Is AntiVirus as Bad as Malware?

I've been using and recommending AVG AntiVirus Free for over a decade.  Whenever a new computer's trial version of Symantec AntiVirus would expire, I'd uninstall it and install AVG.

But when I accepted the upgrade to version 16, I lost the ability to control its update schedule.  It's no longer possible to disable automatic updates.  Now the only option is to accept automatic updates whenever they become available.  Users even lost the ability to force an update.

That's a big problem.  I once hosed a system when AVG updated during a Windows Update.  That was when I decided to disable automatic updates and run them manually with a simple right click of the taskbar icon.

I still have the install file for AVG 15.  Unfortunately, it downloads the full installer from the Internet and then installs the latest version.

I considered doing away with AntiVirus entirely.  But I'm not the only user of the computers -- the other users will need to have the safety net of an AntiVirus program.

So it's time to shop for a new AntiVirus program!