There are many free anti virus programs out there and many full programs ranging in price from minimal to full suite. Do the free versions work? What is the best choice for you?
I have always been interested in trying new software for just about every application you can imagine. I have also always been a big fan of free programs. There are a lot of free programs with various applications but for now we will focus on only anti virus programs.
I have tried many free programs over the years and finally settled on two in particular. Have they let me down in the past, sure. I have been through all stages of infection from a one run fix with my anti virus program to a full wipe, reformat, and reinstall of the operating system. The latter will cost you time, effort, the loss of your computer function, and probably a few gray hairs too! You see, if your computer becomes infected and you don't address it right away, or maybe you didn't notice, bad things can happen. Without getting into too much technical detail a computer virus left unchecked will wreak havoc on your computer. The situation never gets better, only worse. The symptoms are only annoying at first but if not removed it can cause enough damage to render your computer inoperable, and if it gets into the boot files you can't even turn it on. So you must weigh the cost factor of buying an anti virus program against the possible consequences you might face in the future.
You might ask what the difference is between a free version and a full version. A free anti virus program is like a stripped down version of that company's flagship version. You don't have all the function and in many cases you don't get the real time protection that can block a virus from getting on your computer. I know you are thinking that the programs are getting better all the time but so are the virus programs. From personal experience I can tell you that the percentage of computers that are brought to me to repair for virus removal has increased dramatically. Right now it is especially bad. My best advice to those of you with Average computer skills is to protect yourself as best you can. The money you save today could cost you ten times as much down the road
Let me give you an example. I built my son a computer when he was five. He just turned nine and two months ago his computer had a terrible virus. He only goes to cartoon sites to play the games, or does a search for his favorite baseball player. I know because we keep his computer in the dining room where we can see everything. Don't you too? Anyway, by the time he told me it was running slow, (my fault for not checking), the registry was so damaged that I had use his backup program to restore his computer.
This is off topic but you should all have some kind of backup program. The lesson here is that you never know when a virus can strike so you should be as protected as possible.
Alan Hohenbrink
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