Antivirus Software: McAfee vs. AVG

AVG is a relative newcomer to the antivirus software business, having been around for only about twenty years, and is taking aim at McAfee, which is one of the best-known malware defenses in the world. Both antivirus software applications offer similar protection against threats to your computer.

Both AVG and McAfee offer a 30-day free trial with a similar buying price at the end of the 30 days. The free trial is a full version with no restrictions during the trial period; when the trial ends, McAfee costs $49.99 and AVG costs $59.99. Both have added additional malware protections to the newest versions of their antivirus software.

McAfee and AVG both use heuristic detection, although only McAfee adds signature files as an additional malware-detection method. In McAfee vs. AVG tests conducted by antivirus testing organizations, both scored high marks for their ability to identify and remove malware. McAfee, however, has a history of inaccurately flagging safe files and finding false positives, which can be a problem for many users. In tests, AVG had no false positives and had an above-average removal rate. Both left traces of removed files behind after clean up, and AVG did not detect some phishing sites during testing.

In McAfee vs. AVG testing, both applications scanned quickly and accurately. Both antivirus software applications run in the background with minimal problems, and McAfee has a feature that will stop a scan while you are using other applications and then start it again when you finish. This feature keeps other software from slowing down while a scan is running. Both McAfee and AVG provide a firewall, automatic updates and system monitoring. McAfee will stop an update if you are working, just as it does with scanning, and resume once you are finished.

AVG and McAfee have relatively simple user interfaces. Both make it simple for you to adjust settings and schedule scans and updates. Installation is easy and runs quickly for both software applications when comparing McAfee vs. AVG. McAfee seems to operate better on a clean system and doesn’t do well with a computer that is already infected.

One feature offered by McAfee is a digital file shredder that allows you to “shred” – or completely erase all traces of – deleted files. McAfee and AVG both offer features that rate websites' safety. AVG offers free identity theft recovery and checks social networking links to protect computers against malware. Both offer download protection and do a good job of controlling spam.

Both McAfee and AVG are good antivirus applications that are comparable in terms of their ease of use and ability to protect computers from malware. Both provide website ratings, firewalls and fast scanning. Similarly, both rank high in test results for catching threats to computer systems. AVG has a slight edge in that it doesn’t find false positives as often as McAfee, while McAfee has a slight price advantage. Overall, both options would do an excellent job of protecting your computers from malware threats.

At TopTenREVIEWS We Do the Research So You Don’t Have To.™