If you’re a regular reader of the Finish Line Blog, you know that I often refer to myself as the “c” word. I can see your eyebrows being raised now, but the word I’m referring to is: cheap. Frugal sounds better, but I’ll just call myself out for what I am. Hey, money is hard to come by, so it’s important to save wherever you can. Faithful readers also know how much I preach security. The first line of defense in computer security is to have active anti-virus software installed on your computer. In my twelve years as a professional in the industry, I’ve seen virtually every anti-virus software on the market, from the paid subscription services from giants such as Norton and McAfee which seem to come pre-installed on every computer, to free alternatives such as AVG Free and Avast Anti-Virus. Today, I’ll tell you which product I have installed on my personal computers.
Drumroll please…for the last ten years I’ve used AVG Free exclusively on my personal computers. I’ve found that the protection that AVG provides is superior to the paid subscription versions from the aforementioned providers. AVG Free’s anti-virus definitions are updated several times a day, and the program itself is updated periodically. If you’d like to try it yourself, visit this link: http://www.avg.com/us-en/free-antivirus-download and click “FREE Download” and not FREE Trial Download. AVG offers a paid service with more features, though AVG Free has met my needs to this point. Unfortunately, AVG has become more aggressive in trying to lure users into installing a free, thirty day trial of their paid service, through the use of numerous pop-up ads that force the user to “read the fine print” to avoid installing the trial. For that reason, I’m transitioning my clients to the free version of Avast Anti-Virus. Avast is another quality anti-virus program that also offers a subscription service. Again, the free version has always met my expectations. Visit https://www.avast.com/en-us/index and click “Free Download” to give it a try. The worst part about Avast is the running commentary the program will give you. A woman’s voice will tell you that the program is being updated, a scan has been started, etc. Fortunately, this is easy to turn off in settings! Our third free alternative, is Panda Free. Panda is fully automated, and is truly a “set it and forget it” anti-virus solution. Like the others, Panda Security offers a free or subscription version for home or business. Here’s the download link for Panda Free: http://www.pandasecurity.com/usa/homeusers/solutions/free-antivirus/?track=174037&pac=CJUS&utm_source=CJUS&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=PCmagFree.
If something seems too good to be true it usually is. In the case of AVG, Avast, and Panda, however, their free versions annually outperform the paid versions of Norton, McAfee, and Trend Micro. A better product that’s free to download? That’s a no brainer.