Anti-Virus Software

Antivirus software is your friend! Since there are many companies who develop this software, I will talk about the more popular ones used, and give you some comparisons of each that will be helpful to you when choosing software.

Norton – (Symantec) Norton antivirus software is very popular in the consumer market.  This software comes in a variety of versions (Internet Security, AntiVirus, and 360).  Each version is different. Norton 360 is a bundled package which includes protection in all forms of security (internet, antivirus, PC tuneup/backup, malware, identity theft).  Norton is very easy to install and offers many features that are simple to run plus their customer support team is very good and offers on-line chat, email, and phone support.  You can also purchase multiple licenses if you need it installed on more than one computer.  However, Norton uses a lot of memory and the disk scan tends to be slow.  Note: Norton also offers software designed for business needs.

AVG – AVG antivirus is another good product to use for computer protection.  AVG offers a free version that can be downloaded from their website.  The free version only offers antivirus protection, and protection for social media.  You can purchase a full version which includes all features.  The software doesn’t use a lot of memory like Norton; however, plus, it doesn’t offer online chat support.  This software is ideal for computers that aren’t used much but need some type of antivirus software installed.  The disadvantage is it does not come in multiple licenses.

McAfee – (Intel) McAfee has similar features to Norton. There are several different versions but there are some differences.  McAfee is cumbersome when installing and much harder to configure. In addition, it requires you to download the updates from the website yourself, where Norton does this for you.  The software comes with a pre-loaded, scaled-down version on some new computers.  The firewall does not fully protect your computer from malware and other threats. McAfee does have email support but no phone support.

Kaspersky – Kaspersky is also similar to Norton offering the same features with some slight differences.  Some advantages are: well thought out interface, faster scan speeds, and doesn’t take up much space.  When installing the software, the setup file must be downloaded then installed, and then Kaspersky will send you a back-up CD. The protection covers the internet, malware, and IM (Instant Messaging).  Kaspersky detects over 98 percent of viruses.  The scanning feature is much quicker and virus definitions are done every hour automatically without any user intervention.  If you stumble over a virus that is not recognized, it will send the unknown samples to its lab to help stay up to date.  The technical support is impressive.  There is a toll free number to use or you can use the online troubleshooter to solve a problem

There are a number of antivirus software packages to choose from.  These are just some of the most popular ones.  Your decision on which to purchase depends on your needs.

Please feel free to forward this information to others.  If you would like to learn more on this topic or would like to request an area of technology you are interested in, please contact me.

Until next time…Happy Computing!!!