To Anti-Virus or Not to Anti-Virus
Welcome to my first how-to article, here we are going to cover the need for Anti-Virus, pretty silly topic to cover I hear you say, well not really considering on the number of computers that I see come into Ross-IT on a daily basis that have no protection on them what so ever! Not even windows defender enabled. It is absolutely critical to have some form of Anti-Virus on your computer regardless of whether it is a fully paid subscription or just a free basic protection form of Anti-Virus, or you will be booking your computer in for virus removal sooner than you think!
Free or Subscription?
This is another common question that I am asked by customers and friends alike, shall I shell out £30, £40, £50 for a full subscription of Anti-Virus or should I just stick with the free version? I have seen computers with even the most expensive Anti-Virus programs fall victim to a virus, 9 times out of 10 it comes down the user being sensible in what they are choosing to download and install on their computers. Bypassing your Anti-Virus to download some cracked software or games will do exactly that bypass your security by telling it, that the program is safe and allowing it access to your system. So I am a firm believer that a free Anti-Virus is usually just as good as the paid subscription the main benefactor being that all of the updating is automated leaving less for the user to do, with a few other added bonuses such as instant messaging and email sorting. So if you think that is worth shelling out the subscription price for then the paid version is for you.
Which Anti-Virus is best?
Another common question, which Anti-Virus is the best, which will offer me the best protection? As I have just covered previously that the majority of the time it is down to the user that viruses are getting through your protection it really boils down to which you prefer, or which you are used to, there are a few major companies such as Norton, McAfee and AVG that you generally find pre-installed on your new PC or laptop these are the few that most people have heard of for that reason (good marketing on their end) so people tend to use them. I work on the basis that they have all been around for quite some time so they can be useless or they would have gone out of business a long time ago. I would suggest (if you’re that bothered) have a look at them and see which looks best for yourself, they all have a main control panel and are pretty easy to use, I use AVG FREE purely because I am quite sensible when it comes to clicking on links that I should leave alone, and all of the other add-ons that included in the paid for versions tend to slow down a computer so just the basic is what I prefer so it won’t dent my computers performance. But overall the decision is yours, they are as stated all pretty much as good as each other just choose what you are used to and pic free or subscripted accordingly.