Norton Security, McAfee and other old school antivirus programs all have one major thing in common…they are system hogs. Antivirus programs like the aforementioned use up your RAM and processor power in an effort to halt virus invasions. Once installed, your computer will behave like it is being dragged through molasses. Die hard computer enthusiasts may argue that if a software program is using up a lot of resources that means it is doing its job. This is simply not true. The best comparison I can think of is a spider and its web.
An insect is flying around a spider’s web and is caught in the web. Immediately the insect will try and escape. If this spider were fat and bloated it would take a long time to tie down the insect to ensure its capture. The same is true for old antivirus software like Norton and McAfee. If they are using up all of your system’s resources, thus making your system slow, how are they going to trap the virus? The faster a program can detect an intrusion results in a better chance of stopping your computer from becoming infected.
There is an alternative to programs like these…and it just happens to be free. You need a fast antivirus program and Avast! antivirus software is fast…very fast. Avast! antivirus software was developed by a team of software engineers in Prague, Czech Republic in 1988. Unlike old antivirus programs, it won’t use all of your system resources.
Some benefits of the free antivirus include:
- File System Shield — Fast real-time protection against viruses and other malware threats.
- Mail Shield — Automatic scans of email messages and attachments for viruses.
- Web Shield —Scans websites and incoming web data for viruses.
- P2P shield — Scans files received and being received from file sharing programs such as Bittorrent.
- IM shield —Scans files transferred through instant messaging applications like AIM.
- Network Shield — Protects against network worms.
- Behavior Shield — Notifies the user of suspicious behavior by evaluating the behavior of programs in use.
Update: Avast! Free Edition 6.0 now includes an AutoSandbox feature…read more.
What does all of this protection cost? Nothing. Avast! antivirus is offered for home use free of charge. All you need to do is provide them with your name and a valid email address. For more information about Avast! antivirus visit their website at Avast.com or download the software free of charge from the recommended software page.
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