(JD):

I'm assuming you downloaded and installed AVG Free... What's puzzling is that AVG Free does not include a firewall, which would be the most likely cause of complete loss of internet connectivity. Did you get any unusual error messages or did Firefox just give you the old "The server you're trying to reach is not available..."?

If you haven't had any problems with Avast! and you're happy with the performance of your computer, I.E. Avast is not slowing things down to the point of being an annoyance, I'd just stick with it... I'm a firm believer in "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"

Fool Zero:

If you're techically proficient enough to know exactly what you're doing and extremely careful on top of that, please disregard my comments. I just wanted to caution you about running an antivirus with the resident protection disabled. IMHO that's kind of like feeling secure because you have an alarm system in your home, but never actually arming it.

Your periodic update and scan approach might alert you to viruses that are already on your system and active, but by that time there's a good chance that the damage has already been done. I Just thought I'd raise a red flag in case you're not fully aware of the dangers of this approach.

Best,

/tones