Today I want to continue on working with free avg. I have it downloaded and installed , you can see the other tutorial on how to download and install Free AVG, so right now I am going to show how to use it.
Once installed, there is no configuration changes that we can do, but we are going to focus on using it to scan files and to scan the entire computer.
Lets start by first opening up AVG by right clicking on the icon in the notification area, in the button right corner and clicking in the Open AVG User Interface option.
When the main window opens up, we see all what avg is taking care off, the main options are in the tabs on the left.
Overview, Computer scanner, and Update now.
Lets take a look at the Computer scanner tab.
In the Computer Scanner tab, we have all we need to keep our computer clean and good. Clicking Scan whole computer will start the computer scanner and scan for any known virus and spyware.
But before we do a scan and start hunting viruses and spyware, we have to make sure that AVG can recognize the newest virus and spyware. We do that by going to the Update now tab.
When we click in the Update now tab, AVG automatically starts searching for updates.
If there is an update, we will see this dialog box, saying that there is a available update.
Updating is the most important thing that we can do with a antivirus program. If we don’t have the latest updates, the latest virus will not be recognized and will not be removed from our computer.
I will click update to update my system. AVG will now start downloading the update, and install it automatically.
Go back and click the Update now tab, to make sure to get the latest updates.
Depending on the installation file that we used, we might have to update one or two times, When AVG doest find any more updated it will display a window like this one at the button right corner.
And we will see the message at the Update now tab, Update complete successfully, No new update files are available.
Now that we have the latest update, it is time to hunt virus and spyware.
Time to do a Computer scan.
Lets go and click in the Computer scanner tab.
In there we have the two option, Scan whole computer, or Scan specific files or folders.
Clicking in the Scan whole computer, will start a system wide scan.
One click and a scanner will start, Once the scanner is done we can see the results
In this example, the scanner did not found anything, so once I click Close results, I will be taken to the Overview tab, and I can close the program by simply clicking the red x on the top right corner.
If the scanner happens to find something, it will give me a option to remove it, when I click remove it should remove the file and if it has to, the scanner will ask to restart the computer to finish removing the extra files that are infected.
Clicking in the Scan specific files or folders will ask you what folder or files to scan, and will start scanning those files or folders. This option is also available in the right click menu, if we right click on any file or folder we can see the option to scan with AVG.
Selecting the scan with AVG Free, will start the scanner, like a regular scan, it will show any problems found, and will ask for your permission to remove them, or quarantine them.
The Resident Shield
One of my favorite things that I like about AVG is the Resident Shield. This feature, protects my computer from any attacks that I might get when I go to a website and a virus is automatically downloaded to my PC.
This is what I would get when I go to a website that is infected with something. This Shield will automatically be protecting your computer and stop any known infected files to be stored in you computer.
As with any antivirus, a continues updating is required, for this to work. Having AVG continuously update, will greatly increase your security.
This is a simple guide on how to use Free AVG. This antivirus program, is free of charge for personal use, and there is a paid version, but for a regular user, this version is more than enough.
Expect to see a update on this tutorial.
Good luck, happy computing.
sam
