Frequently Asked Questions

It is possible to run AVG scan in a safe mode, however the functionality is limited to command line scan only. To run the scan, you can proceed as follows:

• restart the computer into Safe Mode, as described at:
  Win 2000:
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/202485
  Win XP:
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315222
  Win Vista:
  http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/f9c50a72-04ec-4088-9fd4-a4f979eef5a71033.mspx
• in the Safe Mode, you can run AVG by double-clicking its icon on the desktop
• the Command Line Composer will be displayed and you can change the scan settings according to your individual needs
• all detected infections will be healed or moved to AVG Virus Vault automatically

If you want to disable notification windows about AVG activities that appears from the system tray, you can do it this way:

• Launch AVG User Interface.
• From top menu "Tools" select "Advanced settings" option.
• Select the "Appearance" option from the left navigation tree.
• Now in the right hand part of this dialog there is "Balloon tray notifications" section available.

Here you can disable/enable displaying of all system tray notifications or just select some of them according to your needs.

In case you are using some third party firewall or software that is checking network traffic, you need to allow communication of lower mentioned processes to ensure correct AVG functionality:

• avgam.exe
• avgcmgr.exe
• avgdiag.exe
• avgemc.exe
• avgfws8.exe
• avgiproxy.exe
• avgnsx.exe
• avgtray.exe
• avgui.exe
• avgupd.exe
• avgwdsvc.exe

For correct AVG update functionality is necessary also allow following URLs:

• update.avg.com
• update.grisoft.com
• backup.avg.cz
• backup.grisoft.cz
• files2.grisoft.cz
• files2.avg.cz
• download.grisoft.cz
• download.avg.cz
• akamai.grisoft.cz
• akamai.grisoft.cz.edgesuite.net
• akamai.avg.cz
• akamai.avg.cz.edgesuite.net
• akamai.grisoft.com
• akamai.avg.com
• akamai.grisoft.com.edgesuite.net
• akamai.avg.com.edgesuite.net
• *.akamai.net (there can be almost anything instead of "*", e.g. a962.g.akamai.net)
• *.deploy.akamaitechnologies.com (there can be almost anything instead of "*", e.g. a166-70-146-136.deploy.akamaitechnologies.com)

Due to a problem in Microsoft Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008, you may receive an error message when trying to run these applications along with AVG software:

• MS Flight Simulator
• VATSIM
• SquawkBox
• Asheron's Call

This situation is described on the following Microsoft support webpage:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/961775

The solution is to install hotfix provided by Microsoft on the following webpage:
http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?kbnum=961775

Please note that the hotfix is only intended for customers having described issues. In case of further issues with the mentioned hotfix, please contact Microsoft technical support.

AVG Internet Security and to some extent also the AVG Anti-Virus provide among others a protection against phishing (what is phishing?). The protection is provided on two levels, ensuring that you are informed about a phishing attempt in each of its forms:

• Phishing e-mail
  AVG Internet Security contains an Anti-Spam component, which is designed to recognize spam and fraudulent e-mails. This includes also detection of phishing e-mails. More information about the AVG Anti-Spam is available in a separate FAQ topic.
• Phishing website
  All commercial AVG editions contain the Online Shield and LinkScanner components. These components are checking the addresses and contents of visited websites. When you try to visit a malicious website, you are informed about it and the access to the website is blocked. This detection includes also phishing websites. If you wish to learn more about this protection, please visit the FAQ topics related to the Online Shield and LinkScanner.

If you receive some phishing attempt which is not detected by AVG, please feel free to contact us. We will analyze the provided information (address and contents of the website, contents of the e-mail, etc.), and add them to AVG detection if necessary.

This option enables you to set AVG to ignore warning or error Security Status of the selected components, if the warning/error is caused by something you have set intentionally.

If you want to ignore faulty state of some component (e.g. you need to disable some component, but you want to avoid the indicating of this faulty state in AVG system tray icon - it contains a yellow exclamation mark) follow the steps mentioned below:

• Launch AVG program
• From top menu "Tools" select "Advanced settings..." option
• Select "Ignore faulty conditions" branch in left navigation tree
• Now in right hand part of the dialog mark selected component

Faulty condition of components with a checkmark will be ignored, that is, AVG will show the yellow "warning" icon in the component overview, and the "ok" icon in the system tray.

