My friend recently bought a PC and asked me about some free anti Virus tools and resources. It seems , he was in no mood to shell out additional USD 20 to USD 40 a year for anti virus software , which he said, should rightfully be free with the Operating System. “ They are bundling so many useless things with the operating system but for the really important things , these guys just draw the line” . “ Yeah , of course , that is how the software vendors make their money , year after year after year “ , I replied. “ Once you buy a particular anti- virus software , you are de facto tied to the vendor for the life of the PC for upgrades , new virus definitions etc" . Great way to ensure repeat business, I thought without any major marketing expense.
“How do I avoid this situation and also enjoy the best of virus protection ?”, he asked.This got me thinking. I checked the web, talked to some smart operators and used some common sense to come to some solutions.- Download Free anti Virus software- Use it for the time it is free- Uninstall it , when the free period is over- Download a new anti Virus software for free- Keep enjoying free protection for a long long time in this fashion…..till maybe they start bundling anti virus protection with the Operating System for free.Are there any foreseeable problems using this methodology?Not really. For a reasonably smart operator there are many Free Anti Virus resources available. One has to just search and look around a bit to find the best solution for your PC. Read and research a bit to understand what is available. Anti virus companies are facing stiff competition from new upstarts and there will always be free high quality anti virus resources available for home PC users. Given the market breadth and competition, there will always be free stuff.Is all this stuff really free? Mostly yes.. but for a limited period of time maybe 3 months to a year in some cases. Some resources are free for a long time.. up to 2 years so check out various sources and you maybe able to avoid buying this software for ever! However there might be Ad ware bundled with this free package, which you will have to tolerate. Some of these free softwares may not have anti Spam or anti Spy ware functionality, which is very important, so download these for free from else where.. (I will write about them in my next blog post) .
These free softwares also allow virus definitions to be updated, free for the period of trial. In case, they have any restriction on updating of the virus definitions, avoid downloading same.I am giving below some companies offering Free Anti Virus Downloads ( in the form of trials .. so that we get hooked to them, yeah , we are smarter than they think ! )Avast 4 Home Edition is free to download and use for a year. ( or more) .AVG Anti virus software is free for the home user till the foreseeable future.Mc Afee anti Virus protection is free for 90 days trial.Ez Anti virus from Computer Associates is free to use for one year.F- Secure anti virus software is available for the home user for 6 months as a free trial.Panda Platinum internet security software is free for 90 days .Norton Anti Virus is Free to use for 90 days .Trend Micro is offering it’s PC- Cillin Internet Security system free for a trial period of 90 days .Remember these soft wares are free for the home PC user only.They offer free virus definition upgrades also.Do not fall into the trap of paying for this stuff when trial period expires. There is always free stuff on the net. Unless of course, you are suitably impressed, and hooked to their performance.Uninstall this software when trial period expires and clean up the registry with a ‘free utility’.Install a new software before going on the net.
Enjoy Free Anti Virus protection.Long live the web.
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