That is what it is supposed to do - scan your computer and keep it safe. Mine is currently running and has just passed the 3 hour mark. There was a setting on version 7.5 to set the scan time but I do not see it on 8.5. Perhaps someone with a sharper eye can find it, I like mine to scan while I am sleeping usually.

It is my experience that AVG does a very short scan on startup, exactly as it should. Then by default it is set to do a full scan at 8 a.m. The full scan time can be adjusted to suit the user, mine was always set to 3 a.m. because I knew I would not be at the computer at that hour. I am unsure about why anyone would want to defeat the purpose of the program to save a mere 10 to 15 seconds on a reasonably fast machine. Just a few days ago I installed AVG on a PII with 64 megs of RAM and Win98 for a lady and it only took 20 seconds for the initial scan every time I started the computer.

here ya go Jane you can find this info on that avg faq I posted right above your post. 1257: What is the AVG Security Toolbar? The AVG Toolbar is a new tool which works together with the AVG LinkScanner and checks search results of the supported Internet search engines (Yahoo!, Google, MSN). If you select to install the toolbar during the installation of AVG 8.0 Free Edition, it will be added into your Internet Explorer and/or Mozilla Firefox. The AVG Toolbar can be used to control the AVG LinkScanner and to adjust its behavior, and to update your AVG in case new updates are available. If you decide that you do not wish to use the toolbar, you can either skip its installation during the AVG installation process, or disable it manually in your Internet browser: * Internet Explorer - use the mouse right-click on the toolbar and check-off the AVGTOOLBAR option in the list. * Mozilla Firefox - Tools menu -> Add-ons. Find the AVG Toolbar here and click on the Disable button. Disabling or uninstalling the AVG Toolbar has no negative effect on the level of security provided by AVG Free Edition. The only consequence of missing toolbar is an absence of some of the options, and less verbose information about the threats found by the AVG LinkScanner. The main settings of the LinkScanner component can be still configured in AVG Free User Interface. Note: AVG Toolbar contains also a Yahoo! search box, which is an integral part of the toolbar and can not be removed separately.

Jean I installed MSE almost as soon as it came out in the final version and have no reason to want to change. I have no other safety program on this, my main computer. That is not to say anyone should follow suit and only have one. My wife's computer has MSE and Malwarebytes but I cannot remember the last time I ran a scan with that for her. I do update it occasionally of course. Last week for the first time MSE had a small fit, it did not auto update and I had to do it manually. Since then it has behaved itself. However, having a small glitch like that can tell us things, it placed an orange icon on my taskbar informing me of the issue so now I am comforted by knowing I can expect that icon in times of trouble. As with any free program you can install it to try and if you are unhappy it can easily be removed.