But free Anti Virus Software can’t be any good, right?

Wrong!

I believe that Antivirus Software is the single most important thing that anyone should install. I’m amazed how often I get calls from people who use email and surf the Internet without an Antivirus program and then find themselves with a very sick computer.

It’s not unusual for it to cost over a hundred dollars to get some types of virus removed and in the worst cases it requires a complete re-install of the machine, which is very time consuming.

Some people will try to tell you that with anything free you

"only get what you pay for”

ie. Nothing

-- but that’s not always the case.

TIP– The most common reason for antivirus software not working is because it’s not configured properly or isn’t updated regularly.

Don’t just install it and forget about it. Make sure that it’s set to scan all incoming and outgoing files and most importantly make sure that it updates every single day. Most programs allow you to set them to update automatically.

There are a couple of programs out there that are designed by professional companies and give the same level of protection and updates as their paid-for software but without all the “whistles and bells”.

They are able to give away their software because they already do all the hard work for their paid-for version which they sell to companies. This version can only be used by home users.

I recommend AVG Free Edition from Grisoft and I’ve got more information here. (I actually use AVG Professional on my own company’s systems)

So, even if you can’t afford to pay for commercial software, you’d have to be mad to use your computer on the ‘net without at least AVG Free.

Some of the many free antivirus programs available