Which Anti-Virus Software Should I Use

Let's start with a negative. If you are a home user, never, never, never ever install McAfee. That thing is the worst resource hog. It will make your computer run slow because it checks every file after every action. I have had this problem on every computer that I have ever used with McAfee installed. I thought it was an internet connection problem, but a good tech buddy of mine told me it was McAfee. As soon as I uninstalled it, my computer ran smooth and fast.

Now for some tips. In the world of anti-virus software there are major players like McA'crap listed above as well as Norton Anti-Virus and some others. You can install them, but unless you want to pay every month to keep your anti-virus up to date, you are wasting your money. New viruses are created every day and these companies make you pay for the privilege of having your computer run slow in an effort to thwart the threat. I don't know about you, but "free" sounds a whole lot better to me.

Thankfully a free option exists. I recommend AVG anti-virus. You can get the free edition and it is updated regularly. You get the updates later than the paid version, but most threats are the result of bad browsing habits. As long as you aren't opening every piece of spam email you get and you are avoiding spurious web sites you will probably be ok. It's not a guarantee, but I installed the free edition of AVG and I haven't had a virus problem since. The company I work for uses their paid version and there haven't been any problems there either.

It's easy to download and it runs in the background without ever making your computer slow. The exception to this is when it is running a scan, but you can schedule that scan to run overnight and you'll never be affected by it.

All you have to do is click "download" on the link provided to get the installation file and then either save it to your desktop for easy finding or click "run'. After that follow the on-screen instructions.

Oh one last thought. If you want to avoid viruses altogether, get a MAC. It has everything you need right out of the box and they are awesome for personal use. More to come on that.