HELP FILE

Q I've used and liked the free AVG anti-virus program for a long time, but I just got an announcement from its developers saying the free version will be discontinued in January. If that is true, is there another free alternative?

ANo, the free AVG isn't going away -- but the company behind it, Czech Republic-based Grisoft, seems to have done a fine job of obscuring that point. The pop-up alert sent to users of the program stated correctly that the old 7.1 version is being discontinued as of Jan. 15, but many readers took that to mean that no future free release would be offered.

In fact, the new AVG Free 7.5 is already available ( http://free.grisoft.com) under the same basic terms as its predecessor. AVG spokeswoman Lauren Chen wrote in an e-mail: "We understand that our startup messages may have caused some confusion and we apologize for that."

AVG is not the only developer of free anti-virus software; another Czech firm, Alwil Software, makes the generally similar Avast 4 Home Edition ( http://avast.com/eng/free_software.html). Unlike AVG, however, this program requires renewing a registration every year for it to continue working.

I recently got a prompt to update something called Java on my computer. Was it safe to let that update proceed?

Yes. Java is a program from Sun Microsystems that your Web browser uses to display some interactive content. (For a fun demo of Java at work, check out the animations at http://www.sodaplay.com/constructor/.)

Whoever wrote Sun's Java-update software, however, left some work undone. This updater, unlike most, doesn't remove old versions of Java, which can be a huge waste of disk space. (You can get rid of the old updates in the Add or Remove Programs Control Panel.)

-- Rob Pegoraro

Rob Pegoraro attempts to untangle computing conundrums and errant electronics each week. Send questions to The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071 orrobp@washpost.com.