AVG Free

This was the anit virus ware we had been using but in the last few weeks AVG
Free has morphed into somthing strange. We have appreciated the use of AVG
Free because we are seniors and look to limit expenses where ever possible.
It started calling home with "use Data" and just today I discovered that AVG
is setting Scheduled Tasks to perform. Hmmm! I have deleted those tasks.
I was looking to see if other tasks I had set up were changed because my
system was crashed twice, I think during the running of a defrag task that
had been running perfectly for months.

My question; "is there a way to prevent ANY other operator but myself from
setting scheduled tasks?" Can the system refuse to accept scheduled tasks
from any other source but me? Would I be better off to switch to a user more
limited in allowed capabilities when leaving the system asleep? The OS is
Vista, still pre SP1 but up to date with updates.

Thanks for your help.

George

"WindyGeorge" <> wrote in message
news:A78ACAE3-72CE-4E9F-B629-...
> This was the anit virus ware we had been using but in the last few weeks
> AVG
> Free has morphed into somthing strange. We have appreciated the use of
> AVG
> Free because we are seniors and look to limit expenses where ever
> possible.
> It started calling home with "use Data" and just today I discovered that
> AVG
> is setting Scheduled Tasks to perform. Hmmm! I have deleted those
> tasks.
> I was looking to see if other tasks I had set up were changed because my
> system was crashed twice, I think during the running of a defrag task that
> had been running perfectly for months.
>
> My question; "is there a way to prevent ANY other operator but myself from
> setting scheduled tasks?" Can the system refuse to accept scheduled tasks
> from any other source but me? Would I be better off to switch to a user
> more
> limited in allowed capabilities when leaving the system asleep? The OS is
> Vista, still pre SP1 but up to date with updates.
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> George
>


There is an option during install which asks if you do not mind it
collecting information and sending it back to the AVG base. It is clear
enough..

There may well be a way to disable this feature.. one way is to uninstall
and then re-install taking care to uncheck the box which gives it rights to
phone home..

I don't think that the 'phone home' is a malicious thing..

Personally, I wouldn't worry about it too much..


--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
http://support.microsoft.com/default...help&style=toc
Mike's Window - My Blog..
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx

Hello Mike:

In fact that is exactly what I did; un-install and reinstall AVG Free making
sure no other features except the virus checking were installed. There is no
option about the scheduled tasks, do you suggest ignoring those too?

George

"Mike Hall - MVP" wrote:

> "WindyGeorge" <> wrote in message
> news:A78ACAE3-72CE-4E9F-B629-...
> > This was the anit virus ware we had been using but in the last few weeks
> > AVG
> > Free has morphed into somthing strange. We have appreciated the use of
> > AVG
> > Free because we are seniors and look to limit expenses where ever
> > possible.
> > It started calling home with "use Data" and just today I discovered that
> > AVG
> > is setting Scheduled Tasks to perform. Hmmm! I have deleted those
> > tasks.
> > I was looking to see if other tasks I had set up were changed because my
> > system was crashed twice, I think during the running of a defrag task that
> > had been running perfectly for months.
> >
> > My question; "is there a way to prevent ANY other operator but myself from
> > setting scheduled tasks?" Can the system refuse to accept scheduled tasks
> > from any other source but me? Would I be better off to switch to a user
> > more
> > limited in allowed capabilities when leaving the system asleep? The OS is
> > Vista, still pre SP1 but up to date with updates.
> >
> > Thanks for your help.
> >
> > George
> >
>
>
> There is an option during install which asks if you do not mind it
> collecting information and sending it back to the AVG base. It is clear
> enough..
>
> There may well be a way to disable this feature.. one way is to uninstall
> and then re-install taking care to uncheck the box which gives it rights to
> phone home..
>
> I don't think that the 'phone home' is a malicious thing..
>
> Personally, I wouldn't worry about it too much..
>
>
> --
> Mike Hall - MVP
> How to construct a good post..
> http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
> How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
> http://support.microsoft.com/default...help&style=toc
> Mike's Window - My Blog..
> http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx
>
>
>
>
>

WindyGeorge wrote:

> Hello Mike:
>
> In fact that is exactly what I did; un-install and reinstall AVG Free
> making
> sure no other features except the virus checking were installed. There is
> no option about the scheduled tasks, do you suggest ignoring those too?

Try Avast free instead.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

"WindyGeorge" <> wrote in message
news:A78ACAE3-72CE-4E9F-B629-...
> This was the anit virus ware we had been using but in the last few weeks
> AVG
> Free has morphed into somthing strange. We have appreciated the use of
> AVG
> Free because we are seniors and look to limit expenses where ever
> possible.
> It started calling home with "use Data" and just today I discovered that
> AVG
> is setting Scheduled Tasks to perform. Hmmm! I have deleted those
> tasks.
> I was looking to see if other tasks I had set up were changed because my
> system was crashed twice, I think during the running of a defrag task that
> had been running perfectly for months.
>
> My question; "is there a way to prevent ANY other operator but myself from
> setting scheduled tasks?" Can the system refuse to accept scheduled tasks
> from any other source but me? Would I be better off to switch to a user
> more
> limited in allowed capabilities when leaving the system asleep? The OS is
> Vista, still pre SP1 but up to date with updates.
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> George
>

AVG is scheduling tasks because you have set it to do a scan at some regular
interval etc.
If you wish to only do manual scans then go into AVG and set the schedule
accordingly.

