The use of antivirus software is absolutely necessary to counter the rampant spread of computer viruses. Read the article to learn more on how to choose antivirus software.

How To Choose An Antivirus Software

In the year 2008, Microsoft announced a bounty of $250,000 for any information related to a particular computer virus that was creating havoc at that time. It was the Conficker virus, which is still considered to be one of the most deadly computer viruses ever. It infected over 15 million Microsoft server systems among which more than 7 million were government, business, and personal computers spread over 200 countries. This virus was designed to make the computers it infected, act like zombies so that they could be remote controlled by the writers of the virus. The scale of its reach was enough to make a certain Mr. Gates sweat, and open his purse strings for the bounty. There are millions of computer viruses active in the world today, spreading through the web. A majority of these viruses are malicious, that is they can steal your private information and also destroy your computer. Some viruses are designed to steal credit card numbers, some to steal secret government information, some to destroy your computer, and the less harmless ones, just to irritate. The only way to protect your computer is through antivirus software. Computer viruses have become so rampant today that programmers are spending sleepless nights writing codes and programme to eliminate those threats. To protect your personal information from falling into wrong hands, and also to protect your computer, in short to stay safe in this ‘wired’ world, it is better to install antivirus software that is capable of detecting, and eliminating threats. However, here a dilemma presents itself. Just like the abundance of viruses, there are also a huge number of antivirus softwares available. To choose which one is the best can be a quite a task indeed. Read below to know how to choose antivirus software.
 
Tips For Choosing Antivirus Software
  • You must know that there are two types of anti-virus softwares. One is the antivirus security suite. This is a complete package, which includes other protective features like firewall, spam filtering, and anti-spyware. The other type is the standalone antivirus program. This program only scans for viruses and eliminates them. It does not have any other added features. You can have your pick among these two.
  • Antivirus security suites are more expensive than standalone packages. If you are going for security suite then see that it works on a single user interface. In the long run security suites prove to be cheaper as you don’t have to buy all the programs separately. Go for those suites in which all the components are as good as individual softwares. Security suites are the best option for beginners.
  • For non-commercial use, there are a number of free antivirus softwares. These free products are generally the scaled back versions of commercial ones. However, the free softwares, though they come at a much reduced price have a host of disadvantages like limited technical support and very less functionality. They are also not released by any leading brands. In the long term, it is always better to go for fully licensed commercial softwares. Use free softwares only when it is extremely necessary.
  • Before buying any antivirus software, it is always better and to your advantage if you can try the product. There are many software vendors that offer trial versions that you can download from their websites. These trial version softwares can last from 3 months to 12 months. Go for the software that satisfies all your criteria as well as more and diverse functions.
  • You can also check out reviews of the softwares from various technical websites just to be on the safer side. However, don’t depend solely on the reviews but go according to your own discretion.
  • Next, it is very important that the antivirus software be user friendly. It should be easy to install and use. Make sure that you are aware of all its functions so that you are able to use it to its maximum limit.
  • Now find out the technical support option of the antivirus software. Go for the software that comes with high level and quality of technical support. Check out if it has got any support website.
  • Buy the antivirus from reputable companies, as you will have the facility of upgrading your softwares when new levels of threats are detected.
  • There are separate antivirus softwares for businesses. Since businesses use multiple computers these softwares are designed to install, update and manage on multiple computers. This saves you the burden of installing antivirus softwares on all the individual computers.

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