AVG 7 Plus Firewall

Last time we looked at AVG’s anti-virus package, we reviewed the free version of the software. We were pretty impressed by the breadth of features offered, but felt the heavy-handed marketing was irritating and the lack of tech support could be a problem.

The priced version suffers from neither of these problems.

But that’s not the only change ­ in its latest release AVG has added firewall protection to its anti-virus package to offer a greater level of PC security, while retaining the budget price.

The antivirus package is still AVG 7, so it is essentially the same as the free version. You get all the tools you would expect, including virus scanning of hard drives, emails and removable media, regularly updated virus definitions, a Virus Vault to quarantine detected bugs, and a scheduler to automatically check for problems on your PC.

What’s new is the firewall. This is set up when you first use the software by a configuration wizard, which checks which programs always need access to the Internet or network, to ensure they aren’t stopped by the firewall. You can reset these rules in the future.

When the firewall is up and running it prompts users whenever an application attempts to communicate on a network port, users can then choose whether to allow or deny access, and a permanent rule will be created on this basis.

Overall, a well-featured security package and the two-year licence is a real bonus.

AVG 7 Plus costs £39.99 (£34 ex VAT) for single-user version, £17.99 (£15.30 ex VAT) for an upgrade including a new 2-year licence or £103.40 (£88 ex VAT) for a five-user version.