The BBC Home has stepped forward to fill the education gap on anti-virus software and its importance in this timely article "How To Keep Your Computer Secure." Following the theme of an ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure, the article defines most terms people need to know about and explains the importance of protection software.
Malicious software, known as "malware", has become an international problem in the age of the internet. Should a malware program infect your computer, it can bring working to a standstill, often compromising even the registry and other important areas of the operating system. Vicious malware can cause everything from continual "bluescreen" to intermittent messaging that obliterates any running program. If you've ever been victimized by a malware such as a trojan or a worm, you'll never forget the experience. It leaves the user feeling helpless and angry.
The article is a good one because it breaks down concepts and shows how the vocabulary hangs together when talking about protecting your computer. Beginning with the idea of a firewall as the first line of protection, and ending with the role of anti-virus software, this simple exposition will give the user a rough idea of the terms used. It is difficult enough for the novice user, especially people nearing retirement age, to understand how to operate their machine, let alone why they need to protect it. Both commercial and free options are cited, to give the reader an idea of what is available on the market.
Commercial products from Kaspersky lab, McAfee, Norton, and BitDefender are mentioned, and freeware from AGV Anti-Virus, K7 Computing, Avira Anti-Vir Personal, and Comodo Internet Security are live-linked so that the reader can research them. The article makes two very important extra points. First, the Microsoft firewall may conflict with other firewall products and may need to be shut down prior to their installation. Second, only one anti-virus product should be installed at a time. Anti-virus software is a very competitive game, and many of these products do not work well together, causing software conflicts.
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