The Truth Behind The Antivirus Software!
You may be most familiar with Norton Antivirus, being as it is, the most popular choice for PC users becuase of it's simple uses and easy-to-use layout. Essentially, what they offer you is the service of protection of your PC from hackers, spammers, and virus'. This means that once or twice a month the computer will run a full system scan whereby it looks for any suspicious files and deletes them from the computer.
But does any of this actually work? Many people have argued that it is just the companies themselves sending out these "virus'" in order to ensure your subscription for next years Update. Some people have even claimed that the software can damage your computer and delete some important files. At £50 per suite excluding monthly updates you would be hoping that software packages such as Norton would benefit your computer in some sort of way. Are they all just the same or do any of them offer you real protection against scammers that are looking to steal from you or commit fraud? And is there any real way of stopping these people? They will always be able to modify their viruses so that firewalls can't stop them and people will always find new ways of stealing your money, whether it be on an auction site or stealing your credit card details.
Perhaps all this software should be free, after all, the internet is free and no charges should be set in protecting yourself. The companies do offer free updates after you have initially bought the software but you are still paying for the software every annum. Of course what these companies are really offering you is peace of mind and they know you will be coming back next year to get the brand new version!
So should you buy Antivirus Software?
Well, it is advisable that you look at the market and decide whether you are willing to pay that much for something that may or may not work. In my opinion, you will need this software to fully enjoy the internet and your computer with no risk of being hijacked or your computer being destroyed!
Then again there are now new array of tools that can prevent your sytem from being attacked for no charge at all! Some of these include Computer Associates, Microsoft's Windows AntiSpyware, Google Toolbar and XBlock Systems. These are all downloadable for your computer and will do the same job as your other Antivirus Suites at a lower price of £0!
Happy Safe Surfing!
Joe Moverley
Have Your Say
Free all the way in my opinion!
True, but simple things such as Avast has a nice, friendly interface and are easy to use. I have never had problems with it really, apart from when it decides to update when I am playing games!
I strongly suggest BitDefender. It may only come in 1 year licenses but it is truly excellent in that it stops viruses so effectively! It monitors all changes on your system and if it is a big enough change (i.e registry etc. then it gives you options!)
That's right, but people don't always believe that your getting something for free! You might be frightened it's a scam or something, but you should always ask someone about it :)
As far as I'm concerned, you can't really go all that wrong with free anti-viruses such as AVG. They work really well, and don't really have much of an incentive to make you pay. I suggest getting one, they work and you save some money in the bank.
Nice one Joe. Earlier on in the year I installed a Norton anti-virus on my PC and the installation stopped half way through and shut my PC down totally. Took me 3 hours to get everything sorted again, but since that happened it has totally put me off Norton all together. I will never try installing their software again and I would not reccommend them.
PermaLink
I used McAfee for about 3 months to 'protect' my computer. Recently, i was having alot of problems with my new PC (pop ups, programs crashing, etc.), so i decided to download AVG to double check that there wasn't any viruses. AVG picked up 11 viruses (that McAfee didn't) that had infected hundreds of files, including explorer.exe, and thankfully deleted them all and 'healed' my explorer.exe. If it wasn't for AVG i would have had to reinstall windows. I strongly recommend downloading AVG (it's free!)