The Great Indian 'Antivirus' Mystery !!

Protecting your computer from viruses is important! One nasty virus could expose your financial information or stop your computer from working at all. What you need is the best Antivirus software possible on your computer.  

Today, most of us encounter threat attacks in the form of Virus, Worm, Trojan, Spyware, Malware, Rootkit (I will brief about these in my later blog) which eventually end-up formatting our PC, the question which remains in our mind "Did I select a wrong Antivirus program? or Which Antivirus program is good? or What to choose, a free Antivirus program or a paid one?"

Restricting our discussion to home users category to which many of us belong, we will see what are the parameters while selecting a Antivirus program? And, finally conquering the myth of paid v/s free Antiviurs program.

Let's begin...

First of all, erase the myth from your mind that only paid Antivirus programs are good. A free Antivirus program is as good as a paid one, and luckily, some of the best Antivirus programs are completely free!  

Before selecting any of the Antivirus program, we must first understand that every Antivirus program while offering bundle of features take heavy toll on our system's performance, i.e. slowing it down, consuming more battery (if system is portable one), etc. 

So, if your system and your wallet can afford such programs, you can surely go for a full-featured Antivirus program, which is obviously a professional version of the program for which license of the same is to be purchased, by paying the necessary fee.

Here is the list of top three (in my opinion) paid Antivirus program which offer your system comprehensive protection against any possible threat, on line and off-line:

1. BitDefender Antivirus  
2. Kaspersky Antivirus
3. Webroot Antivius

What about the free ones?

So why are some of the very best Antivirus programs free? Many popular Antivirus companies offer free versions of their programs for home users while offering versions with more advanced features as an upgrade option for professional and business users.

As a home user, we belong to the category of users who want a free Antivirus program offering real-time protection from viruses. Now let's come straight to the point, below is the list of 3 Antivirus progams (in random order) with brief description, which I have personally used for more than a year, and find really promising. You can go for the same, if you feel like.

1. AVG Anti-Virus Free

Anti-Virus Free from AVG is the best free antivirus software available. AVG Anti-Virus Free is a full-fledged antivirus and antispyware tool, includes an email scanner, link scanner, scheduled scanning options, automatic updates, and more. There is no need to pay for an Antivirus program when the best free Antivirus software in the world is just a download away.

AVG Anti-Virus Free works on Windows 7/Vista/XP. The huge number of premium features, frequency of updating, and install-it-and-forget-it aspect of AVG's Anti-Virus Free really do make it the best of the best free Antivirus programs available today!

2. avast! Free Antivirus

AVAST Software's avast! Free Antivirus most certainly deserves to be on any list of the best free antivirus programs. avast! Free Antivirus has fully functioning antivirus and antispyware engines protecting your PC from threats from the Internet, your files, emails, and even instant messages.

One big reason I included avast! Free Antivirus as a best free antivirus program is because of its "heuristics engine" which can detect previously unknown viruses and other malware. It also works fine with Windows 7/Vista/XP.

3. Microsoft Security Essentials

Security Essentials from Microsoft is definitely one of the best free antivirus programs available and also the one I'm using right now! Microsoft is relatively new to the antivirus game but don't let that scare you - Security Essentials is a fantastic antivirus program that protects you from all sorts of malware, updates automatically, and is incredibly easy to use. 

Two of the biggest reasons I added Microsoft Security Essentials to this list of the best free antivirus software is because it's directly from Microsoft and also because it's very easy to see if you're computer is secure from threats: if the icon next to your clock is green, you're in good; if it's red, something is wrong. Microsoft Security Essentials supports Windows 7/Vista/XP.

So, the next time when the enemy is at your gate, that too in a friends gate-up, go for perfect spectacle of Antivirus program to see through...

Follow the links to download: 

1. AVG Antivirus Free
2. avast! Free Antivirus 
3. Microsoft Security Essentials