ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

There are many anti-virus programs on the market, ranging from the purchase-to-use to shareware and freeware, and each has their own methods of protection. If you are looking for cheap or free downloads, there are several great products available which do one or two of the jobs the more expensive programs handle – such as adware and spyware removal, virus scanning, or system clean-ups. The pay-for-use software, which can be bought in computer stores or downloaded from the creator’s websites, generally handle several jobs – such as firewall protection, virus scanning and automatic updates, and so forth.

There are several popular anti-virus programs which have gone through years of development and use. Avast! has been around since 1988, and has recently had a new version of it’s popular anti-viral software released, avast! 4 Home/Professional. McAfee antivirus programs have also been around for many years, and its latest version – VirusScan 2007 – uses several sub programs to eliminate the majority of computer virus problems. Popular with Windows users, Norton AntiVirus is another trusted name in the industry; the 2008 version sees Norton up to its fifteenth revision of the program. Panda Security is also a name most people are familiar with – they have developed personal and corporate security software which includes Panda Antivirus 2008.

It is important that you understand the requirements of your computer before you download or purchase any software as many antivirus programs are not compatible with Mac operating systems, and others may require large amounts of memory or a fast internet connection for updates.