I am by trade a ‘Computer Geek’. I am the one that everyone calls to fix their computer and instead of a thank you, all I hear is, “I swear it wasn’t working before you got here.” One of the most common questions I get, and one I’m sure you have wondered yourself, “Which Antivirus Program should I use?”
With so many programs like Norton AntiVirus 2007, McAfee VirusScan Plus 2007, and others, it can become very confusing. Now for the bad news:

• Price: Most antivirus software must be purchased for a price between $20-$60.
• Updates: The programs is only automatically updated for 1 year, unless you purchase another upgrade. Also, the updates are about once a week, meaning that you might be susceptible for a week after a new virus comes out.
• Hard Drive Space: A great number of AntiVirus programs are what is called “Bloatware”, meaning that there are so many features that they take up a huge amount of hard drive space.
• Memory: All those bells and whistles become very resource intensive, meaning that your computer now becomes slower than a turtle.
• Computer Performance: Because the program is so big and takes up so much memory, opening files and programs will take along time.

So as you can see, having a traditional antivirus program does keep you safe, but the trade-off might not be worth it.
The program I have been using for years now, and one that I have now installed on hundreds of computers for family, friends, and clients, is AVG AntiVirus. Why use this program? Here are the benefits:

• Price: Free, not bad huh?
• Updates: Updates a free and happen daily, meaning that your protection is always up to date.
• Hard Drive Space: Although there are many features in this program, when installed, it takes up very little hard drive space compared to it’s competitors
• Memory: AVG barely takes up any memory at all. You won’t even notice it’s running
• Computer Performance: This program is set to run a complete computer scan daily. Because it takes up very little memory, you won’t even realize that it’s running.

I would highly recommend this program. I’ve been using it for years and have never had any problems with it. For more information and to download it, go to their website at http://free.grisoft.com