Antivirus software is expensive, whether you’re talking about Norton Antivirus, McAfee, AVG, or Dr. Web. The problem with these programs is that all of them tell you that you can’t possibly hope to keep your computer safe unless you pay them for security updates to keep your computer safe from viruses and malware, but how effective are they really?
The honest answer is, not as effective as you would hope considering the price you’re paying for the privilege of running these programs. All of the aforementioned programs really only have a 30-50% detection rate when it comes to malware, viruses, and Trojans. That means despite having dedicated security updates, the program’s scanning ability, a chief draw when we’re talking antivirus software, is pretty much lackluster at best. Severely disappointing when you consider the amount of money you’ve probably shelled out on these programs over the years.
But probably the biggest factor that bothers me, and that should bother everyone, is the massive amount of freeware virus removal tools that seem to perform more effectively than any pay service. Take Ad-Aware, and Spyware Doctor for example. Both of these programs are completely free, and yet they tend to find more malware, viruses, worms, and Trojans than any of the pay services, and that completely bugs me.
What is it that the free programs do, that the pay services can’t achieve with their virus scanning?
Sure Norton is going to be better for you than a free antivirus program in the sense that it offers a fairly ironclad firewall, email scanning, and auto-protect against known viruses and malware as you surf the internet, all features that the free stuff doesn’t have. But how useful are the preventative measures if Norton can’t detect the bad stuff that seeps through it’s protection?
I guess it’s pretty annoying, but you sort of have to take the free with the pay services, because the costly antivirus programs are fantastic at preventing virus intrusions, but you need programs like Ad-Aware and Spyware Doctor to detect all the stuff AVG, Norton or McAfee are going to miss.
Tags: Amount Of Money, Antivirus Avg, Antivirus Mcafee, Antivirus Programs, Bad Stuff, Dr Web, Free Antivirus Program, Free Stuff, Freeware Virus, Honest Answer, Known Viruses, Malware, Norton Antivirus, Preventative Measures, Privilege, Security Updates, Seeps, Spyware Doctor, Trojans, Virus Removal Tools
In this current age of electronics, the new computer you buy is bound to be obsolete in pretty much no time at all, meaning if you want to keep up to date with the newest technology, you’d have to buy a new PC every few years. The problem therein being the massive amount of electronics and technology that you will be scrapping. In most cases computer and electronics parts contain heavy metals and other chemicals that are notoriously bad for the environment, which means throwing these away outright, is a very bad thing. Which is why you should try and recycle your old computer parts as much as possible, and there are more than a few ways in which you can accomplish this.
In most cases, like if you own a Dell or Gateway computer, the manufacturer will accept your old PC to be recycled when you upgrade to a new one through the company. Although before you recycle that old computer you’ll obviously want to make sure that you wipe your hard drive, so that you can ensure you don’t suffer any problems arising from the personal data you stored on your PC.
Another common way to responsibly depose of those old computers, is to donate them to a charity organization. These can be easily found all over the United States, take Earth 911 or My Green Electronics for example. They will make use of your old PC and give it a good home, which keeps that PC from sitting in a landfill leaking harmful chemicals into our environment.
Otherwise I would suggest storing your computer, after all it’s never bad to have a backup, in case that shiny new PC falters or get’s infested with a few Trojans. You can also contact the Poison Control center in your area and ask what the regulations regarding computer disposal are where you live. In most cases you will be able to give the PC to them for proper disposal, as Poison Control is designed to handle the disposal of any hazardous waste, even computers.
Tags: 911, Cases Computer, Charity Organization, Computer Components, Computer Disposal, Computer Parts, Dell Computer, Gateway Computer, Green, Green Electronics, Hard Drive, Harmful Chemicals, Hazardous Waste, Heavy Metals, Landfill, New Computer, Newest Technology, Old Computer, Old Computers, Personal Data, Poison Control Center, Trojans
So how useful is Spybot Search & Destroy really? If you have the free program installed on your computer, you’ll at least notice that every time you run a scan Spybot seems to find more “spyware” and “adware” than using most other programs, but how much good is Spybot actually doing? The answer, as most people will tell you, is not as much as you would hope.
Spybot doesn’t really do much to help you if your computer has major issues, as the program just isn’t designed to clean up the really big stuff. Where Spybot’s central usefulness lies is in deleting the little spyware and adware stuff. Such as internet cookies that count as spyware or adware that can load up your computer causing slower than normal performance. Of which Spybot is very effective, cleaning up all manner of small issues that you never necessarily considered to be big problems for your computer, but you’ll still see some sort of a difference by getting rid of the small stuff.
Other free programs like AVG’s free version, or AdAware which is also free, are much more capable when removing the big stuff like trojans or worms. In fact AdAware is probably the best resource you’ll find for free to clean up any issues you may be having with your PC when it comes to viruses and affected performance.
Which actually brings me to another point, and mistake that many people make, you don’t need to spend money on the big virus protection software brands like Norton Antivirus, or McAfee. Most people never suffer a major issue using just Spybot, AdAware and AVG. While it’s sort of an annoyance to have three different virus programs to juggle, your PC in the end will actually be safer, and you’ll have a few dollars more left over in your wallet.
Tags: Adaware, Adware, Amp, Annoyance, Antivirus Mcafee, AVG, Free Version, Internet Cookies, Mistake, Money, Norton Antivirus, S Central, Small Stuff, Software Brands, Spybot, Trojans, Virus Programs, Virus Protection Software, Wallet, Worms
Low cost and high quality provided by the top Website Hosting providers.
Meet Michael Fertik with Reputation.com.
