In our modern security conscious age, many computer users are aware of viruses, Trojans, bots, keyloggers, phishers and much more. Computer users are also largely aware that a good computer repairs specialists can fix these problems in most cases. But are they really aware of their software protecting them against these threats or do we rely more on who has the deepest pockets for fancy advertisements and celebrity endorsements?
Firstly, we must dispel the myth that paid antivirus programs work better than free ones. Certainly, there are plenty of free antivirus programs out there that do not work so great, however there are several that perform really well – often times better than the market leading paid ones.
What users must understand is that when they pay for an antivirus program, they generally are paying for a lot more. But you can get Zonealarm Free anti virus and it works just as good if not better then the other antivirus program. Most retailers these days will sell the security suites as a first preference and these suites will include features like PC tune up, firewall, parental control and more. All these features that someone may not need and finds that it has significantly slowed down their computing experience, some users may not even know they have these features in their antivirus program!
In comparison, the good free antivirus programs tend to be quite lean on computer resources, have minimal or no annoying pop up messages and generally perform scheduled updates and scans automatically. Free ones that work well tend to be Microsoft’s Security Essentials, Avast and Avira.
So pick your own antivirus protection from your requirements, don’t let the media pick it for you.
Tip: There are advocates for running two antivirus programs for extra protection but for most people, they will find this to significantly slow down their computer along with causing conflicts between the two antivirus programs.
Links:
Free
http://www.microsoft.com/en-au/security_essentials/
http://www.avast.com/en-au/index
Subscription
