Two of my favorite programs are AVG Anti-virus Free Edition by Grisoft, and TrendMicro's free anti-virus solution dubbed HouseCall.
It's worth noting that both Grisoft and TrendMicro sell a version of their software that isn't free, but I've never needed it. The advantage for paying for the more robust versions include increased tools, and in the case of HouseCall, active protection (the free edition of HouseCall requires the user to initiate the virus scan).
To protect my personal computer I do 3 things:
1: I make sure Windows Update is turned on to automatically install any new security updates.
2: I Browse carefully. I never install anything if I don't know where it came from and I'm suspicious of new web pages or emails that might install viruses and tracking software without my knowledge.
3: I Setup AVG Free to run on a regular basis (nightly for me, while I'm asleep), and I run HouseCall occasionally (monthly or more) to catch anything that AVG Free might have missed.
If for some reason my computer begins to act sluggish during the day, I'll manually run AVG Free or HouseCall (or both) to make sure that I didn't recently pick up a virus.
I've been using this combo for several years and I've never had an issue that AVG Free and/or HouseCall couldn't fix. When I ran AVG Free for the first time a few years ago it discovered more than a hundred suspicious files. After I cleaned up my computer with AVG Free, I ran HouseCall, which discovered a handful of additional files that AVG missed. That's not to say that HouseCall is better than AVG Free. I suspect that I would have had the same results if I had run HouseCall first and AVG second. Any good anti-virus solution is bound to miss a few viruses occasionally.
So you may be asking yourself why I don't just pay for Norton or McAffee. The answer is simple. I've found them to be more cumbersome, less reliable, and more likely to miss-label a file that isn't actually a virus.
Now, if you're planning on using AVG Free or HouseCall to protect your business computers (plural), I'd advise against it. Neither program is designed to operate in that capacity. Also, this solution requires you to be proactive about your computers protection. It also requires you to have sufficient knowledge of your computer to be able to realize when it's not operating normally or running at a sluggish pace. The only way to do that effectively is to be very familiar with your computer and it's quirks. This would be much harder in a business setting where two identical computers can run at drastically different speeds depending on how much free space the computers have, how fragmented the drives are, etc. Also, exposure to multiple employee's tends to be a risk factor for viruses (due to inappropriate browsing, opening non-work related emails, etc).
A shared family computer is also at a higher risk of viruses than a personal computer that has a single responsible user. Therefore you might use a more active anti-virus approach for a family computer used by the kids vs a personal computer used exclusively by you or your spouse in your den or home office.
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