Antivirus Free Alternatives

Here at Technoobie.com we’re all about free! If you’ve recently purchased a computer chances are that it came preinstalled with an anti-virus program like Norton or Mcafee. The truth is there are several programs out there that work just as well, are free, and eat up far less resources on your pc. The two programs mentioned above do their job well; however, the problem we always see with them is the added features beyond virus detection such as built in firewalls for example. These features in combination with the anti-virus functions eat up a lot of resources like cpu and memory usage. You may be asking “isn’t the firewall a good thing’? The answer is yes however, all versions of Windows XP service pack 2 and above including Vista and 7 have a built in firewall that is enabled by default. Also, most of us these days have home routers which include some type of firewall as well. The added security features within these programs not only decrease performance but at times attempt to block access to programs you know are safe. This can be very frustrating as after a while it seems that your anti-virus software has more control over your computer than you do. Another problem with programs like Norton and Mcafee is having to pay for updates. Many people let their antivirus go without updating because they haven’t paid to renew their subscription. This isn’t good because an out of date anti-virus program is close to useless. So what are these free anti-virus programs we speak of? Our two favorites are Avast Free and AVG Free. Lately however, AVG has let us down somewhat with its increased ads and nagging Taskbar pop-ups wanting you to switch to the pro version. One of the best things about Avast and AVG is they’re light weight and won’t slow you down. Updates are free as well, provide real-time protection and include scheduling. Both programs offer paid versions with other features such as server installs for small and corporate business. This is how they make their money for those of you who may be wondering.

Both Avast and AVG can be downloaded here.