PC Security Mandatory Tip #1: Use Anti-Virus Software

If you own a PC there are somethings you just cannot live without — whether you like it or not.  One of these things is anti-virus software.

It’s just one of the facts of life now – that there are tons of malicious people all over the globe just writing various viruses and unleashing them across the web.  You really need to accept this fact of life if you use a PC at all, which just means that you need anti-virus software.

There are of course tons of major brand names like Norton Anti-Virus which is also part of the larger Norton Internet Security suite.  However, my personal preference is an anti-virus application that’s easy to install, auto-updates on definable schedules, works well to scan for viruses in outgoing and incoming emails, during web-surfing and all the files on my hard drives.  And yes, it is free.  It’s called AVG-Free from Grisoft.

They have a premium version that also incorporates paid versions of other needed applications like anti-spyware, anti-spam, etc, but I’ve found it unncessary to date to pay for the additional features they are trying to provide in the upsell-version of AVG.

The Virus Vault will quarantine files for you just in case you want to make sure cordorned files are legitimate (in my experience, AVG has never made a mistake to put into quarantee any file that wasn’t supposed to be.

You can schedule two separate tasks based on your own usage of your computer.  First, to check for updates online and download them daily.  And Second, to do a complete scan of your computer’s files on any/all hard drives you choose.

AVG is definitely worth trying out, especially if you have Norton Anti-virus.  While you get technical support and other ‘big brand’ features from paid versions of Norton Antivirus, most users will be able to utilize AVG Anti-Virus successfully and avoid the annual subscription renewal fees the the other paid services like Microsoft’s Live OneCare anti-virus services charge year after year after year.