With more and more personal details and important documents being stored on home computers, defending your PC from attack is more important than ever. Unfortunately, the anti-virus software market has been flooded with products - some good, most bad. Though bad anti-virus software far outnumbers the good, there are a few valuable software titles. Here are the top three:
Avira AntiVir
Avira is one of the most popular anti-virus programs on the market thanks to a huge virus-detecting database that can hunt down some of the sneakiest viruses. AntiVir can dig through the biggest computers, targeting spyware, malware, rootkits and other nasty little bugs on your PC. AntiVir has all your typical gadgets such as letting the user schedule routine virus scans, information on when the last scan was carried out, and options that feature in-depth customization, allowing the user to define just how strict or lenient the real-time threat detector is. Like most products, Avira comes in three main packages: the free product is the most basic, but still effective version. The premium-priced edition has everything in the free edition plus a lot more, and the Avira Premium Security Suite targets users who invest a lot of time and money in online transactions.
Avast
Avast has made numerous top lists, as well as CNETs Top 10 downloads list. Avast recently put out Version 6, which kept the old interface but added plenty of new features. Standard features include on-demand scans, which aren't the fastest around but do place well above average. One good feature is the new boot-time scan, which lets you schedule and customize scans to be completed when you restart your PC. Avast has detailed but easy-to-read logs so even the non-techies can understand what is going on with their PC. Although Avast offers quite a few features in its free version, the firewall option is not one of them - if you want that, you will have to pay up.
AVG Anti Virus
AVG is, by far, one of the best pieces of anti-virus software available to the masses. Like most of the top three, AVG has the typical line of features, from active virus detection to in-browser link scanning that warns the user when they are about to open a website that contains potentially harmful files. One of its more prominent features is the PC Analyzer. This little gem will scan your PC and evaluate what might be slowing it down. For instance, the program will scan your computer's registry and pick out any errors, or pick out files that your computer could be better without. All in all, AVG does everything with a little flash, putting it above other contenders in its field.
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