Antivirus Protection

Antivirus Is Critical

Antivirus protection should be a staple for every computer that ever plans to surf the Internet. This is not a good time to feel cheap - you'll regret it later if you do. There are several flavors of application protection, but a couple of the more common ones you'll come across are products from Symantec and MacAfee. They are two of the largest producers of AV protection on the market today. There are different levels of protection - which we'll discuss - that come with different price tags. Depending on your needs, you can select somewhat of a tailored product as opposed one flavor. There are many other companies that make and sell AV protection besides the above two, so take your time and find what's best for you.

There will be a lot of terminology thrown at you about features, but just make sure it has adware and spyware protection and is rated well by an independent third party organization. When you find a product that matches your needs and budget, again just double check the company and product by doing a search in Google on them and\or contacting the Better Business Bureau. Here are a couple of links that discuss what is new and who has the best products in 2011.

Don't forget though; keep your Windows Updates current as part of the overall protection plan. Check you antivirus definitions once a week to ensure something has not hung up the auto update process. If you are on a laptop and it is often shutdown and powered back up, than you are probably fine. If your computer does not get rebooted regularly, then don't forget to check to ensure the definitions are staying current. The 'Last Updated' status for your definitions should never be more than 24 hours old. If so, reboot your computer and see if you can run the Update feature. If there is still a problem, contact your product's support team.