Avg can't fix itself

EDIT: AHHH! Wrong forum, this was meant for malware section

My AVG says " you are not fully protected!! Identity Protection is not active and the text is in bright red. And I click 'Fix Problem' it says it cannot repair. When I click on identity protection there is a box to active it and a save changes box but as soon as I mouse near the "save changes box" it disapears like a white box shows up and I can't save the changes. Weird.

What is this? I've recentlly run all anti-virus scans while trying to resolve other unrelated symptoms with another problem and nothing was found.

I thought of just uninstalling this and reinstalling it but won't if it's a sign of something were I shouldn't uninstall what ever protection I have.

Thanks for any feedback.

 

Just for fun, run a MalwareBytes scan.

http://malwarebytes.org

 

Which ever forum you post to, with that story, you'll need to start here:

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407

Good Luck

 

Like I said in my post I went through the whole RunMeReadMe procedure for windows 7 with another problem and this AVG thing predates that by several months so I did do all those scans while this was happening. (like last week and Ive been trying to fix things since then).


Should I just uninstal it and replace it with Malware bytes? If that is an anti-virus equivalent.

 

Try fully uninstalling AVG using the following tool:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/avg_remover.html

Then reinstall AVG and see how it works. Or, you could switch to avast! antivirus which is a freeware scanner that is currently both very popular and very effective in head to head tests with other antiviral programs.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/avast_free_edition.html

Malwarebytes Anti-malware isn't a full fledged antivirus program so you don't want to use it as a replacement for AVG, but rather a supplement. Also, Malwarebytes isn't a real-time scanner unless you buy it.

 

I should have mentioned that antivirus apps are notorious for NOT uninstalling properly and fully. Here's a link to a freeware program that uninstalls hundreds of different antimalware apps. Good to have in your toolkit if you're going to be switching antivirus platforms.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/appremover.html

Good luck

 

Are you fully familiar with "avast! antivirus" ? I could try a new anti-virus but I don't want anything that makes any system performance changes or enhancement, I JUST want the anti-virus.

And about Malwarebytes....I'm confused, it isn't a anti-virus program? Do you mean not unless I buy it? Then it scans for virus's in real time like AVG? 'Cause I recently caved on the whole trusting-PAYPAL-with-my-credit-card-number thing (after resisting that for years) and am more open to buying software now...so I can but the full Malwarebytes if that would count as a proper AVG replacement.

 

robert707...

If you are willing to pay for protection, Malwarebytes is excellent, and there is some real time protection in the pay version as you can see here:

https://www.malwarebytes.org/pro/

This is much better than keeping it as a one time standalone scanner as is the case with the free version. In any case, Malwarebytes is best as a malware remover.

If you are willing to pay for online purchase protection specifically, only a pay version of the anti-viruses out there will be effective with this. However, I see this as the most important element of online protection, and it seems that noone is really talking about the subject with any authority. It's difficult to get a read on which anti-virus is best. Information is also hard to dig up on the subject. This is the best I could find. Hope it helps:

http://www.nextadvisor.com/blog/201...security-software-offers-the-best-protection/

Here is some interesting information about protecting your identity online:

http://www.trust-guard.com/safe-shopping-online.htm

and one other:

http://www.staysafeonline.org/stay-safe-online/protect-your-personal-information/online-shopping

 

Not sure what you mean by "fully familiar" with a particular antivirus product. As for wanting an antivirus program that doesn't

, well........ don't we all. The reality is that all software programs impact system performance to some degree, including, and especially, antivirus software. That's just the nature of the beast.

I hear you when you say you're not comfortable with online credit card transactions. I'm like a deer in the headlights every time I engage in such a transaction. Unfortunately, we risk having our credit card data stolen every time we take money out of an ATM or fill up our gas tanks (skimmers). And what do you suppose happens with your credit card every time you hand one over to a waitress/waiter at a restaurant? They just walk away and out of view for 5 minutes and therefore have ample time to scan it into a readily available pocket sized credit card scanner, or even just jot the information down on paper. In regards to Malwarebytes' product, and at the risk of starting an antivirus vs. antimalware argument in here, I'll just say that even Malwarebytes themselves admit that their antimalware product is not a replacement for a full fledged antivirus product, but rather an adjunct. Furthermore, I have never seen Malwarebytes listed in any comparison type review of antivirus programs.

 

I didn't know antivirus vs. antimalware was even a thing. They just tell you not to have 2 anti-virus programs running at once so I wasn't sure what to do there. I thought anti-virus and anti-malware were the same thing.

When I say performance changes I don't mean how much it uses resources but if it tries to BOOST your system performance or actively enhance your CPU efficiency or something like that.

But if they don't contradict each other i'll get full MalwareBytes and an anti-virus.

 

That matter is hotly debated, or at least was a few years ago. Some people believe that all malicious software (including trojans, worms, bots, rootkits, viruses, spyware, etc.) falls under the umbrella of malware. Others categorize malware as all malicious software except for viruses. Then there are those people who's definitions fall between these extremes, each having their own recipe for what they consider to be anti-malware and antivirus programs. It seems like the trend is toward classifying all malicious software as malware.

Purchasing Malwarebytes Anti-malware allows the program to be used as a real time scanner, rather than simply a stand-alone product. But even that does not (in the eyes of many) "promote" the program to being an antivirus program. To muddy things up even more, there are stand-alone "antivirus" products (or at least they are touted to be).

I am by no stretch of the imagination an expert on antivirus/antimalware products so I can only offer my limited experience with a few products. However, I wouldn't use Malwarebytes as a primary scanner, even in real time. And I say that out of ignorance rather than authority. As long as the creators of antimalware products continue to advise users NOT to use their products in place of "full fledged" antivirus apps, I'm not going to do it. I don't know what they know that I don't know but it's obviously substantial enough that they resort to advising potential buyers in a manner that clearly cuts into their own sales.

That's what I do. Many will advise you to never run more than one real-time scanner at a time. I don't agree. While there are certain combinations of apps that clearly cause problems when run together, I've found numerous combinations that neither cause software problems nor significantly affect system performance. I've been running Norton Antivirus, perhaps the most inhospitable scanner ever devised, alongside Malwarebytes Anti-malware for over 2 years and I've never encountered a problem with incompatibility or significant drain of system resources. At the height of my malware paranoia, I ran Norton, Baidu, Malwarebytes and SUPERAntiSpyware (4 real time scanners) all at once and they got along great. The hit to system performance, though notable, was not anywhere near what one would predict. Since then I've seen the light and use what is by far the most effective antiviral product available...... daily disk imaging backups. But I'll refrain from getting up on my soapbox about that matter.