How To Select An Antivirus Product
Choosing the correct antivirus product from the twenty or so different antivirus software companies can be a bit mind-boggling. Antivirus software programs have the same goal – to keep you from losing all your data including graphics, pictures, and documents to a computer anomaly or somebody trying to hack in your system. But choosing the right anti-virus program for you is a little more complicated.
What is a Virus?
You have probably heard of the computer virus collectives; malware, spyware, Trojans, viruses, and worms. These are all the types of harmful programs that will shut down your computer system and possibly even steal or delete your data. They are all very annoying and for some reason malicious people enjoy embedding them into websites so that unsuspecting visitors are affected by them.
The computer virus is code that attaches to .exe files and replicates itself. Almost like a physical virus humans catch, a computer virus can be mild to deadly. Worms are also self-replicating sequencers, but do not attach themselves to .exe or executable files. Worms just send reproductions of themselves to other machines and eat bandwidths and crash networks. A worm can also delete files on your computer; it burrows and hollows out data.
Everyone has heard of the Trojan Horse. This is the virus used by hackers to access and steal data on your computer and install damaging programs on your machine. Spyware is another computer virus problem that collects the data from your computer as you use that data. Spyware records your browsing habits and steals passwords or vital information. Pop-ups and redirection ads are examples of spyware.
Choosing Correct Antivirus Programs
Research the antivirus programs you need by first deciding the level of protection you want. Do you need antivirus software that is heavy and unstoppable or do you want something that works behind the scenes and specifically targets different types of computer dangers? “Heavy” antivirus software runs in the background of your computer, but does leave a large footprint and takes up space and memory, although it is highly robust. Less active antivirus programs do not slow down your computer, but they do lack in some protection activities.
If you use multiple programs at once or if you want your computer to run at a high speed, you need a less invasive antivirus program. If you use your computer for internet surfing or are a computer amateur, you may need a strong antivirus program. Read the instructions on the box of antivirus software, choose the antivirus program that fits your operating system and consider if you are installing antivirus programs on one computer or many. If you fall into the latter, the software you need must be tough enough to protect every computer on the network. Mental note – check licensing specifications.
Free anti-virus software
You can get free antivirus programs from your ISP, internet service provider, or look for free versions of popular antivirus software programs on the web. You can purchase antivirus programs that include parental controls and shut down the computer if dangerous websites are accessed. You may want to consider this type of software if you have children who regularly use your computer. But before you purchase your anti-virus software, take advantage of the free 30-60 day plans companies offer and keep trying until you find the antivirus program that suits your needs.
Conclusion
So pick your antivirus product carefully, whatever you do though buy one, it is definitely a necessity of modern computer life.
