If you're looking for virus protection, I strongly recommend against getting one of the expensive, paid antivirus programs like Norton and McAfee. They are not cheap, and really can cause a bit of a problem with slowing down your machine. I prefer to use Avast, a free program that gives your computer realtime virus protection. If you got an infected website, it will set off an alarm warning you that a virus has been detected. It will give you the option to continue (unless you really like viruses, I do not suggest this), or abort the connection. This will stop the virus from getting in to your system.
The Good Stuff: It's FREE! And it's especially easy to use- just install it and it does most of the work. There's also an Avast! Screensaver that comes with it, so when you're away from the computer the screensaver can run and scan your computer for viruses. And running a virus scan without the screensaver is really easy as well- just click the "scan" button, and you're ready to go!
The Downside: It updates itself and will announce in a very loud voice- "VIRUS DATABASE HAS BEEN UPDATED." If you're going to nap while leaving the computer on, I recommend disabling that feature. Seriously, there's nothing scarier than waking up to an evil computer that's updating the virus database. And when you want to run a scan, the memory test at startup takes forever. You can decide to skip it, but again, I don't recommend it.
Total Rating: 8.5/10
Final Word: Avast! is definitely one of the best antivirus programs I have ever used. Despite the few minor drawbacks, it is still one of the best programs out there on the market. And best of all, it doesn't cost you anything!
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