And Malware Protection – With emphasis on Free!

Here, my goal is to cover AntiVirus programs, with an emphasis on the free versions! Why concentrate on free? Because my customers do not have to worry about expiration, and they work very well!

One of the most common problems I see is expired subscription for AntiVirus programs. Unfortunately, I see this when customers are calling me for “problems” with viruses, computer running slow, programs that don’t work, or worse. This article will cover AntiVirus software, Malware Protection, firewalls, and spyware.

Why does this happen so often?

Manufacturers ship their computers with a 90 day subscription to McAfee or Symantec (Norton’s) Anti-Virus Programs ( or Security Suite). Then, when the subscription is expiring, then they send reminders, of course asking for money! Users, of course resist spending their hard earned money buying something they receive from “the internet”, which is constantly asking for their money!

Do I blame them for their resistance? ……….  No, not really, but I want them to understand that they need anti-virus protection!

If you don’t have antiVirus protection, then your computer will be infected! It is only a matter of time! You would think that a Computer repair person would be happy about this, right? While fixing infected PC’s is a good part of my revenue stream, but, I would rather this not happen to any of my customers!

Note: Ironically, some Anti-Virus ads you get are Malware themselves! (see Rogue Security). I just removed SAV from a customers system yesterday, because it’s symptoms were the same as a Virus or spy ( unwanted pop-ups, overlay of your current screen, etc)

There are some very good Anti-Virus Programs available free! Microsoft Security Essentials, and AVG 9.0 has a free version,

that is quite good. There is also Avast and AntVir, which also have good ratings. Now Google has free anti-virus!

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Update 11-16-9: I am recommending Microsoft Security Essentials, for the free version.

However, I’m now testing Avast, since improvement in the latest reviews!

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There is better protection, for a reasonable fee (My favorite is Norton Internet Security Suite 2010). My purpose here is to give a list of available protection, and then some reviews that will help you decide which to get. Keep in mind that I don’t completely trust these reviews, as I have the impression that they have “sponsors”, and are not unbiased. But I get an impression from the overall group, as to which stands out as a decent protection.

Update 11/19/9: Cloud computing may provide the best Anti-Virus protection of all! See the article on right called: Collective Intelligence. The part of the idea I like best, is that malware cannot cripple the Virus Engine or database, as they do now, on our pc’s. Open for debate is, does it really work?

AntiVirus Reviews

Read each review, and then click back on your browser, to come back here for the next review.

ZDNET – 10Antivirus Programs worth a Look(4-13-10) This is an interesting review of lesser known AV programs

Vipre – an alternative! – Not Free, but worth reviewing.

CNET 2010 AntiVirus Review

http://antivirus.about.com/od/antivirussoftwarereviews/a/freeav.htm
http://www.pcantivirusreviews.com/

After you read the reviews, do you feel they are trying to sell you something? Most reviews qppear to be sponsored by an Antivirus program.
But, if you read between the lines, there is some consistent information.

• Symantec Internet Security 2010 (and 360) are now clearcut winners!
• (For the paid versions) In commercial accounts, they use Symantec Endpoint 11.0.5 (which works very well!) This is typically 5 users or more.
• Avira has moved up in the ranking for “Free Stuff!”

• The Internet Security suites have a very high overhead (slows your computer!) If you have a later model, that has dual core processing, this is far less of a problem, paticularly if you have a 2010 version of your Security Suite.

Note: This is particularly noticeable for CPU’s less than 3 Ghz) see How to Determine CPU speed

• Firewalls are frequently a problem for users …. CPU speed, and sometimes ask questions tough for users to answer.

Here’s another view – from Computer Service Company in Raleigh On-Site Computer Repair Service in Raleigh NC, is not connected with my company, but we have talked and exchange links. His perspective is somewhat different from mine, ans I think you may gain by hearing from another company that has to fix virus infected computers!

Bottom Line:

• You must have an Anti-Virus program ( free versions are pretty good). With the current problems with Fake Anti-Virus programs being so virulent.

Note:11/22/10 Paying for a good Security package is making more sense. I’ve spent the last 2 weeks, clearing off Fake Anti-Virus packages. Some were there, with AVG and Microsoft Security Essentials installed. But most infected machines were not up to date. I still think that Microsoft Security Essentials is a pretty good free program, but maybe not enough for really top notch security!

You must have backup of your important data (that includes pictures, address books, music, Quicken or QuickBooks data, etc. Go to Backup for more info. Why backup? You are safer to assume that you will get infected occasionally, no matter how good your protection, and also to protect against a hardware failure where you can lose your data.

• Firewalls offer pretty good protection (routers have a hardware firewall, built in). The caution here is to be aware of the overhead with a software firewall that can seriously slow down your computer. Software Firewalls are frequently difficult to set up. Many users opt to disable them, rather than being “blocked from the internet”.

Extreme caution is needed, that you do not install more than one anti-virus program, or firewall! The results could be anywhere from slowing down your computer, to erratic operation, or worse!