AVG Internet Security 8.0 is the latest version of the complete home security package from the company that made a name for itself by offering powerful, free antivirus software to the masses. It's a pretty comprehensive suite of tools designed to protect all areas of your system, with a particular emphasis on online threats.

During installation you can choose to enable the AVG Security Toolbar, which uses the LinkScanner component to allow for real-time protection against malicious Web pages and automatic downloads. You also have the option here to perform a software and definition update, and create a schedule for automatic scanning.

It's a pretty fast process, and before long you're taken to the main interface, where you can monitor the level of protection via a set of 12 icons covering areas such as anti-virus, anti-spyware and the firewall. You can turn each of these components on and off individually to customise your level of security, but strangely certain components such as anti-virus or anti-spam don't appear to offer any customisation features, instead simply reporting whether the component is up to date.
 

In order to tweak your preferences in these more obscure areas you'll need to trawl through an advanced settings menu, which isn't particularly friendly and doesn't really make the software any easier to use.