In a world filled with malicious programs, emails, and Web sites, protecting your system is important. Consequently, many of us yearn for a security suite that provides full protection with little or no input. AVG Internet Security 8.0 comes close, providing a robust, multi-layered defense against virtually all of the digital goons lurking in the shadows.

For a price slightly higher than many competitors, you enjoy protection against incoming and resident viruses, malware, spam, phishing sites, and drive-by downloads, plus a firewall and deep-level system protection against such threats as rootkits.

Installation of AVG 8.0 is easy, with the setup utility explaining its behavior as it goes. It gives you input on important decisions, such as selecting the working environment where you use the PC for example, standalone, network, or mobile. It thoughtfully allows you to select more than one, too; good of you have a notebook you use on the road and at home.

AVG 8.0 also lets you choose a scan schedule, whether or not to report questionable Web pages, and whether or not to install the AVG Security Toolbar. This toolbar, which includes a Yahoo! search interface, installs in your browser. It lets you turn the Active Surf-Shield and Search-Shield on or off: two utilities that examine and rate Web sites and search results for potential threats.

Whether or not you install the AVG Security Toolbar, AVG and the underlying LinkScanner technology will work in the background, examining links online, in emails, bookmarks, documents, and other sources
to see if they are safe.

The AVG interface is comprehensive but filled with large icons that don’t do much except indicate status. It would be nice if users could right-click the icons to enable and disable protection, configure the suite, and perform other tasks. Instead, you’ll find configuration options buried in various menus.

Minor annoyances aside, AVG 8.0 did a good job of getting us up and running quickly, and intrusions are minimal and well-managed. AVG 8.0 alerts you when potentially risky programs access the Internet, you choose between unrestricted or safe site and one-time or permanent access. The antispam filter comes with several configuration features yet did a decent job without any changes.

System requirements (1.2GHz processor, 256MB memory) are reasonable. Tested AVG on several systems, including one that didn’t quite meet system requirements, and it ran on them all. However, the resource drain during some operations is noticeable unless you more than meet requirements. One other minor quibble is that there is no easy way to temporarily disable protection. You must go in and disable components individually.

Several virus labs give AVG 8.0 high marks, and we found its online protection generally to be on target. Overall, this program is a well-rounded, hassle-free choice for novice or busy users with reasonably fast computers. Intermediate users who occasionally want to fly without a net will likely be frustrated. Tech support is minimal with online FAQ and email only.

Click more for details:AVG Internet Security 8.0

What’s worse than Apple not giving its users defragmentation support in OSX?

The support in Windows Vista, clearly the slowest defragmentation application ever. We’re talking since the Winchester hard drive was invented in 1956. It’s as though the sectors are ?rst squeezed through a quantum singularity and then beamed back and reassembled into a contiguous ?le by an angry shop of sector elves two steps away from a strike.

For those of you who are mad as hell and unwilling to take it anymore, there’s Auslogics Disk Defrag. Install this free defragger on your Vista OS and your blood pressure will drop instead of rise every time you defrag. XP users can bene?t too, the app is also much faster than Window XP’s freebie tool.

Download free from www.auslogics.com

More than 100,000 people worldwide have signed a Save XP petition organized by the US magazine Infoworld. The operating system will no longer be available as a shrink-wrapped product after 30 June, though PC builders will be able to pre-install XP until January.

A starter edition of XP will be available until mid-2010 in emerging markets, according to Microsoft, which claims Vista sales are heading for 100 million.

However, most Vista installs are in machines sold to home users. Business have been slow to adopt, not unusual with a new operating system, and some are concerned about hardware and software compatibility and performance, particularly on older machines.

But not everyone responding to thee petition was against Vista. One wrote: I’ve had Vista on my laptop since launch and I haven’t had any major issues with it.