I thought we had a thread but my search does not find it.
AVG antivirus is stopping and will only work after upgrading to 8.0 on 31/5/2008.
I am a cynic I know but I always read upgrading as being more evil and less nice.
Has anyone tried it and is it OK.
I did used to have a paid for checker but my PC isn't really up to coping with modern programs. They seem designed for 10 times faster than it.
I'm using it and it seems ok. It will now allow you to schedule automatic virus checks weekly if you wish. I always thought that daily checks were far too frequent so I'm pleased at that.
I used to use Ad-Aware, but it now has a resident component that I don't like and I've ditched it, so I like the fact that AVG now checks for spyware, including tracking cookies.
It won't work with Windows ME or earlier.
Merry and I between us have AVG 8 on about 6 computers. It's been fine so far. It also warns about spyware now so it's better than it was.
On installing you probably want to say no to the toolbar. They all offer one now, but I don't want my view cluttered with extra bits like that.
Also it has a linkscanner thing which works with google/yahoo. It's actually quite clever, but it slows google down so I disabled it. A matter of taste really since it puts a symbol next to each google entry to show if it's safe to click on. The only reason it's slow is that it has to pop to those sites to check them and if one is a dead link it has to wait for it to time out.
So I'd say go for it. 
Hmm if not upgraded yet you might want to hold off for a day or two. Mine just did something odd and I'm investigating.
Not that there's an alternative anyway. Last time I looked they all had problems.
I had done it already but as you say no alternative really.
And it is doing the "I will do what I like" thing to me.
I told it its working hours and it is still keen to work at the earliest opportunity. It is then disappointed as there is no internet access for it. 
I didn't keep up my paid for virus checker not because I didn't want to pay (although I don't if there is an alternative) but because it churned the PC so much especially on switch on it prevented me working. so it is sad that my problems follow me.
Well I have put 7.5 back for now until I decide what to do. It is only one day old.
Perhaps 8.0 needs re installing or something, the Tools Options no longer let me in at all after the first day.
Well three years on...
I did get AVG8 working after a while and have continued to use Zonealarm firewall because I am used to it and can say yes or no to things, but I did need to put my older version of Zonealarm back a while ago (luckily I saved the download file on pc) as a new version had tantrums on me. When I had the paid for firewall it seemed terribly complicated and in complication lurks failure to set up properly.
I have discovered that I can get reduced price virus and firewall software (Mcafee) as a bonus employee perk so should I give that a try? It would mean stopping zonealarm to do it which is why I hesitiate, not sure I could get it back as is if things went wrong or I disliked the new one.
The ISPs seemed to be giving McAfee free ( or quite cheap for those on basic packages) , so is Mcafee the new king.
Or is the fact that so many people do use it making it a bad thing, i.e. if attackers want to attack they pick the popular things to make it worthwhile.
None of the softwares seem to state their intentions to work helpfully on older Pcs which is a consideration for me. I will get a new Pc when I want and need one and don't consider needing it to run big new software should be a reason.
I still use AVG on two computers, together with Sygate firewall, and Avira and Sygate on the other.
Pani did a lot of research into all the ones available lately so I will summon him with a magic summoning thing to this topic.
Best advice is remove all anti-virus programs, disconnect PC from the mains and hide it in a deep cellar 
I keep changing mine as each new version causes some problems. After a bit I get back to the first one again (but a later version).
McAfee is popular and will probably do the trick. If it has a downside it may be that it is heavy on resources and might slow the PC down a bit. The newer ones all share that though as they try and do too much.
Currently I'm running Microsoft Security Essentials which seems to be ok for now.
Maybe just try McAfee and see how it goes since it's free.
What I do is look at the settings and untick everything that I think I can do without so it has less to do.
For example if it has a "check to see if invaded by penguins" function then that can be turned off or just let it check monthly. 