Digital Meld

So far we’ve brought you a few “How To” articles on Picasa and Picasa Web; well here we are again bringing you yet another great free product to help make your life on the web a little easier. AVG Anti-Virus is an anti-virus and anti-spyware tool that is simple to install and free to use in it’s basic form. AVG helps rid your computer of any viruses and spyware that you may have contracted and it also helps to keep them away from your computer for good. Allow me to quickly inform you of what a computer virus and spyware are in layman’s terms.

Computer viruses and spyware are considered to be malware, which basically translates to “malicious software.” Malware are rogue software programs created and designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner’s informed consent. Another words, they are written by bad guys to either get personal information and files from your computer, damage or corrupt your computer’s files or to simply hijack your system and it’s resources to perform malicious attacks on other computers. There are literally thousands of different types of malware so keeping track of all of them is impossible for your average Joe, so that’s where programs like AVG come in.

There are a lot of symptoms to help diagnose if your computer has contracted a virus or spyware and if you know where to look they aren’t hard to spot. Has your computer been running slower than usual lately? Do you get random popup ads when you aren’t even on the internet? Do your friends get random emails from your email account? Have some of your important files seemed to just vanish? Does your machine frequently lock up? The list of problems caused by malware goes on and on and instead of worrying about them all AVG can quickly and painlessly scan your computer and notify you of problems and fix them as needed. So, without further ado let’s get to it…

1. First thing’s first, head to the AVG Anti-Virus website so you can download the basic version absolutely free of charge. Once at the site choose the “Get it now” button from the left column labeled “free basic protection.” Follow through the next few clicks choosing the free version all the way through. Then download the .EXE file to a location you’ll remember such as your Desktop or My Documents folder.

2. Once your download completes double click the .EXE to begin the setup process. At the welcome message hit the next button. Now hit the accept button for both the acceptance notice and license agreement pages. The installer then quickly runs a check of your system and then prompts you for a standard or custom install, just use the standard option and hit next and then again at the free license option. Uncheck the box for the AVG toolbar as it is pretty useless and hit next and then finish. The setup will then install the files which may take a couple of minutes. Hit finish when it completes.

3. After the installation the AVG First Run Wizard begins, which is a shot 7 step process to configure AVG. Hit next for the first step.

4. The second step of the wizard is setting up the time your computer is scanned for viruses. Usually you’ll want to choose a time when you aren’t using your computer as the scan can be intensive and slow your machine’s performance. If you leave your computer on overnight then choose a time you’ll know you’ll be sleeping… in my case I’ll choose 2:00AM.

5. On the next page check the Yes box and choose next. Providing AVG with potentially malicious websites help them provide a better service, so please contribute… no information about you is passed along to them, just information regarding the bad websites.

6. The next step allows you to update the AVG software to the latest virus definitions, you’ll want to do this so your computer can be protected from the latest malware.

7. The next page shows the progress of the updates, click next once the updates complete.

8. The next page allows you to register with AVG and be notified of updates and specials, register if you’d like and continue on.

9. The final page of the wizard simply congratulates you on your complete installation and configuration. Hit finish.

10. Now you should see the AVG Anti-Virus logo on your task bar in the bottom right hand of your screen, by the clock. This means that AVG is running on and protecting your computer. It will automatically scan your computer every night (at the time you set earlier) for potential problems and prompt you to remedy them as needed.

11. If you’d like to bring up the AVG user interface manually you may do so by right clicking the AVG icon on your taskbar and choosing “Open AVG User Interface” or via the classic Start menu. The interface allows you to do things such as run a manual scan of your system, update to the latest virus definitions or view, change or disable various features… all of which are pretty self explanatory.

Well there you have it. You’ve not only installed the basic version of AVG Anti-Virus software but you’ve helped protect your computer and files from some nasty malware. Hopefully the process was quick and easy for you because this product will come in extremely handy and help be a buffer between your computer and personal files and the hackers of the world. Check back in the next day or so for even more free ways to protect your computer from the scum of the internet.