Possible to install a retro-version of Grisoft AVG?

**Wayne A. Pflughaupt** · **03-29-08, 04:49 PM**

I recently changed out the hard drive on my laptop and naturally had to re-load many programs and drivers.

AVG - what happened??? They must have made some changes since I previously downloaded it a few years ago. It was a perfect program before, quietly and unobtrusively doing its job in the backround. Now, the thing goes into a full-blown scan everytime I boot up that sucks the life out of my computer for the 45 minutes it takes to run. Sure, you can manually turn it off, but that's a pain in the neck, and half the time I don't remember. There doesn't seem to be any defeat for it without upgrading to the "for sale" version.

I mean, take a look at the CPU usage from my Task Manager! The lowered activity on the right side shows what CPU usaged settled down to after turning off the scan.

Task Manager 1.JPG

So, here's my question: My wife intends to put my old hard drive in her laptop (we have matching computers). Since it still has the old version of AVG on it, would it be possible to copy or e-mail the file and install it on my computer (first removing the current version I have now, of course)?

Regards,
Wayne

**thewire** · **03-29-08, 06:21 PM**

I think it gives you an option in the update menu to download just the database file rather than update the program itself. When I had a license to download the updates, I ended up skipping the program update part because it was causing problems during my startup similar to what you describe, except sometimes my computer would lock up instead of starting the scan. It was difficult to run with other programs. I rolled back my version to a previous version or installed the older one again, can't recall. It continued to update the virus database files without trouble until my license expired.

Getting the older version of your hard drive on the laptop should work alright I think. It depends on the version of the updater mostly.

**mechman** · **03-29-08, 07:50 PM**

Wayne,

Get into the test center and click on the scheduler button on the left. Double-click the Test plan in basic mode item. Make sure the box that states "If missed start immediately when computer start-up" is unchecked.

mech

**Wayne A. Pflughaupt** · **03-29-08, 08:03 PM**

Ah, very clever! Can't turn it off, but you can "banish it to the netherworld," as it were! Thanks mech!

If all else fails, we'll try the "old file" approach. Thanks for your thoughts on that, Steven.

Regards,
Wayne

**basementjack** · **03-29-08, 08:23 PM**

Wayne - to answer your original question -
if you have the installer on the original hard drive, then by all means, yes it's possible to install that version.
without the installer, you'd need any registry settings, and dll files that were copied to the windows directory - You might find a utility that could identify what is needed if you search google.
I do agree with the others - the current version seems ok, and I think you can configure it not to run on start up.

as a side note, they sell inexpensive hard drive enclosures with usb ports.
you put the old laptop drive in, and presto! you've got a portable external drive - great for backups. Probably won't cost more than $20.

**Wayne A. Pflughaupt** · **03-31-08, 10:38 AM**

Hmm. Guess we're out of luck then, since I've always "run " installers, dll etc. instead of saving them. Still, it looks like mech's trick worked - I booted up this morning and no auto-scan!

By the way, that's a great tip about the old hard drive - we'll definitely be looking into that!

Regards,
Wayne

**nova** · **03-31-08, 10:55 AM**

I probably have an older version tucked away in one of my machines, if you decide you need it I'll have a look around.

**Sonnie** · **03-31-08, 11:10 AM**

I have so many computers I had to buy the AVG 5-user license.

On my latest laptop I purchased 3 years of Trend-Micro for $65 and it seems to not hog the computer resources like AVG does during a scan. Of course that could have something to do with the better processor and double the memory too.

I may have an old copy of that AVG-Free on one of my computers at the house. I can't remember which one we put it on, but I feel relatively sure I can find it if you still need it and/or if Mark happens not to find his.

**Jusbegood** · **04-09-08, 01:39 PM**

To get an earlier version of AVG;than the latest iteration, Google For AVG 7.5.1.36. I find it better to use than the present version. You get a 30 day free trial of the full version. After the trial,you can choose to upgrade, or continue to use it free; minus the full version.It gives you more options of how you want to scan your hard drive/s.There are also other earlier versions offered from the Hippo URL site to download.

My take on the high CPU usage during scanning with AVG, can be attributed to the amount of memory that you have on your motherboard.I have 2GB of memory on my computer, and when I run AVG, the Windows Taskmaster varies from 55 to 57%.

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