Antivirus – fight the good fight
When first buying a computer most people are paranoid that as soon as they connect their computer to the internet it will become stuffed full of viruses, worms and trojans (assuming they know what these things are). These people are paranoid and totally justified in being so. A study in 2004 showed then that an unpatched Windows machine would only last 20 minutes on the internet before it was infect with something.
http://news.cnet.com/2100-7349_3-5313402.html
Do we live in a much safer and enlighted environment nowadays, six years after that test? Yes, but probably not that much.
So, what can you do with your computer to stop it getting infected? There are a few simple things – don’t use Internet Explorer, use Firefox; download your install files on a separate, protected machine and then copy them over before you connect to the internet; run some decent AV software.
There are many choices of antivirus software out there to choose from and it can probably be quite confusing for computer n00bs but don’t fear, here’s some tips:
- Buying AV software
If you are really paranoid and want to spend some good cash on some AV softare, then most of the big names will all do the same thing: Kaspersky, Norton, McAfee, etc. Your computer may have come with some already – if that is the case, just keep using it and make sure it’s updated. If it asks you to pay for a subscription and you haven’t been please with the service however, consider some of the free options.
- Free Antivirus
AVG Free is one of the top pieces of free AV out there and will do everything you need. It’s free to download and use and you can upgrade to the premier version if you like it and want to do more with it.
- Microsoft Antivirus
This is my personal favourite and what I would recommend. Microsoft recently release Microsoft Security Essentials with Windows 7 and it’s a free tool from MS that actually works really well! It does AV, protects your from spyware and adware and is really light weight so it won’t slow down your sytem. Give it a go!
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