Up to now I have always paid for my AVG, but since I had a new computer AVG has been installed for free. is there a difference in the security between both of them?
I expect, if you search their site, they must show a comparison chart to show you what you gain from the paid version. Surely ? The databases are going to be identical since there is no point deliberately creating a worse version that will let stuff through.
the free version is anti-virus and anti-spyware only, the paid for version is a full internet security suite so includes a firewall and "safe browsing" filters. amongst a few other bits.
the free version of AVG is pretty good for free, but if I was going to pay for a security suite I'd pay for kaspersky or even norton these days (norton has really improved over the last year)
Bought Nortons Internet security 2010 out of pc world for about £25 - far better than previous versions - doesn't slow the machine down as much as it used to.