VNUNet.com

Review Score: 5/5
User Score 5/5

As an experienced PC user you almost certainly have an antivirus tool already, but does it really deliver the features and performance you need? There are numerous AV options available, from thre free tools through to commercial editions from AV developer heavyweights, such as Symantec. So, what does AVG Anti-Virus do differently that enable the software to standout from other apps?

It all starts with a compact antivirus engine that won't swallow all your system resources. Our test PC saw the major AVG Anti-Virus components consume only around 4 MB of RAM when running in the background, for instance, and CPU utilisation is also very low, so most of the time you'll never even know the program is there.

The efficient approach pays off in scanning performance, with AVG Anti-Virus able to check your entire system at a very reasonable speed. Although if even that's not fast enough, you could set up a custom scan that would run much more quickly. The default System Areas Test, for example, checked commonly infected areas on our test PC in under 5 seconds.

Of course the real aim of AVG Anti-Virus is to prevent you getting infected in the first place, and so the program's Resident Shield looks for and blocks threats before they can be launched. It will scan your incoming and outgoing mail, too, and you can also schedule further scans to trap anything that manages to get by.

The latest AVG Anti-Virus 8 ships with anti-virus and anti-spyware support, as well as protection against rootkit and a webshield. This is the paid-for trial version.

You can't go wrong with this pack

I have used quite a lot of genealogy software over the years, but this is definately the easiet one I have used so far. There is no limit to the amount of family members you can add to your tree, and you can create a personal scrapbook for each family member too which is handy to keep all your photos and documents in one place. The charts and reports that you can create using the software are very professional looking. You can change the background, colour, font etc to personlise it even more.

The added content is a nice addition to this package. The printable worksheets are great if you're not quite sure what to ask when youre researching all the information on your family. The 30 day free trial is with the genealogist - I have read alot of positive reviews about this site, but I have yet to sign up to this.

I was extremely suprised with all the content that you get for under £10. I would definately recommend this genealogy pack to anyone who is considering starting their family tree.

Almost wonderful

I love the upgrades made to Garageband and iPhoto but the new iMovie is somewhat lacking.

Some of the things it does are good - it organises your movies very well, and some of the features (like colour grading) are useful. However it lacks some real basics, like a decent titling system, control over audio and support for the old iMovie effects.

It's made for someone playing around with home-movies; not someone starting out in video editing.

A backward step?

I had used Photoshop Elements 2 for years and found it easy to use and very logical. Eventually I decided to upgrade to Elements 5 but soon decided that I did not like it at all, it is confusing and not just an updated 2. To cut a long story short I have reinstalled Elements 2 and it is like having an old friend back. Sorry, but for me Elements 5 gets one star and that is because it is not possible to award zero stars.

Nuance Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 (Standard Edition) (PC).Phooey.

Got me one of these. Wouldn't install in Vista. Downloaded whacking great patch. Wouldn't install. Said I needed to get a sound system. Have one.

I'd assumed dragon 7 wouldn't work. Decided to try. It installed. Took the training, then wouldn't work in Word. So tried dictating into Dragon pad and it works. Spell systems out, but after dictating, just copy to Word or Abi and do spell check their. Makes Vista a bit unstable, but then Vista is. Yes.

Sweet stuff

Finally decided to give McAfee a try after Norton let through a few viruses. I'm glad I made the switch - it's simpler, better at utilising resources, offers more tools and alerts you on every single change made to the OS. Something which i really like. Software is easy to control, parental filters work really well but a bit too basic if you ask me. The network setup is really good plus the wireless key rotation is also welcomed feature. all in all i am really impressed and i don't believe i will ever go back to norton again.

Ultimate Frustration

Save your money. Don't buy it. While the compilation of video and slide shows is relatively straightforward, the final"Make Movie" process is totally unreliable. So far my programme has ruined more discs than it's created. One example - replacing simple transitions in a slide show with green screen! I shall dump it and try Sony Vegas.

Soooo Much Nicer than 7.5

I just bought 7.5 from Amazon and a few days later noticed that 8.0 was available. As the other reviews said, the upgrade to v8.0 was free! Just follow the link from the Help button in 7.5 and plug in your old licence number to get a new one.

Upgrade went smoothly on my Vista laptop. I had one failed installation on the XP desktop. After disabling 7.5, the installation wizard carried on successfully, removing 7.5 and installing 8.0 without a glitch.

It's soooo much better looking than 7.5. It looks modern and modular, not clunky and amateurish like previous AVG versions. It also reads across all the settings (schedules etc.) over all pc users rather than having to set them individually in each user account.

It looks great. Hopefully it'll do it's jo well too.

Why Choose Any Other?

This is a fantastic knowledge-based tool; a permanent fixture of my own personal learning. It contains a children's library, a student's library and an adult's library. From the outset you get the opportunity to choose which one suits the level of your interests. All of the articles are accessible and concise, and with a free years subscription to Britannica encyclopedia, what else can you ask for? Knowing all this, why choose any other?

