Labs

Ever popular among Shopper readers, Grisoft's free anti-virus scanner has been keeping PCs clear of viruses for years. Sadly, it looks its age. Despite an update last year, this program looks like it's come out of the ark.

Still, looks aren't as important as effectiveness in the anti-virus world, and AVG is still delivering the goods. It missed two of our samples, allowing the Trojans to run and install themselves. However, it performed far better than

The email scanner has a handy set of features, including the ability to move attached zip files to the virus vault quarantine area automatically if they are password protected. It can remove all attachments, and be set to scan just messages with attachments. The last setting could speed things up if you're downloading a backlog of email.

Grisoft wants users to upgrade to the Professional version, which has a better interface and more features. It costs £34 including VAT for a two-year licence. The Free edition tantalises its users with options that, when you click on them, say you need to upgrade. This is annoying, the restricted scheduling being a particular problem.

If you can see past this and can't afford to buy a more effective and pleasant product such as Steganos AntiVirus, AVG Free Edition is fine.