Warning: Use this feature sparingly, and only if necessary. Long-term ignoring of a serious problem, e.g. non-functional update, puts your computer at great and unnecessary risk!

AVG 8.5 creates system restore points to prevent malfunctions of your operating system (e.g. computer does not want to boot up, BSOD, etc.). In order to create such system restore point, the following conditions must be realized:

• Operating system supports creation of the system restore point (Win XP, Vista, 2003 Server, 2008 Server).
• This feature is enabled in your operating system.

In case that your operating system supports such function and it is enabled, system restore point will be created each time when some AVG files are changed. It applies for the following situations:

• AVG installation
• AVG program update

If you wish to disable this funtion for the AVG program update, please proceed as follows:

• Run AVG User Interface.
• Choose the Advanced settings option from the Tools menu.
• Select the Update option from the left tree menu.
• Untick the Build new system restore point after each program update item.
• Confirm changes by clicking OK.

In order to restore the operating system to a previous state please refer to Microsoft's knowledge base at:

• Windows XP
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306084
• Windows Vista
  http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/517d3b8e-3379-46c1-b479-05b30d6fb3f01033.mspx

 

To change the AVG language please proceed as follows:

• Open the AVG User Interface ->Tools menu ->Advanced settings.
• In the Appearance section, please choose the language you wish to use.
• Click OK to save the configuration and restart AVG (close the user interface and then run it again by double-clicking the AVG icon on desktop or in the system tray).

Detailed description including screenshots is also available here.

Note:
Only languages selected during installation will be available in AVG. To add a new language please run the latest installation file and select the option Add or remove components. More information on how to proceed can be found in FAQ 949.

System Tools refer to tools offering a detailed summary of the AVG 8.5 Internet Security environment.

The component displays an overview of:

• Running processes
• Active network connections
• Applications launched at operating system start up
• Browser Extensions
• LSP (Layered Service Provider)

Specific overviews can also be edited but this is only recommended for highly experienced users!

The Processes dialog contains a list of processes (i.e. running applications) that are currently active on your computer.

The Network Connections dialog contains a list of currently active connections.

The Autostart dialog shows a list of all applications that are executed during Windows system start-up. Very often, several malware applications add themselves automatically to the start-up registry entry.

The Browser Extensions dialog contains a list of plug-ins (i.e. applications) that are installed inside your Internet browser. This list may contain regular application plug-ins as well as potential malware programs.

The LSP Viewer dialog shows a list of Layered Service Providers (LSP).
A Layered Service Provider (LSP) is a system driver linked into the networking services of the Windows operating system. It has access to all data entering and leaving the computer, including the ability to modify this data. Some LSPs are necessary to allow Windows to connect you to other computers, including the Internet. However, certain malware applications may also install themselves as an LSP, thus having access to all data your computer transmits. Therefore, this review may help you to check all possible LSP threats.

The main purpose of the Virus Vault is to keep any deleted file for a certain period of time, so that you can make sure you do not need the file any more. If you find out that the missing file is causing problems, you can send it to analysis, or restore it to the original location.

To open the Virus Vault, navigate via AVG User Interface -> History menu -> Virus Vault.

After highlighting an object in the list with your mouse, the function buttons enable you to carry out the following actions:

• Restore – moves the infected file to its original location (stated in the Path to file column)
• Restore as – moves the infected file to a selected folder
  • Note: You can Restore or Restore as multiple items at a time; highlight them in the list (by holding down Ctrl+arrow, or Shift while selecting individual items with your mouse) and press the respective button. If some of the selected items are not restored successfully, these will remain highlighted in the list.
  • When restoring files from the Virus Vault, please also note the following: 
    • If the file was originally an e-mail attachment (see the Original name column), its original location is a temporary folder which might be tricky to find on your harddisk. For this reason, only the Restore as feature will be available for e-mail attachments.
    • Registry keys can be only restored back to original location (i.e. only the Restore button will work).
    • Any file is restored under the Original name. If not available, then the file is restored under name given in the Path to file column.
• Delete – completely and irreversibly removes the file from the disk.
• Empty Vault – removes all files from the Virus Vault. By removing the files from the Virus Vault, these files are completely and irreversibly removed from the disk (not moved to the Recycle Bin).

• Send to analysis – this option is available from context menu after right-click on the file in Virus Vault. After selecting this option file is send for analysis to the AVG virus labs.
  Please note that this feature only serves for sending "false alarm" files, i.e. files that have been detected by AVG as infected or suspicious, but you believe are harmless.

