AVG 8.0: A Warning

UPDATE: I've seen posts on user forums that have the same problem as outlined below- some of the posts date back to 2005, so I doubt AVG is the culprit. Still, you might wanna leaf through some of these forums before updating.



Do you use AVG 7.5 anti-virus software? If so, good. I used to use AVAST!, but after losing my entire hard drive to a Trojan that AVAST! missed, I switched to AVG and I have been quite happy with it...so when they offered a new version- 8.0- I was like, hell, yeah! Sign me up!

Um.

First, I noticed it includes a toolbar. Toolbars tend to be viral as fuck-all, they are to be avoided whenever possible...I also saw that it includes a 'safe search' feature, which is supposed to alert you before you visit a web-site that is infected with drive-by download.
This feature, according to user comments on the AVG forum, works by temporarily downloading and scanning all the pages returned by your Google search. I have a very old PC and it sloooowed waaaaay down as a result. Blogs and sites with photos and/or video took forever to load, often missing elements...aaargh!
My CPU usage went from 0%- 3% up to 15%-25%
Note:You can see your CPU usage by opening Taskmanager, (clt+alt+delete)

It got worse. When I tried to do a Google search (for song lyrics), I received a 403 Forbidden Error Message- Google accused me of being an automated spambot program and/or a virus and I was forced to enter a CAPTCHA (word verification) before conducting the search...I followed all the instructions- I ran scans (all clean!), deleted my cookies and my browser cache, re-installed Firefox, cleaned my Temp files...and I STILL got that goddamned 403 Error.

Ah-ha...I read a forum post where a user speculated that the program AVG uses to scan your search results is seen as 'mass-spambot activity' by the Google engine; this makes sense- it IS scanning 10 or more sites at one time, after all.

So I looked all over the web for a reliable download of AVG 7.5 in order to switch back. Not to be found- the links for 7.5 all led to 8.0.
Fuckity.

Ah-ha! I had sent the 7.5 installer to my Recycle Bin way back in March! I disconnected from the Web, deleted 8.0 and re-installed 7.5, then re-connected my DSL and updated AVG.

Google has re-opened it's gates to me! My PC is smooth again!

So, if you are considering updating, I strongly suggest that you save 7.5 before you do so.

I hope a patch or new version is coming soon, but for now, I'm sticking with 7.5. I also hope AVG keeps updating it.

__________________________

Today is the debut of my newest Radio Program: Elastic Rock.
I'm now on Saturday afternoons at 1 pm EST, a truly prime-time spot!
Stream it here, if you wish. Two-hours of diverse musical excellence and oddities , played for you, ,my beloved Oddience.

(Tip o' the scalp to the redoubtable Donn for the term 'Oddience'...I can certainly use that word! Thanks Donn!)

Last Post

This is a picture of the reflection of my camera in a pane of glass. In the background is The Sort, a local band that played at the station Saturday...they played without their drummer and second guitarist, which was new for them, but they pulled it off well. Great lyrics, they made me laugh while I was mixing them...it was fun. The songs on the website feature the entire band...Laura, the singer, is a Scrabble wiz who insists on grammatically correct lyrics- for rock music! Cool.
I wanted to take more pics, but my camera's memory was full...a sign of things to come.

When I left the station I saw a bright pink blotch on the side of my car, which was parked across the street. To my dismay, I found that someone had hurled a pink sticky mess (?) at my drivers' door. It was like liquid bubble gum, all sticky and smeary ; it took a while to clean off. My mirror is bent and screwy.

But hey, my PC works, right? Except the internet part. I couldn't connect -ERROR 678!

I needed my DNS and gateway mask #'s, whatever the hell they are- "contact ISP provider or network admin"...crap.
I had to call 24/7 tech support, wait on hold for three hours-literally- but I eventually reached a really helpful tech, he quickly gave me my #'s and a $25 credit for having to wait so long- I typed in the DNS etc and logged on. (I wrote my #'s down in case this happens again)

Then I put together a show for the morning and almost forgot to sleep...I woke up and heard the radio robot playing when there should have been a live DJ...I skipped my shower and drove down to the studio and found that DJ Gospel had forgotten his keys and was locked out...I told him I was sick of covering his ass, that he is late too often and he needed to shape up. He got kinda pissed but I honestly don't care. He's fucking up and I'm sick of it.

Anyway, I had my own show:

The New Breakfast Snob, March 30

The Beatles- Across The Universe/Norwegian Wood
Nothing's gonna change my world...nothing. Bonus song for McRaven.

Neil Young- Lotta Love
For some reason I'm playing a lot of songs about trying to work it out.

Funkadelic- Let's Make it Last

Al Stewart- On The Border
Alvin Lee- Education
I love Alvin's new CD, Sagguitarius

BB King- Nobody Here But Us Chickens
Pink Floyd- Astronomy Domine
Loreena McKinnett- Mummer's Dance

Claanad- Love and Affection
Marianne Faithfull- Ruby Tuesday
Marianne had reputation for doing Rolling Stones...and their songs

Bob Dylan - Meet Me in the Morning
Muddy Waters- Please Don't Go
The Kinks- Low Budget
Say it Again!

Bob Marley- Crazy Bald Head

Lou Reed- NY Telephone Conversation
Queen - Bicycle
Gary Numan- Are Friends Electric?
Pink Floyd - Have a Cigar
Nick Drake- Pink Moon
Faces- Around the Plynth
Muddy Waters- Hootchie Kootchie Man
Gong- Heaven's Gate
Steeleye Span- Callin-on Song/Blacksmith
Les Paul & Mary Ford- The World is Waiting
Pretty Things- October 26
Les Paul & Chet Atkins- Lazy River
Jethro Tull-Nothing Is Easy
Miles Davis & John Coltrane- Two Bass Hit

Whew! Now to go home and work on my PC.
Crap. I can't sign in. I know my password...denied. Denied. Denied.

I notice that when I tap one key, several 'bullets' appear in the field. Hmm...I take the keyboard back to the station, plug it into a PC and open Notepad. When I hit 'S', the characters 'sa/' appear...when I hit 'A', I get ' za/' and so on...fortunately there are lots of used, donated keyboards...I grab one and go home.
Log in successful!
It only took a few hours.

I visit my Aunt and Uncle on my maternal side later that day and tell my aunt of my PC woes. She tells me that they have a nice, almost new PC that isn't getting used and she'd get it cleaned up so I could have it tomorrow. It's way, way nicer than mine.

She's an IT consultant and says that it sounds like I had a Trojan virus...it eats your registry and wipes everything clean. Very nasty.
How to avoid it?
Stay disconnected from the web. Abstinence is the only safe surfing.

This will probably be my last post from this PC.

But not my last post.