Antivirus Blog

There are several types of antivirus software that you can purchase or download online that will protect your computer. Buying commercial security software comes with additional benefits like warranties and customer support. However, many computer owners prefer to download free antivirus utilities that are available for download online.

When searching for an antivirus system, there are three key features you want to look for. Regardless of whether it’s a free utility or a purchased one, a good antivirus program will offer all three of these features.

Updates
It is critical that your antivirus software is updated constantly to protect against ever-evolving security threats. The more frequent the updates, the better. Most antivirus utilities offer automatic updates. Your computer must be connected to the internet in order to receive these updates.

Scanning
Scanning functionality allows your hard disks to be scanned and monitored for any potentially harmful elements. Most antivirus software allows you to schedule these scans to be performed routinely or they can be initiated manually.

Internet Protection
A good antivirus utility will protect you from potentially hazardous websites. Some will monitor your web surfing activity in the background, while others may prompt you with warnings before visiting new websites.

So, which antivirus software is right for you? Among the most popular are brands like AVG, Norton, McAfee, Trend Micro, and Zone Alarm. All of these widely used utilities are trusted antivirus applications that will effectively protect your computer with cutting edge security technology. Each one offers slightly different features, but they accomplish the same general task and provide a very high level of protection. All of them offer demo versions of their product so that you can test it out and decide for yourself if it is right for you.

One big complaint against two of the aforementioned brands, Norton and McAfee, is that neither of their antivirus utilities come with uninstall options. In other words, once you install the program on your computer, it cannot be removed without reformatting your computer. This can also cause significant problems and conflicts if you choose to not renew your security subscription and then install security software from another company.

As far as free antivirus software, AVG Free Edition and Zone Alarm are among the most popular. AVG is preferred by many because it is a relatively small application and does a great job of not interfering with your regular tasks. Zone Alarm, however, is a slightly larger utility but has a sophisticated feature called Auto Learn. The Auto Learn feature enables the program to update itself based on your activity and preferences. Some users have complained that its routine of requesting user permission every time a new website is visited is a bit annoying, but other users feel that the superior level of security offered by the software is a fair trade-off.

Regardless of which antivirus software you choose to install on your system, be sure to only choose one. Running more than one antivirus program can cause several problems and lead to system instability.

In the unfortunate event that your computer becomes infected with a computer virus, there is a very real possibility (depending on the nature of the virus) that your entire hard drive could be wiped out and rendered completely useless. If this were to happen, all of your application data as well as your personal data such as pictures, music, and videos would be permanently lost.

Some viruses are engineered to do nothing beyond annoying you. However, other viruses are much more malicious and designed specifically to cause damage to PCs. If not detected and dealt with immediately, these harmful viruses can cause irreversible damage to your system.

So how do you prevent this from happening? Well, you should have an up to date antivirus program running on your computer to give you the best chances of avoiding this scenario altogether. Viruses are constantly changing and evolving, but so is antivirus software technology. Having quality antivirus software on your side should be your first line of defense against viruses. While the most effective and in-depth antivirus utilities may be somewhat expensive, there are also very capable free antivirus programs that you can use that still offer a great deal of protection. Using common sense and avoiding downloading suspicious email attachments or visiting possibly harmful websites are also important to protect yourself from the potential damage that can be caused by contracting a computer virus. But as an extra precaution, you should consider backing up all of your data.

It’s actually pretty easy to back up all the data on your PC. Depending on how much data is actually stored on your computer, you may or may not need large amounts of storage media to properly back it all up. Most computer users can back up their entire hard drives on a few DVDRs (which can hold up to 4.7gb each). For smaller amounts of data, CDRs can be used (which hold up to 800mb of data). USB drives are another great way to store data. Their capacity to hold information varies greatly.

You’ll need a DVD burner to transfer your files from your computer to DVDR media. Most modern PCs have them built in, but if not you can purchase an external DVD burner and connect it via USB. Similarly, flash drives can be connected to your computer via USB ports to transfer data.

It’s up to you how often you decide to back up your data. Some people only back up their data annually, while others back up their data as often as once or twice a week. The frequency with which you back up your data will likely be determined by how often you create or download new data onto your computer.

Once you’ve got your data properly backed up, you can rest assured knowing that even in the event of a total virus attack destroying your hard drive, youíll still be able to recover all of your files and load them onto your next computer. In a less severe scenario, you might contract a virus that damages some files on your computer but is then removed by your antivirus program. With your backed up data, you can easily replace the damaged files and it will be as if the infection never happened in the first place.

There was a time when it was generally a good idea to have antivirus software running on your computer. With the advent of the internet, it has become absolutely imperative. Email, chat rooms, and file sharing gave viruses the ability to spread like wildfire and infect millions of machines. In order to ensure that you have adequate protection, you’ll need a sophisticated antivirus program. To help you determine which antivirus products are the best suited to provide you with that protection, here are some key things to look for.

The internet is a great place to start. Check out reviews and see what customers are saying about particular antivirus products. Virus Bulletin as well as AV-Comparatives specialize in antivirus reviews and are considered an authority in the industry. Computer and Tech magazines are also great resources of information pertaining to security software, along with their respective websites.

A good review will focus on the effectiveness as well as the usability of the software. Obviously the most critical function of any antivirus software is the actual process of detecting and removing viruses and other threats. After finding software that excels in this area, you can further narrow down your options by looking for which products among them offer the best speed and stability.

If antivirus software is slowing down the computers of its customers, it is likely the first thing theyíre going to complain about on online forums or blogs. Therefore it’s pretty easy to determine which products are notorious for hogging system resources and slowing down overall computer performance. Some software may also conflict with other software and potentially cause errors. If you think you’ve done adequate research and found a program that will perform well on your system, be sure to download the trial version first and test it out for yourself before committing to a purchase. There may be errors or incompatibility issues that could arise after some use that you otherwise would not have known about. Be sure to run different applications while the antivirus software is running to make sure that they run smoothly.

Some antivirus software is much easier to operate than other types. An additional benefit of downloading the trial version first is you can get to know the interface and see if the product provides you with sufficient ease-of-use. Several types of antivirus software offer extensive customization options, while others do not.The “set and forget” option is one that a lot of antivirus software customers look for. What the feature essentially does is give you the ability to set the software to perform scans and updates automatically, at an interval that you determine. This is much more convenient than having to manually update your software or initialize regular disk scans.

It’s a good idea to test out more than one antivirus program by taking advantage of their free trials, but keep in mind that you must fully uninstall one program before attempting to use another one. Running two types of security software simultaneously may likely result in errors or system instability.