Note: All files stored in the Virus Vault are available in a non-executable archives in the $AVG8.VAULT$ folder. This folder is on all hard disk partitions hidden by deafult.

Most of today's viruses (Trojan horses, I-Worms, Worms, etc) create their own files which contain nothing but a body of the virus. In such cases the only way to remove the infection is to delete the infected file. When you moved the file to the AVG Virus Vault it was deleted from its original location, coded, and then saved in a non-executable file in a hidden folder. Your PC is no longer infected then.

If you are not missing any data file and your applications are running, then you can delete these vaulted files from the AVG Virus Vault program.

You can do it selectively from AVG Virus Vault program -> select files -> delete. Or you can delete all AVG Virus Vault contents in one go:

•  Double-click the AVG icon on your desktop -> choose the "History" menu and select the "Virus Vault" option -> click on the "Empty Vault" button.

The AVG command line scanner avgscan*.exe (available in AVG program folder, where * can be 'x' for 32bit operating systems or 'a' for 64bit operating systems) allows scanning of the whole computer or specified files using a batch file or Scheduled Tasks in Windows. The parameters of the command line scan are available in the AVG documentation or using parameter /? (e.g. avgscanx.exe /?).

Apart from the full test report that is provided once the scan is finished, it is also possible to check the return code of the finished scan. This code can be used to trigger specified actions in case e.g. a virus was found.

The return code of the last finished command line scan is stored in a system variable %ERRORLEVEL% (to check its value for the last AVG scan manually, type "echo %ERRORLEVEL%" in the command line). Possible values and their meanings are:

• 0 (RETURNCODE_OK)
  everything is OK
• 1 (RETURNCODE_USERSTOP)
  user interrupted the scan
• 2 (RETURNCODE_ERROR)
  error during the scan (e.g. when an incorrect parameter is used)
  
• 3 (RETURNCODE_WARNING)
  warning during the scan
• 4 (RETURNCODE_PUPDETECTED)
  Potentially Unwanted Program detected
• 5 (RETURNCODE_VIRUSDETECTED)
  virus detected
• 6 (RETURNCODE_PWDARCHIVE)
  password-protected archive found
  

You can use AVG scanner within the 3rd party program scanning options. There is a difference based on your system architecture - x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit). 

1. x86 architecture
Use the AVGSCANX.EXE program with /scan="%FILE%" /clean /arc parameters:
"C:\Program Files\AVG\AVG8\AVGSCANX.EXE" /scan="%FILE%" /clean /arc

2. x64 architecture
Use the AVGSCANA.EXE program with /scan="%FILE%" /clean /arc parameters:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\AVG\AVG8\AVGSCANA.EXE" /scan="%FILE%" /clean /arc

These are examples of the AVG scanner configuration in some popular applications:

• WinRAR
  Tools -> Scan archive for viruses
  Virus scanner name:
  C:\Program Files\AVG\AVG8\avgscan?.exe (replace '?' with 'x' or 'a')
  Virus scanner parameters:
  /scan=%f /ext=* /arc /clean
• Miranda IM
  Options -> Events -> File Transfer
  Command line:
  "C:\Program Files\AVG\AVG8\avgscan?.exe" /scan=%f /ext=* /arc /clean (replace '?' with 'x' or 'a')
• Windows Live Messenger
  Due to the Windows Live Messenger feature, the above mentioned parameters cannot be used. However your computer is still protected by residential parts of AVG.

Note:
In case you installed AVG into other than default folder, it is needed to change the path to the file avgscan?.exe.

If you need to know more parameters please use the "avgscanx /?" command in command line if you have a x86 system, or "avgscana /?" for x64 system. Please bear in mind that the specific parameters depend on the given application. In this case you should ask the provider of that software for needed information.

In case that an AVG scan is running (scheduled or on-demand scan), two AVG icons are present in the system tray (at the bottom right corner next to the clock). The icon with Play symbol (a white arrow over the AVG logo) notifies you about the running AVG scan. The second icon indicates the status of the AVG program.

In case that more scans are running at the very same time, you are able to manage them via a context menu of this icon (right click on it). The following options are available:

• Scan name
  • Pause - pauses the chosen scan.
  • Stop - stops the chosen scan.
• Pause all scans - pauses all AVG scans, which are running currently.
• Stop all scans - stops all AVG scans, which are running currently.