AVG Internet Security 8.0

Jul.16, 2008 in General, Internet, Reviews, Software

AVG Internet Security is AVG’s most advanced Anti-Virus package for Home users. With the arrival of edition 8.0 we though it was time to give our opinion of the package and show our users how to use the features that the package provides.

Configuration Process:

Once you’ve installed AVG Internet Security 8.0 you will have to configure the software. It is very important that you follow through and pay attention to the Configuring Process so that you can make sure that AVG is customised/designed to your needs.

Click Next.
At Step two you must select a time which you are usually on the computer so that your AVG can update the virus protection and given your computer a scan. The updates will last generally only a few minutes and scan will take up to an hour.
Step three gives you the option to help AVG to improve their service by keeping them aware of any malicious sites etc that you may come across. If you are willing to help out AVG leave the tick in the box, if you would rather not help them un-tick the box.
If you have installed the AVG Toolbar and would like to set Yahoo! as your main search engine place a tick in the box. If you’d rather not have it as your default search engine un-tick the box.
At step 5 we recommend that you quickly update. It wont take very long and is very important to ensure that your virus protection is up to date. Click next to check for updates or click skip to proceed without checking for updates.
There are two parts to step 6. The first is the AVG Updating your software and the second is confirming the updates. Once the updates are complete click Next.

Click ‘Continue Reading This Post’ to learn about:

Anti-Virus
Anti-Spyware
Anti-Spam
Anti-Rootkit
System Tools
Email Scanner
License
Link Scanner
Web Shield
Resident Shield
Update Manager
How to Change Scheduled time for Scans/Updates
How to Run a Manual Scan
How to Run a Manual Update
Top Tip

Anti-Virus:

AVG State that the definition for this component is ‘Anti-Virus detects Viruses, Worms and Trojans as well as executable files or DLL libraries that could potentially unwanted within your system. Anti-Virus also holds the internal virus database, and therefore it is crucial that you keep the Anti-Virus component up-to-date to maintain the maximum level of protection.’ This definition to me pretty much sums it up. The only thing you really need to do to the Anti-Virus component is to ensure that it is up-to-date, you can do this with ease by ensuring that you have a daily scan/update scheduled (for help with doing this read ‘how to change scheduled time for scans/updates’).

Anti-Spyware:

The job of Anti-Spyware is to protect your computer from any malicious software which in the industry are know as malware. An example is when software stores information from your machine without you knowing about it. Like the Anti-Virus component we recommend that you keep the Anti-Spyware Component up-to-date. All you’ll need to do is make sure that you have a daily scheduled scan/update and the component will be kept up-to-date (for help with doing this read how to change scheduled time for scans/updates).

Anti-Spam:

The Anti-Spam Component simply gives all incoming messages the once over to make sure that any emails that you don’t want are sent to the SPAM folder. Anti-Spam does take a little bit of work but it is worthwhile setting up. See Whitelist and Blacklist to configure the Anti-Spam component.

Whitelist:

A Whitelist is basically a list of email addresses which you classify as safe senders for example friends. To set-up your Whitelist read the instructions below:

Double-click on the AVG 8 Icon on your Desktop.
Click Tools and then Advanced Settings.
Click ‘Anti-Spam’ which is on the left-hand side menu of the new window entitled ‘Advanced AVG Settings’.
Then select Whitelist.
You can either manually input e-mail addresses by clicking edit and then typing in the email addresses. Or you can import email addresses either from a Text file, Windows Address Book or Microsoft Office Outlook. To import the addresses just click import and follow through the process.
Click OK to confirm or Cancel to delete changes.

Blacklist:

A Blacklist is a list of email addresses which are suspected of sending SPAM. All the emails from addresses on the Blacklist will be put in a separate folder called SPAM. To set-up your Blacklist read the instructions below:

Follow steps 1, 2 and 3 from the Whitelist Instructions.
Select Blacklist.
Follow steps 5 and 6 from the Whitelist Instructions.

