AVG 8.0 Free Anti-virus Software and Common Installation Errors

Most PC users know the dangers of not using anti-virus software on their machines, however thanks to today's economy, many computers remain unprotected. For those who can't afford the cost of anti-virus software developed by big names such as Norton or Symantec, another option is available. AVG technologies offers AVG Anti-virus Free Edition 8.0.

AVG Free 8.0 is a free, and more importantly, powerful anti-virus software that's commonly used by people who download torrents and frequent sites that are prone to attacks. Users like this love this product, because it keeps them safe in the worst conditions. On the flip side, system administrators also rave about AVG Free because it's more powerful than Norton Anti-virus and other popular brands. Unfortunatly, when regular users come across AVG Free, they are dismayed when installation errors occur and the program uninstalls itself. I'm going to explain the two most common errors found during the installation of AVG Free 8.0, so you can be up and running in minutes.

First of all, when you install AVG Free 8.0 from http://free.avg.com/download-avg-anti-virus-free-edition, always download it and save it to your computer. This is default with Firefox, but when using Internet Explorer, always save the file to your computer. Running it online will mess up the installation process for AVG.

If you run the AVG Free installer from your computer and still run into a problem, redo the installation and this time select custom installation. AVG Free will not work if installed into a directory with a space in the name, such as Program Files, which is the default folder. When you choose custom, you will come to a box where you can change the destination folder. Change it from C:\Program Files\AVG to C:\Downloads\AVG and select yes when it asks if you want the directory to be created for you. This simple step will solve most people's problems, and the installation will be successful.

After this step, if you still run into an error and a rollback during the installation, a common anti-spyware software might be the culprit. If you run into the error:

Local machine: installation failed
Installation:
Error: Action failed for file avgtdix.sys: starting service....
Error 0x80070014

you have a program called Adaware installed. AVG Free will not install with this software on your machine. Simply uninstall Adaware, and re-run the AVG installer, remembering to choose the custom installation and changing C:\Program Files to something like C:\Downloads - anything without a space in it. Then AVG will install properly and you can reinstall adaware if you wish.