New version of AntiVir Personal Edition Classic (the free one)

A new version 7 of AntiVir PE Classic is out of beta. To most users, the biggest change is the move to incremental updates for virus definitions. A wonderful thing for dialup users!

If you are not familar with free AntiVir, it is one of what I call the big free 3. AVG, avast! and AntiVir are the main free antivirus products that most have found to be reliable and trustworthy.

What many feel makes AntiVir a good choice is that it tests well in objective AV tests and runs very light on system resources. The free version of AntiVir does not contain a POP3 email scanner while the other 2 freebies do. But IMO, if one handles attachments properly (saves them separate from the email and then manually scans them), this should be no deal breaker.

I have tested all 3 free AV's personally and under certain circumstances, have recommended all 3 to various acquaintances when asked for advice. Now that AntiVir 7 is out of beta, I can heartily recommend it to everyone, especially dialup users.

Check it out!

http://www.free-av.com/

Does the existing version have to be uninstalled from a user's computer before installing the new version, or is it an install-over upgrade? The site doesn't say.

Not knowing the answer to your question, I went to the free AV PE Classic forum. http://forum.antivir-pe.de/board.php...85787a16066aa8

After reading a few threads, I have seen evidence that the update process from version 6 to 7 has apparently been temporarily suspended for the time being. I did not see any reason given at this point. I know the release version of ver. 7 has been out for a few days.

It does seem that users like me who have installed version 7 without having ver. 6 already installed seem to be getting along fine. (I have had no issues so far.) But truthfully, I don't know what is going on. I guess that until better answers are known, you might sit tight for a few days...

(BTW, this little bump doesn't change my mind on the product. Still an excellent AV.)

I agree, been using it on my new machine (both OSs) since September and not one nasty has found its way in. I have it on ALL our machines, actually.

Well, some additional thoughts after another day...

While some may be having issues with the new version, I have not had any at all. Counting the initial install, I have had 3 updates and they have all worked fine. No crashes, no negative issues relating to the running of the program.

BUT, that said, there has been an issue that until I learn more, has ticked me off. With each completed update (remember, 3 so far), I have had a one page ad popup asking that I upgrade to the paid version of Antivir. Now while I appreciate that free AntiVir is an excellent product and nothing is really free, turning it into adware is not something I'm prepared to live with. So, at least for the time being, I'm going to uninstall it and play a wait and see game on how AVPE deals with this.

Too bad! :(