Free Antivirus

Free antivirus programs such as AVG are readily available online, and offer you good value for no money since most are equipped to deal with viruses and offer you efficient real time protection for your system.

A free antivirus program is also a useful way of determining which commercial software you want to purchase for your system. The free basic version of a commercial antivirus program can give you a sense of how the software works, and lets you decide which program is the best option for you.

Since there have been cases of spyware and other malicious programs masquerading as free antivirus programs, it is best to get a reputed free antivirus program rather than a little-known one.

Users looking for free antivirus software can look for online forums where other individuals have uploaded posts relating to their own experience with free antivirus programs.

Forums are also places where you can post queries or look up user information on how best to use your free antivirus software, since most free programs do not come with customer support.

A free antivirus program is also, of course, a great option for those with limited resources who cannot or do not want to spend a small fortune on a commercial antivirus program.

The trick is to choose a free antivirus package that gives you protection that is almost on par with the advantages offered by a paid antivirus package.

Remember that a free antivirus program will never give you all the benefits that you would normally associate with an antivirus program; for example, you are unlikely to get full customer support services and spyware monitors with a free program. This concern may be resolved in one way by downloading two separate programs, one for viruses and the other for spyware.

But it must also be noted that two separate programs working simultaneously may affect your operating system negatively, so do ensure that you opt for programs that are compatible. In addition, running two such programs in tandem may slow down your operating system considerably.

One of the best recommended free antivirus programs is AVG Free Edition. One of the best advantages of the program is that it takes up only 30MB of memory and is unobtrusive in its performance, meaning that it can be successfully used with older machines that have limited operating options.

The latest version, AVG 8.0, has remarkably swift updates that do not hamper your work or slow down your system for annoying periods of time. The Free Edition of AVG also has a wonderful advantage in terms of the fact that it can even be used in Safe Mode.

So if you are unable to boot your system because of a probable virus problem, the AVG antivirus software should still be able to function and help you clean up or repair files that have been damaged by a malicious program.

In addition, check if your free antivirus program offers online support through access to forums, which should usually be able to help you locate all the information you need to ensure that your program runs smoothly.