If you are conscientious computer user that wants to be protected from the threat of viruses, then chances are you have already installed an antivirus program on your computer. However, just installing the software is not going to be enough to protect you from all the possible threats that are out there. In order to increase your odds in catching a virus before it causes too much damage to your computer, you will need to properly set up a few things in your antivirus software. If the antivirus software that you have installed happens to be the AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition, then you have come to the right place.

AVG Anti-Virus only uses one search engine for all of the antivirus program’s components which is much different from many other antivirus programs that are used today. This helps to speed up the antivirus program and allows the use of only one database rather than several.

Once you open the program, you are presented with a screen that can be used to navigate to many different areas of the AVG Anti-Virus program. For example, the info button will give you a window that has access to all of AVG’s information such as the user license, contact information and various bits of information about your computer. The test results tab will give you a summary of past scans that were performed on your computer and whether or not viruses were detected during these scans. The scheduler tab, which is very important, will let you set what time you would like the scan to be performed at. It is a good to make sure that the Enable scheduled tests button is selected and a time in the evening when you are not generally using your computer is set.

On the left side of the main window, there is also a list of the various AVG functions and whether or not there are currently active. The main window also includes buttons to do a full scan of your computer, or a scan of removable media. The settings for a complete scan can be modified, telling the AVG Anti-Virus program what areas of your computer you want checked.

The AVG Control Center is an area where some of the major settings are made for the antivirus program. This is where the computer user can select whether or not they want the program to check for boot viruses when the computer is started. If this option is enabled, there will also be a check for executable and macro viruses each time the computer is started. Using the Update Manager tab will also display a window in which you can set when to check for updated virus signatures automatically. This is an extremely important section to fill out as an outdated virus signature file literally means that your antivirus program can do nothing to protect you from new viruses that have been discovered by the developer.

Be sure to frequently check the AVG Control Center icon that is found in your computer’s system tray as well. If there is a problem with the antivirus software, the icon will turn grey. If this occurs, it is a good idea to double click on the icon so that you can obtain more information about what the problem may be.