpose of the toolbar? It ships with a link scanner that displays security information about websites. This is similar to what Web of Trust does. The toolbar itself offers search, weather information, a link to a speedtest and other features that are not really related to security.

Deactivate the AVG Security Toolbar

The toolbar is installed from outside the web browser, which comes with the issue that you can’t uninstall the toolbar from within the browser. What you can do however is disable the toolbar in the browser which blocks it from being loaded during browser start or use.

Firefox

Load about:addons in the browser’s address bar and locate the AVG SiteSafety plugin under plugins here. Click on disable to turn it off in the browser. The button should turn to enable, which you can click on to turn the toolbar on again in the browser.

Internet Explorer

To disable the AVG Security Toolbar in Internet Explorer, right-click the toolbar in the browser and uncheck the AVg Security Toolbar option of the context menu.

Uninstall the AVG Security Toolbar

Uninstallation of the toolbar depends largely on how it has been installed on the operating system. If you have installed it as a standalone program or as part of another software installation, you can remove the toolbar using the uninstall a program control panel applet of the operating system.

If you have installed the AVG Security Toolbar as part of another AVG product, you can remove it running the installer again and selecting to add or remove features when it comes up. just uncheck the toolbar here and click next to remove the toolbar from the system.

Please note that the option to remove individual features from the installation is not displayed if you run the uninstaller.

I’d recommend to close all browser windows before you run the uninstaller to make sure everything can be properly removed from the system without leftovers.