AVG 2011 Bugs

Today I discovered a new AVG glitch while using the new AVG Free 2011 version.

When I tried to post a note in facebook, it added something that began with
#avg_ls_inline_popup{position: a
to the bottom of my note.
I could not get rid of it.

I discovered that this is caused by a glitch in the Search Shield, which is part of the Link Scanner.
To stop this from happening, Open the AVG main interface, double-click on Link Scanner and un-check Search Shield and Save Changes.
Restart your browser.

Hopefully they will fix this glitch soon. I write it off as growing pains of the new version (2011).

However, there have been other issues reported regarding the never version of AVG:
AVG 2011 Bug Affects Browsing Experience, Could Also Hurt Websites
This article mentions issues with Link Scanner components, but also see comments below the article for other issues.

I have not experienced any of the other problems mentioned in the article or in the comments below it - only the one problem I mention above. I'm using AVG Free 2011 on a Windows XP Pro SP3 machine and on a Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit machine.

UPDATE
I've discovered that AVG is aware of issues with Link Scanner components and that they are working on the problem.

I've also discovered that the Surf-Shield component of Link Scanner, as well as the browser add-on AVG Safe Search can cause problems for Java scripts, including Greasemonkey scripts for Facebook. I've disabled both of these (in AVG and in Firefox Add-ons) and the scripts work fine now.

.... later on - I turned Surf-Shield back on and things with scripts seem to work. It looks like the Firefox AVG Safe Search add-on was the culprit. So, so far with this and Search Shield disabled, all is good.

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Backup your Facebook data - coming soon to Facebook

How to Download Your Information from Facebook
Facebook has begun rolling out a new feature to backup your Facebook information and photos. Eventually, under Account settings, you should see "Download Your Information".
More info and a video at the link above.

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AVG Free 10, aka 2011, is out now

The latest major version of AVG Free is out now. You can download it here.

To upgrade to this new version, you have to download the file (at the link above), and run it (you can't get this new upgrade through the automatic update process in AVG Free 9). You will have to chose either the 32bit version (Most of you running Windows XP or Vista will choose this), or the 64bit version (most of you running Windows 7, and some running Vista, and the odd few running Windows XP will choose this).

MORE INFORMATION
CNET - AVG banks on better performance

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
Once you have downloaded the new installation file (see above)

• Run the file
• Accept
• Next
• Custom Install, and UNcheck the gadget installation (on the right side of the window - this doesn't appear in Windows XP, only for Vista and Windows 7), Next
• Uncheck Additional installed languages, (if you have MS Office installed, scroll to the bottom and check MS Office plugin), Next
• Uncheck Set Yahoo..., Uncheck Install the AVG Security Toolbar, Next
• ...
• yes to reboot
• (after reboot, it will finish installing)
• UNcheck I agree to participate ... and click Finish
• (then it will open and automatically begin updating)

• If, after a few minutes, you get an Analysis pop-up, you can ignore it. This will run the next time a scheduled scan runs.

• Things to check:
• Scan Options - Managed Scheduled Scans, Edit scan schedule.
• - Run at a specific time. Select a day of the week and time. Under Advanced Schedule, check Run on
• computer startup if ...

Also: to enable it to automatically scan removable devices, open AVG, click on Tools, Advanced Settings, click the + beside Scans.
Click on Removable Device Scan.
Check off Enable Removable device scan, Automatically heal/remove infections, and move the slider under Adjust how quickly Scan completes all the way to the right.
Apply, OK and close the AVG window.

Advanced Users

• To get rid of the advertisement (notification that drops down if you open up AVG)
• Go into Program Files\AVG\AVG10\
• Rename the following files by adding
• .bak
• to the end of each file name (after whatever extension is there in the name)
• avg_us.mht
• avgmwdef_us.mht
• avgresf.dll
• avgsals_us.mht
• avgsbfree_us.mht
• avgtrial_us.mht

Note: sometimes after updates to the program, it will re-introduce these files (so you may need to go back in and name the new batch of these files to remove the ad/notice).

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"Here You Have" virus

McAfee: New Worm Eats Your AV Software | Maximum PC
Watch  out for the new one. Don't click on unknown links in emails.

The worm is spread by email with a link to a seemingly innocent PDF
file or raunchy WMV download, though users who click will get much more
than they bargained for.

"When a user chooses to manually follow the hyperlink, they will be
prompted to download or execute the virus," McAfee warns. "When run, the
virus installs itself to the Windows directory as CSRSS.EXE (not to be
confused with the valid CSRSS.EXE file within the Windows System
directory). Once infected the worm attempts to send the aforementioned
message to email address book recipients."

McAfee says it can also be spread through accessible remote machines,
mapped drives, and removable media through Autorun replication. Once
infected, the virus attempts to cripple and delete security services,
including popular AV software like AntiVir, Avast, AVG, McAfee, Panda,
and a whole bunch of others.

