Hello, Ted,
I wish I'd read your tale before making the same mistake myself.
I have written a lengthy letter to Grisoft, expressing my extreme
dissatisfaction with the 8.0 upgrade and the trouble everyone is having as
we all try to fix the mess they've left us in.
But since they are likely being deluged with millions of complaints from
other disgruntled customers, I am not holding my breath for a response
anytime soon.
I remain in limbo and am not even sure how secure my PC is, since I cannot
download virus definition updates.
The tale continues. SIGH.
Please let us know if you hear of any news from the Grisoft Team, Ted. And
thank you for sharing your sad tale. I hope it helps others avoid our costly
mistake.
Best Regards,
- Angelvoice
-------Original Message-------
From: Ted Chittenden
Date: 5/16/2008 8:10:39 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [VICUG-L] AVG 8.0: A Tale of Woe and Warning
Hi to all.
The story I am about to relate concerns my attempts to download, use, and
then uninstall AVG 8.0 and reinstall AVG 7.5. Before I do that, some notes
about the equipment I am using: a Compaq computer with 256 k accessible (but
with a 2G hardrive); a 56k modem; both JFW 5.1 and 9.0 (I use the former
still because of my computer's memory failings); Windows XP; Internet
Explorer 6 with SVC Pack 2; and AVG 7.5.
It all started yesterday when I returned home from work at 3:pm (I only work
half-days on Thursdays) and decided to update my copy of AVG 7.5 (the
antivirus databases, etc.). I had just finished updating the software when I
noticed a second window that had opened up on my computer, saying that
Grisoft (AVG's maker) was upgrading to AVG 8.0, 7.5 would no longer be
supported after a certain date, and would I like to update my antivirus
software. I thought why not and began the downloading process. Since I am
using a modem, I figured it would take some time to load so I chose to run
the new software from Grisoft's website instead of saving it onto my
computer for loading later.
Around 6:30 or so, the download was finished, and I began the process of
installation, after first making sure to turn off AVG 7.5. During the
installation, a screen came up that said that AVG 8 had found AVG 7.5; that
AVG 8.0 would overwrite AVG 7.5; and that in overwriting AVG 7.5, AVG 7.5,
AVG 8.0 would make changes in the Windows kernel, and that I could not
reinstall AVG 7.5 without completely uninstalling AVG 8.0 and reinstalling
AVG 7.5 from scratch. I thought "What the hell," and pressed OK. Then there
were items to be filled out, and the new system wanted to update itself. I
went ahead with the process and at the end rebooted.
After the reboot, I began finding problems. All of the 7.5 links (including
the shortcut on the desktop were still there. I tried accessing AVG 8
through the systray with limited success--AVG was on the Systray, but when
you pressed "ENTER" on any of the Mouse-click items, you would go right back
to the Desktop. I then pressed "ENTER" on the AVG shortcut link on the
Desktop, and I entered the program.
To say that I was disappointed is an understatement. Gone were the
well-marked buttons for Control Center and Test center. If there were any
buttons on that screen that could be pushed when you tabbed to them, they
were not discernible by JAWS--even with the JAWS cursor. Hitting the alt.
key, I did find some traditional functions--Scan MY Computer, Update--in the
Microsoft tool bar menus, but I had had enough. I figured that AVG 8.0 was
much less accessible and a memory hog to boot, and I prepared to return to
AVG 7.5. I figured if I could restore the system to a date prior to the AVG
8.0 download, I would be OK. So I picked a date two priors and waited for
the restoration.
The restoration came, but AVG 7.5 didn't. The computer sent me a warning
saying it could not find the AVG files.
I then undid the restoration, and went about the process of uninstalling AVG
8.0 and installing a version of AVG 7.5--an executable file I had downloaded
in late 2006. Unfortunately, the computer and AVG were not going to play
along. The older version of AVG would not download the Virus updates since
2006 (it said I had to find a newer version of the file on the Grisoft
website, and that I had to run a repair operation once I found this updated
file), and the old shortcuts to AVG were not working.
Once again, I went to System Restore, went back two days, and got the same
AVG 7.5 response.
Without any antivirus on the computer, I went back onto the Internet and
typed 'AVG 7.5' into Google. The response at the top was a list of updates
on the Grisoft site, so I went there and found some updates and began the
download.
When the download completed, an odd screen appeared asking for a name and
password and showing two names a '<guest<' and 'administrator' with the
guest being on top. With no thought, I tabbed down to 'Add New User' and
created a third password with my name. I then saved the information, and
after doing so, realized that I had entered this information into JFW 5.0's
administrative options! That's right! The files that said they were updates
to AVG 7.5 were actually going to JAWS 5.1. It was nearing 10:00 PM so I
decided to close down the computer for the night--I was tired.
This morning, I got up, turned on the computer, and discovered that when
JAWS 5.1 came on, a warning would come on, notifying me that I was signed on
as a '<guest<'. Some investigation revealed what had happened in the JFW
Administrative area, and I commenced to calling Freedom Scientific--only to
have my phone die on me, while waiting for Technical Support.
In the mean time, I had been doing some thinking. It occurred to me that the
only way to get rid of the shortcuts to the AVG program would be to reload
the older version I had and then uninstall it through the Add/Remove
commands in the Control panel. This I did, and this time, AVG 7.5
uninstalled everything properly, except the shortcut on the Desktop which I
promptly sent to the Recycle Bin.
I then went back online with no anti-virus software and typed '"AVG 7.5
download' (without the apostrophees) into Google and found the latest
version of AVG 7.5 (released on April 6, 2008) on hipo.com (it was a ways
down the list on that site). I clicked on the file and saved it. It took
about 2 and a half hours to download, but it worked and was updatable when I
opened the saved execution.
So now I have AVG 7.5 back. I still have the administrative problem with JFW
5.1 (even though I completely uninstalled and reinstalled it). I tried
removing the'<guest<' sign-in, but JFW 5.1 says this cannot be removed. I
presume there is some corruption in the file from last night's and this
morning's work, but I am hoping to get a replacement computer soon with
enough memory for JFW 9.0 to work properly (though I am looking for
something with XP Home--something that is hard to find nowadays).
I have written this story as a tale of woe and warning. And I hope someone
on this list knows a good replacement for AVG 7.5 that is about as
accessible and as close to free as possible.
Ted Chittenden
VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
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VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
Archived on the World Wide Web at
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Subscribe: [log in to unmask]
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