As regards who can schedule jobs - it is only those with admin level
privileges or the operating system itself.

--

Mike Brannigan

"Malke" <> wrote in message news:...
| WindyGeorge wrote:
|
| > Hello Mike:
| >
| > In fact that is exactly what I did; un-install and reinstall AVG Free
| > making
| > sure no other features except the virus checking were installed. There is
| > no option about the scheduled tasks, do you suggest ignoring those too?
|
| Try Avast free instead.
|
| Malke
| --
| MS-MVP
| Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
| FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

Avast Free is a bad choice in this case.
The free version has no automatic update or scan scheduler and senior's tend to forget these tasks.

Richard in AZ wrote:

> Avast Free is a bad choice in this case.
> The free version has no automatic update or scan scheduler and senior's
> tend to forget these tasks.

This is incorrect. Avast free updates itself. You may be correct about the
scan scheduler but I would have to look and none of the Windows machines
are on right now. Considering the recent issues with AVG 8.0 and the
nonsense they pulled with their link scanner, I will continue to not
recommend AVG. I haven't liked AVG in a number of years.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

"Mike Brannigan" wrote:

> "WindyGeorge" <> wrote in message
> news:A78ACAE3-72CE-4E9F-B629-...
> > This was the anit virus ware we had been using but in the last few weeks
> > AVG
> > Free has morphed into somthing strange. We have appreciated the use of
> > AVG
> > Free because we are seniors and look to limit expenses where ever
> > possible.
> > It started calling home with "use Data" and just today I discovered that
> > AVG
> > is setting Scheduled Tasks to perform. Hmmm! I have deleted those
> > tasks.
> > I was looking to see if other tasks I had set up were changed because my
> > system was crashed twice, I think during the running of a defrag task that
> > had been running perfectly for months.
> >
> > My question; "is there a way to prevent ANY other operator but myself from
> > setting scheduled tasks?" Can the system refuse to accept scheduled tasks
> > from any other source but me? Would I be better off to switch to a user
> > more
> > limited in allowed capabilities when leaving the system asleep? The OS is
> > Vista, still pre SP1 but up to date with updates.
> >
> > Thanks for your help.
> >
> > George
> >
>
> AVG is scheduling tasks because you have set it to do a scan at some regular
> interval etc.
> If you wish to only do manual scans then go into AVG and set the schedule
> accordingly.
>
> As regards who can schedule jobs - it is only those with admin level
> privileges or the operating system itself.
>
> --
>
> Mike Brannigan
>

Hello Mike:

The tasks that had been set up by AVG were triggered by AVG Install. I
decided that that trigger had nothing to do with scanning on a daily basis
and indeed AVG has not previously required a scheduled task to scan the
system. I have tried Avast in the past and we are trying Avira right now.
I will report back as to our final choice. Thanks.

George

On Fri, 18 Jul 2008 07:36:52 -0700, "Richard in AZ"
<> wrote:

>
> "Malke" <> wrote in message news:...
> | WindyGeorge wrote:
> |
> | > Hello Mike:
> | >
> | > In fact that is exactly what I did; un-install and reinstall AVG Free
> | > making
> | > sure no other features except the virus checking were installed. There is
> | > no option about the scheduled tasks, do you suggest ignoring those too?
> |
> | Try Avast free instead.
> |
> | Malke

> Avast Free is a bad choice in this case.
> The free version has no automatic update


Not at all true. It updates automatically, often more than once a day.


> or scan scheduler


That's probably true, but one of my favorite things about Avast is
that you can set it to run automatically every time your screen saver
comes on. In my view, that's even better than a scheduler.


> and senior's tend to forget these tasks.


Hey! I'm a 70-year-old, and I don't forget those things. ;-)

Ken

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

On Fri, 18 Jul 2008 07:36:52 -0700, "Richard in AZ"
<> wrote:

>
>"Malke" <> wrote in message news:...
>| WindyGeorge wrote:
>|
>| > Hello Mike:
>| >
>| > In fact that is exactly what I did; un-install and reinstall AVG Free
>| > making
>| > sure no other features except the virus checking were installed. There is
>| > no option about the scheduled tasks, do you suggest ignoring those too?
>|
>| Try Avast free instead.
>|
>| Malke
>| --
>| MS-MVP
>| Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
>| FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ
>
>Avast Free is a bad choice in this case.
>The free version has no automatic update or scan scheduler and senior's tend to forget these tasks.

It definitely has automatic updating - both definitions and program.