I used AVG (paid) for almost six years but for the last several months the company was no longer supporting the version I had. That meant I couldn't get the updates I'd already paid for unless I switched to an operating system that could run their latest version. I gave up on AVG for good when they abandoned me, even after I got a second computer that would've supported it. I never had any trouble with AVG keeping me off the internet, though.

I was positive I wanted to keep my old operating system (which I knew pretty well by then and which had been almost completely trouble free for me) so I eventually switched to Avast! instead. I found Avast! quite troublesome except when I kept it on a very short leash, not letting it load itself at startup and only using it for an update-and-scan every so often. It never kept me off the internet but when allowed to load itself, it would often crash Windows as it was starting to display the desktop. Once the problem started it seemed to be persistent, so to get around it I'd have to reboot in Safe Mode and disable Avast! Among other problems, the reduced resolution in Safe Mode would scramble all the icons on my desktop so I'd have to waste half an hour restoring them afterwards. I'm still using Avast! but as I said, only on a short leash where it never gets a chance to crash.

I'm not at all eager to go through trying yet another antivirus package.