Waste of time and money

I purchased this this week. After an hour of installing the software, it then completely refused to load. Another hour to tech support with them doing the usual"uninstall and reinstall" rubbish, it still wouldnt work. Tried the hardward on other programs, which refused to recognise it at all, and constantly crashed the system. Eventually took it back and got a Kworld £20 capture device which worked perfectly. Dont waste your time on this expensive rubbish.

Great Book

I have to recommend this book. It contains all the questions you need for the test.Cool

Excellent resource for Examination

Very well presented book, highly relevent to the Microsoft examination.

Although (IMO) not the hardest of the Microsoft MCP qualifications, this book will provide the reader with just about everything that is covered in the exam.

Well sectioned up into relevant chapters and good multiple choice questions at the end of each one. Also an added bonus of a 15 percent discount for sitting the exam.

A definite 5 star book !

Amazing guitar software

Guitar Pro is such a brilliant programme, i had a copy of it, but has been corrupted (wasnt a legitimate copy). It is extremely accurate and you can essentially write whatever you like, guitar, bass, drums, saxaphone, and a load of other sounds. it uses real sound, so a guitar sounds like a guitar, rather than power tab, which is just a synthesised sound, i think. it is well worth the money, definitely buying another copy when i have money. You can add several tracks, so if your in a band and you are composing the whole song then you can compose it all and print the parts off as proper tablature and give it to them. it also comes with the manuscript version of your tab above it.

it's excellent!

useless!!

Although i am quite sure that this kit performs its function perfectly adequately, Amazon refuse to send me one. This is despite promising to do so on no less than nine separate occasions. Their service on this one particular item has been the worse I have ever experienced from any retailer in my life.

Vista learning

I have only just acquired Vista and the shift from Me was great. This book deals very well with the basics and explains in easy-to-follow instructions how to get off the ground. Thoroughly recommended.

Disappointed

I purchased Ghost 14.0 specifically to take a complete backup of my new Vista machine, to enable me to restore it to 'as new' condition in future. Although Ghost installed OK, I have not been able to make any backup at all, getting the same error message each time.

I've spent some hours in online chats with Symantec support, including a considerable amount of time in queues waiting to speak to an analyst. When I did manage to speak to an analyst, I was passed to a further 2, before the last analyst finally admitted that they were not Ghost trained.

Failing to receive a promised call from a technician, I was forced to call the US for technical support, possibly costing more than I paid for the product! After 2 hours of an analyst taking control of my machine, Ghost still wasn't working.

I'm still waiting for the promised return call from a technician with a fix.

So, I'm asking for my money back, to try Acronis instead!

DON'T BUY THIS UNLESS YOU'RE A COMPUTER WHIZZ

I have had SO much trouble with this software. It crashes - it doesn't burn properly. It misses bits off and I have installed it uninstalled it and installed it again and again and again. I have previously used Creator 7 and 9 and thought this version would be better and all the glitches sorted. NO!
I even thought I had a problem with my computer and paid for a technician to come out. He spent 2 hours looking at my computer and checking it and re-installed the software again.
It still didn't work - I tried again and had a code about MPEG-2 - which I didn't understand. My technician came back again yesterday with 5 sheets of advice from Roxio about a 'clean installation'. Another 3 hours were spent following very complicated instructions from Roxio which is not for the faint hearted - nor the normal run of the mill computer user.
There is nothing wrong with my computer.....
I have now tried to burn another DVD and its still missing photos and the beginning of the music. I'm not going to throw more good money after bad trying to sort it out again. VERY DISAPPOINTED. Trying to contact Roxio is like landing on the moon - impossible to get any advice to put things right. So far over £100 has been spent including the cost of it plus the expertise from an ICT specialist. It's not worth that kind of money and it STILL doesn't work!! Please don't buy this software unless you are very computer literate and you have better luck than me. Or more money. Or more patience.......

It really does work - A great product

I was advised to try DW4 on my iMac (800MHz G4) to cure some problems that Apple's own disk utility was unable to fix.

This was preventing me from proceeding with a new OS-X upgrade.

I was very skeptical but I have to say that I am just amazed how quick and simple the operation was with DIsk Warrior 4.

I reckon the time elapsed from opening the DW4 box, skim reading the excellent instructions and having a fully repaired disk was about 30 minutes.

My childhood game

My sister and I loved this series of games. We would spend a long time on it having fun and pushing our logic that bit further. We recently re-bought it (our original only worked on windows 95 I think) and spent ages re-living it all over again. Yes, perhaps recently we have not been on it that much, as we are now 18 and 19 years old and are at college and uni, but I have to recommend it to everyone. Also, if you want to buy some computer games for your kids but don't want their brains to mush, we loved 'Maths Rescue' and 'Word Rescue' - fantastic for learning how to spell and do basic maths sums. Overall, love it! :)