Keep your antivirus program up to date as well as the definitions. And old antivirus program with recent definitions won't do the job.

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Facebook Places - how to update your privacy settings, again.

How to Disable Facebook Places
Summary of what to do:

• Privacy Settings, Customize, Things I Share
• Change Places I check in to only your friends or Only Me.
• Include me in People Here Now after I check in - Uncheck enable.
• Go to the section Things Others Share and find Friends can check me in to Places - set as Disabled.
• Click the Applications and Websites link, go to Info accessible through your friends, Edit Settings.
• Uncheck everything and Save.

Read the above link for more details and explanations.

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My Top 20 Free Windows Programs - June 2010

In no particular order:

Backup
Cobain Backup - a free backup program that you can fully customize - scheduling, backing up to various drives including network drives, etc. Now uses Shadow Volume Copy so you can back up while you work on your computer.

Browser
Firefox - the latest version of Firefox is fast and very secure and remains the best with extensions of all the browsers. Check out Personas - an easy way to dress up Firefox.

Clean-Up
CCleaner - great for cleaning up temp files, temp files leftover from crashes, and cleaning up the Registry, disabling unnecessary start-up items and more.

Revo Uninstaller - an advanced un-installer program that enables you to remove the usual leftover registry items and folders.

Defraggler - from the makers of CCleaner, this program is a great replacement for the Windows defragment program. Works in all recent versions of Windows. This program lets you see what is going on (like the old program in XP). It is fast and can work even if you have less than 10% of the hard drive free.

Email
Thunderbird - an excellent email program from Mozilla (same group that brings you Firefox). I find this much easier to customize and to backup and move files around when need be than Outlook or Outlook Express. The latest version has tabs and the search feature is most excellent.

Entertainment
Winamp - best free media player overall - yes it has playlists and you can use it with your ipod or any other MP3 player. Works better than iTunes and doesn't install other programs behind your back, and you can customize its many settings (file formats to deal with, whether it launches on its own or by your command...). Great for doing live mixes as you can queue songs up.

DVDFlick - convert and burn digital video files (many formats supported) to DVD in regular DVD video format. Also has basic menu creation features too.

VLC Media Player - for playing a wide variety of video and music files, DVDs, and streaming. When Windows Media Player won't play it, this will. The user interface isn't that pretty, but it works.

File Sharing
uTorrent - the best little torrent program around. Pronounced MOO-torrent (as the initial u is actually the micro symbol)

Peerblock - lets you control who your computer "talks to" on the Internet. By selecting appropriate lists of "known bad" computers, you can block communication with advertising or spyware oriented servers, computers monitoring your p2p activities, computers which have been "hacked", even entire countries! They can't get in to your computer, and your computer won't try to send them anything either.

Productivity
Open Office 3 - the best free alternative to MS Office. And it can open .docx files. You can create a PDF directly from any of the programs in the suite with a click of an icon. Word processor, spreadsheet, drawing program, database, you can make it save things in MS Office format by default if you need to share documents with others have MS Office, and more. Currently on version 3.2.1

EssentialPIM - A personal information manager. Similar to many of the other features in Outlook (outside of the email part). If you want a PIM that is not bogged down by the email part of Outlook - just a basic appointment calendar, contact list, To Do list and notes - this is a great program.

Security
AVG Free - anti-virus and anti-spyware, and much improved since it first came out. Easy to use and works better than the big programs that must be purchased.

Malwarebytes - A good anti-spyware removal program to use along with your regular security program to occasionally check for bugs. Has a quickscan mode that takes about 10 minutes, and a full scan mode. Also adds as a context menu so you can right-click on a file/folder/drive and choose to scan it with Malwarebytes.

Mailwasher Free - filter out Spam before it gets to your email program. Works with a wide variety of email programs. Free version only works for one email address. Paid version will work with multiple addresses.

Utilities
TeraCopy - Improves copying speed for large files and for when copying a lot of files at once. Also has better overwrite and skip options. Install it and it replaces the Windows copy function. You can still use the usual cut/copy and paste shortcuts.

7zip - decompression and compression of many many compression formats, and free!

Foxit PDF reader - works directly inside a Firefox tab as well as on its own. Faster and with a much smaller footprint than Adobe Reader. They keep making this better with every version

Crossloop - enables you to remotely connect to another computer to give or get help. Very simple to use

Got any favourite free programs I left out? Add them in comments

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Open Office 3.2.1 is out!

OpenOffice 3.2.1 fixes bugs, updates logo - The H Open Source: News and Features
If you use Open Office, you should update to this new version.
It includes some bug fixes, some vulnerability fixes, and a slight change in the look/icons (related to Oracle now being the main backer as they acquired Sun Microsystems).

Download from here.

The next version out will be 3.3 in the Fall this year. It will have
some larger updates and new features.

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