Anti-Rootkit:

Anti-Rootkit is one of the new features of AVG 8. You may be thinking what an earth it is well simply Rootkits are threats which have malicious content but the twist is that they are hidden. It is pretty hard for basic anti-virus packages to pick up on Rootkits which is why it is important to have Anti-Rootkit on your package. The actual Anti-Rootkit component gives your computer a scan looking for any hidden Rootkits in drivers, DLL Libraries and Applications. A really dangerous Rootkit is not caught could give the hacker administrative access to your computer or even your network. If Rootkits aren’t caught early they can be very destructive.

To run an Anti-Rootkit Scan you need to set it manually. We recommend that you only scan when you notice problems in your machine and you scan at your own risk. Anti-Rootkit scanning should only really be used by people who know what they are doing or have good experience with computers.

System Tools:

System Tools is there to assist the admin when finding problems but it is beyond the scope of this blog.

E-mail Scanner:

E-mail Scanner is pretty much as it says. It scans all incoming and outgoing emails from the e-mail programs that you use the most. Whilst scanning the e-mail, if the scanner finds any viruses the virus is sent to the Virus Vault. A Virus Vault is like a jail for viruses, any corrupt files etc are sent to the vault which has the job of trying to turn the bad file/virus good and healthy again. Some people don’t bother scanning their outgoing messages as they think they are leaving their machine therefore it is not their responsibility to check the email for viruses, but instead the responsibility of the recipient. At Brandstar we believe it is important to be responsible for our own emails and therefore encourage users to scan messages on the way out too.

License:

The only reason you may use the License section is if you wanted to make a note of your License Number, Register AVG or Check when your license is due to expire. From here you can also activate a new license by going to re-activate and pasting in your new license.

Link Scanner:

Link Scanner can be split 6 different sections: Safe Search, Safe Surf, Safe LinkScan, Safe URL, Safe Download Scan and Safety Facts.

Safe Search scans all the results from your searches in search engines, e.g. google. This is a great way to help prevent any viruses getting into your system.
Safe Surf works very similarly to Safe Search, the difference being it scans in real time the website you are on/visiting instead of the search results. You can be told by ticks or crosses if the site is safe.
Safe LinkScan scans any links in emails, web pages, documents etc to check the are safe.
Safe URL inspects your favourite websites to check they are safe.
Safe Download Scan scans any downloads you may make to check that they are safe to download.
Safety Facts allows you to just hover over the AVG icon and which will inform you if the site is safe or not.

Web Shield:

AVG describe Web Shield better than I can, ‘Web Shield Protects you against accidentally downloading infected files or exchanging infected files over instant messaging.’

Resident Shield:

Resident Shield is not one of the well known features of anti-virus software but it is important. As AVG says ‘Resident Shield scans files as they are copied, opened and saved and if a threat is found , it forbids its activation. It also provides vital protection for the system areas of your computer. ‘

Update Manager:

Is where you can fiddle with the times/frequency for updating your protection. It is vital to update regularly to ensure that you have the most up-to-date protection so that your computer is stronger at fighting against viruses.

How to Change Scheduled time for Scans/Updates:

If you wish to change the time of the scheduled Scans/Updates you must firstly double click on the AVG icon on you desktop.
Then click on ‘Computer Scanner’ from the left-hand side of the AVG Window that appears.
Click on ‘Scheduled Scan’ so it becomes highlighted. Then select ‘Edit Scan Schedule’.
You can change how often the Scans/Updates are and the time they happen by using the drop down list and arrows.
Once you have made your changes click ‘Save’.

How to Run a Manual Scan:

You can schedule a daily scan but there might be an occasion where you want to run a scan but there isn’t one scheduled and you don’t wish to change the schedule. Below are the instructions of how to run a manual scan.

First of all, double click on the AVG Icon on the Desktop, or in the bottom right-hand cornet of the screen.
Click Tools and Scan Computer. Your computer will now run a scan. (You can do the same for particular files and folders on your computer, just choose the applicable choice option).

How to Run a Manual Update:

Like above you can run a manual update. The manual update will simply update your computer’s virus protection and check for any updates available. Follow the instructions below to run a manual update:

Firstly, double click on the AVG icon from your desktop or the bottom right-hand corner of your screen.
Next Click Tools from the top of the screen and then select Update. Your software will now search for updates and install them.