Occasionally someone will ask me, “What anti-virus software do you recommend?” And they are surprised when I tell them, “Get the FREE  anti-virus from AVG.”  It’s made  by Grisoft, a very good anti-virus developer, and millions of people use it.  www.free.avg.com

I’m what some would call a “power computer user.” Counting my 3 daughter’s computers which I’ve set up for them, I currently own 5 personal laptops and have the free AVG anti-virus  program installed on each. None of them has ever had a problem AVG couldn’t handle. (Each also has Microsoft’s free & built-in  ”Defender” firewall, and again, no problems there.)

Over the years, I’ve used Norton anti-virus, and McAfee anti-virus, and even occasionally paid to extend their free trials on various computers.  I have McAfee running on my business computer. But in all that time I’ve never had a virus or worm with AVG-free on the job, so now I save my money to waste on other things, and install it on ALL my personal computers. Just have to update them each year.

Important Notes on AVG’s free antivirus….

The free version will “expire” every year and send you a note saying you need to upgrade. Of course it will try to get you to buy their “upgraded” version, but you don’t need to do that if you are using AVG free for “personal” uses.  You can just uninstall AVG from your system and then download the LATEST new free version. It’s free, so you’re not messing with them.

AVG’s free license does not permit use of the free version for ”commercial”  or organizational use. Does this apply to a church office?  Yes.  “AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is for private, non-commercial, single home computer use only.”  That said, I don’t think they’d be unhappy with you installing the free version to TRY IT OUT, and then selecting UPGRADE after you’re satisfied and paying them $34.99.  As a software developer and non-thief, I can tell you that this is the right thing to do.

Like Norton and McAfee , AVG’s paid version is an annual fee.  Yet if you’ve ever had a virus (and I once did many years ago) you know that you would have gladly paid 3 times as much to save all the aggravation and damage a virus can do.

The Free and Upgraded versions come with other forms of internet protection, anti-phishing filters, and such. But the latest versions of Internet Explorer and Firefox come with those built-in.  Just remember to let Windows update itself regularly to plug security holes.

AVG ’s upgraded anti-virus can also install SPAM protection on your email program. I don’t use this feature because my email provider already utilizes a server-side spam blocker (”Postini” …which is the best).  If you’re using Hotmail, Gmail etc etc, they have free  spam blockers too. But if you’re using a regular email program like Outlook, and get a lot of spam, ‘turning on’ AVG’s spam blocker is a good idea.

AVG also offers “spyware” protection. I don’t turn that on because Vista and Windows 7 have that built in. That said, you still need to becareful what you download, especially if you’re a nOOb when it comes to the internet.

The less you know about all these things, the more this paid protection IS MONEY WELL SPENT.

<>< Neil

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