A Cautionary Tale About AVG: Lessons for Computer Users

Recently, as I rummaged through my late grandfather’s belongings, I faced an unexpected and frustrating situation involving his computer. Initially, I was merely tasked with organizing his digital life, ensuring important files were managed properly. However, what I discovered not only shocked me but also left me with a strong urge to share my experience to prevent others from falling into the same trap.

Upon booting up his computer, which, despite being of decent specifications, was dreadfully slow. A quick glance at the Task Manager revealed that AVG was monopolizing the system’s resources while seemingly doing very little in return. Some of its processes were persistent, unshakable, and refused to be disabled or removed from the startup sequence. It was as if AVG had orchestrated a slowdown of the system to push users to seek costly upgrades.

While cleaning out his emails, I stumbled upon multiple messages from AVG. Each one read like a cruel joke: “We’ve noticed your computer is running slowly. For just £45 GBP per year, you can subscribe to AVG TuneUp and optimize your computer’s performance.” Essentially, they were offering a subscription to slightly alleviate the burden they themselves placed on the system.

To my astonishment, my grandfather was subscribed to multiple AVG services: AVG Security, AVG TuneUp, AVG VPN (which I seriously doubt he ever utilized), and even AVG Driver Update. This last one particularly baffled me. Charging extra for driver updates? What a novel idea! It made me question the very nature of subscription services—does everything now come with an additional fee?

As I navigated through the computer, I found AVG’s Secure Browser consuming an inordinate amount of resources. Attempts to access more familiar browsers like Chrome and Edge were met with messages redirecting me to AVG’s own pages, warning me about the perils of using anything other than AVG Secure Browser. It was a blatant attempt to funnel users towards their products, under the guise of protecting them.

This entire experience left me feeling incredibly frustrated. My grandfather, an older gentleman with limited technical know-how, merely wanted to enjoy some sports and delve into military history online. Instead, he fell victim to a subscription model that racked up £120 GBP (nearly $150 USD) in unnecessary expenses for services that ultimately slowed down his computer. If someone had knocked at his door and swindled him out of that amount, we would have immediately called the authorities