Friday, October 21, 2011

Free Antivirus Software Programs

If your budget is tight and you don't want to spend money on a anti-virus program, you should consider the following six as recommended by PC World: Avira AntiVir Personal, Alwil Avast Anti Virus Home Edition, AVG 8. 5 Free, Microsoft Security Essentials, PC Tools Antivirus Free Edition and Comodo Internet Security. These free apps have been tested, rated, and reviewed by PC World.
However, keep in mind that free software will not give you everything that the paid ones do. Most free software offer little to no technical support if you run into problems. They may offer online forums or charge you for over the phone technical support. For example, AVG offers paid telephone support for $50 which is actually crazy and not worth it.
Free software have less frequent updates which in today's world with new viruses and adware appearing all the time maybe a major problem. Free software also offers limited features. For example, Avira's paid anti-virus software will scan traffic before it's downloaded to your computer, but it's free version doesn't.
Finally, some free antivirus will download toolbars and will urge you to upgrade by purchasing the paid version. Some companies will offer you a free version but their goal is to have you upgrade to the paid version eventually.
Free Trials for Paid Programs
If you are in the market for an effective paid antivirus software program but don't know which one to choose or whether the one you want to purchase does a good job, you should consider testing first via a free trial. You may want to choose a program such Norton Antivirus Free Trial, which offers 30 days of full functionality of the Norton Internet Security software package to test out for free. Most if not all, software programs offer a free trial period for you to test out their product before you purchase which is a great idea.
During testing a program, you want to pay special attention to how the program affects the performance of your computer. You definitely don't want a program slowing down your computer which is annoying. You also don't want too many notifications by the program while you work on your computer, which may also be annoying. You also want to pay attention to how often the program updates. Frequent updates signify that new viruses are being found and are being added to the software on your computer to keep it safe.
After the free trial period has ended, you can remove the software from your computer and test another software. Of course, if you are happy with the one you just tested, you can keep it.

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