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Antivirus software is an essential part of a computer’s ability to rid off viruses and malicious softwares. Online, there are hundreds of Antivirus softwares just waiting for you to be discovered. Some perform very well, others just lacks particular functionality. so to help you in choosing between these softwares, we’ll narrow it down to just a few.
Top 10 Recommended Antivirus Software Programs
- BitDefender - Softwin, which owns BitDefender, has been around since 1990.
- Kaspersky - Founded in 1997 by Eugene Kaspersky, the Moscow-based company.
- Norton Anti-Virus - Owned by global security giant Symantec.
- McAfee - McAfee is another big name in Internet security.
- F-Secure - Based in Helsinki, Finland, F-Secure has been in the computer protection business since 1988.
- Shield Anti-Virus 2007 - PCSecurityShield offers protection against viruses, hackers and privacy threats.
- Protector Plus - Proland Software offers virus protection with its Protector Plus package, compatible with Windows Vista.
- DefendGate - Canada-based DefendGate offers everything from protection against viruses and identity theft to office productivity suites and desktop accelerators.
- PC DoorGuard - This program is PC DoorGuard is designed for those looking to protect their email from spam, viruses, Trojans and worms.
- CA Antivirus - CA Antivirus says it provides software to 98 percent of Fortune 500 companies and boasts that it was the first antivirus software to be awarded certification with Microsoft Vista in 2007.
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Avast Home Edition 4.8.1229.80923 is a free antivirus, and it was released this year September 23, 2008. Even if it was just released less than a month (since the date today is Oct 8), 30,937,233 people have already downloaded this program at Download.com. Even the Editor of Download.com has given Avast Home Edition a perfect score 5/5. It just proves that Avast Home Edition is a program worthy for our attention. This program has the following workings, according to the publisher’s description: On demand scanner with skinnable simple interface, choose what you want to scan and just press the play button; On access scanner, special providers to protect the most of available e-mail clients; Instant messaging–ICQ, Miranda; Network traffic–intrusion detection, lightweight firewall; P2P protection for Kazaa, BitTorrent; Web shield–monitors and filters all HTTP traffic; NNTP scanner–scans all Usenet Newsgroup traffic and all operations with files on PC; Boot time scanner–scans disks in the same way and in the same time as Windows CHKDSK does.
If you encounter a virus attack, do something at once to prevent the spread of the virus to your system. First, concentrate on the kind of virus to remove the malicious code. There are tools which are available online tailored for that specific virus causing the damage. Next is to see the range of the damage done. If the operating system is completely destroyed, you will have to reinstall. This can be done by using the quick restore CD that comes with your computer. But before you start the process, make sure that you have the necessary information like licenses, registration and serial numbers available. Then do a thorough virus scan of your network. Be sure your anti-virus software is recently updated and that your security patches are up-to-date to prevent future attacks.
Installing software that screens out viruses on your computer is an edge to protect your data or files from being infected of some viruses which can cause computer crash loosing now all important files that are saved on your computer. At the most fundamental sense, anti-virus software is the first line of defense of your computer system in order to maintain the intactness of its programs and other saved data. In buying or choosing reliable anti-virus software, here are some guidelines:
1. Automatic Updates. It should have an automatic updates wherein every time you will turn on, boot or reboot your computer, the anti-virus software will at the same time be running to scan different vaults to search any virus.
2. Ability to Detect. The anti-virus software should have a feature in which it can easily detect virus and provide any warning icon as a signal that a certain virus has intruded the system of your network. In this manner, it will be easy for the computer and anti-virus user to heal of cure the infected area reducing now the possibility of spreading it out contaminating other data or programs.
3. Set up. The anti-virus should include easy set up for the user to be at his or her convenient in utilizing the anti-virus.
Still stupefied as to what anti-virus program to buy and install? Here is a good test which shows you, side-by-side, the popular anti-virus software and how well they performed based on each of the following criteria, among others:
- Detection of malware samples
- Detection of ad- and spyware
- False positives
- Performance/speed
- Proactive detection of new, unknown malware
Not surprisingly, the winners were AntiVir (Avira), F-Secure, Ikarus, McAfee, Norton (Symantec), Panda, Rising, Sophos, and TrendMicro.
The next criteria is the effectiveness in determining viruses and worms. A top notch anti-virus program should be able to quickly identify traces of worms and viruses by the use of real-time system scanning. Another criteria would be the capability of an anti-virus program to actively notify users regarding the latest system threats. Scan results should also be easy to read and understand. An effective anti-virus program should also be well-rounded by offering a set of essential features that provides complete and absolute system protection. The last criteria deals with the help documentation. An anti-virus software that can be considered as high-end should have a wide list of help topics. It should also provide support through email and real-time chat or through a telephone line. FAQ’s should cover a wide array of details and issues regarding the anti-virus software.
An effective and top notch anti-virus software should be easy to install and use. It should be capable of effectively seeking out and identifying threats caused by malware. A powerful anti-virus program should also be capable of cleaning and isolating infected files.
When looking for the right anti-virus program for your computer, be sure to consider the availability and the proficiency of the product’s technical support.
TopTenREVIEWS, which is known to help people in choosing products by making comparisons and in-depth reviews, has provided a set of product evaluation criteria for anti-virus software applications.
The first criteria is the ease of use. This means that an anti-virus product should be simple and user-friendly. To be continued.
The following are the continuation of the list of the common symptoms of virus existence on your computer from the previous post:
There are unexpected changes to file properties. Viruses can alter these – increasing the file’s size, modify date of creation, and even change the filenames.
There are many reasons that can cause you a problem in starting up your computer, but frequently is it a boot virus attack.
Viruses can cause some programs to suddenly shut down.
Other symptoms are strange open-close activity of the CD-ROM tray, the automatic movement of the mouse and keyboard inputs, etc.
It is not easy to tell if some virus has already gone its way to your computer. That’s why we strongly recommend that you install anti-virus software, or much better if you install more than one of it. The following are the common symptoms of a viral infection on your PC, although there are times that the following are not caused by a virus:
Your PC is running slower than usual. This can be due to too many processes and programs running at the same time or a problem with your network, but can also be caused by a virus infection.
Certain files or programs can not be opened. It is possible that a virus has erased parts of the files or programs that are necessary for the file to open or for the program to run.
Setting up an anti-virus on your computer is very easy. You can choose to download free anti-virus such as AVG Free Advisor and AVAST! Home Edition. Or you can also buy anti-virus software like the Norton Anti-virus, Sophos Anti-virus, McAfee and the like.
For the downloaded free anti-virus, you just have to run the .exe or setup file you have downloaded, follow the instructions that will be given and there you go.
For the anti-virus you bought, follow the instructions that can be found on the product manual.
Make sure that you configure your anti-virus software to run on your computer during system start-up to maximize security.
