How Does Antivirus Software Work?
June 10, 2008
If you want to make sure that youre protected from viruses, you should get some antivirus software. This software can offer peace of mind, even for experienced computer users who would be unlikely to open a simple virus.
Antivirus software works in two ways. Firstly, it has a big dictionary of viruses, allowing it to scan files and flag any that are known to be viral. Secondly, the software monitors the system for any suspicious activity. One method involves creating decoy files that are hidden from the user and monitoring them to see if they are altered if they are, then it was almost certainly a virus.
The two giants of the antivirus industry are McAfee and Norton. They are both commercial software based on yearly subscriptions, and at this point theres little to choose between them some people swear by one, but just as many will swear by the other. However, both are quite expensive, especially if you buy them as part of the complete security suite.
If you want a free antivirus program, the best around is widely considered to be AVG (the Free Edition). Its a small but effective antivirus application, popular firstly for being free and secondly for using hardly any system resources to run. AVG is capable of running very fast, even on older computers.
For people who dont actually want to download and install antivirus software, but just want to quickly make sure that they dont have a virus, TrendMicros HouseCall website is a good solution (you can find it at housecall.trendmicro.com). When you go to the website and click Scan Now, it will scan your computer for viruses right then and there, without you needing to install anything and best of all, its free. While it is a very good service, however, you shouldnt rely on it completely, as it is a bad idea to use a computer with no installed antivirus protection.
John Gibb is the owner of Virus protection resources
For more information on virus protection check out http://www.virus-protection-resource-and-guidance.info
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