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What kind
of Internet security or protection software does my computer
need?
Every brand
new computer typically comes with a trial version of some
sort of Internet Security program, or anti-virus. Usually
you'll get Norton anti-virus, Norton Internet Security or
Norton 360. While I have always said that anything is better
than nothing, I can tell you that there are plenty of
programs better than Norton or McAfee or the other "big
name" antivirus / antispyware / antimalware / Internet
Security programs. The reason those are the top two is
because everyone has heard of them...so people automatically
assume that they're the best. Unfortunately, that can't be
further from the truth.
What is the
best antivirus?
Well, I hope this doesn't disappoint you,
but there is no "best." Why? Well, statistically speaking,
the "best" antivirus program would have to be the one that
catches or prevents 100% of viruses / spyware / malware 100%
of the time and would also have NO negative
impact on the computer it's running on. Even the unbiased
testers who put the "top 10" antivirus programs to the test
never can agree on who is "the best." They all come up with
wildly varying results using all different testing methods.
So, does it
mean that AVG is the best since that's what we recommend and
use on our own systems? Nope. I'm still sold on the fact
that as far as I'm concerned, there is no "best" antivirus
and never will be. But the reason we like AVG Free in
conjunction with ThreatFire, is because between the two,
your system is about as safe as it can get without causing
more headaches for you and problems for your computer. I
can't tell you how many times we've had to remove Norton
from a computer because it caused more crashes or system
instability and when it was taken off, the system started
working better--AND FASTER! I've even had several customers
say "yeah, it made my system worse when I installed it
thinking it would fix the problems I was having."
But as far as
the "and faster" comment, Norton especially has always
slowed systems down. I can take a brand new computer with
absolutely NOTHING on it other than a clean install of
Windows, then install Norton antivirus by itself. After
rebooting, the system is now SIGNIFICANTLY slower than it
was before installing it. So then uninstall it and reboot
and it's like magic! The speed is back! Don't believe me?
Try it for yourself. Uninstall your version of Norton and
see how much faster your computer runs and much faster it
boots! Yes, of course it's all relative, but in the majority
of cases where people take Norton off their computer, they
usually see a performance increase.
It may seem
like I'm bad mouthing Norton, and most of the same can be
said about McAfee and others. It's just that Norton is the
most popular one since it comes preinstalled on most new
computers. So when you get yours, just immediately remove
Norton, then install
AVG Free
Edition as well as
ThreatFire and you'll be
set!
Oh--and to
those that want to tell you "if you want to get a computer
that never gets viruses, go buy a Mac" then I say to them
that they're brainwashed...and very mistaken. The truth of
the matter is, yes even Macs get viruses despite their
claims. If they didn't, then tell me why they sell several
different antivirus programs written specifically for
Macintosh systems?
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