How-To Geek

What is the best anti-virus software for a personal computer? And do you recommend using disks or downloading it online? The computer isn't used for anything fancy, just basic personal computing things (but including online banking).

Thanks!

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AVG is not recommended here. Has caused a lot of problems, and is too bloated.

Best is realy a subjective thing. Different folks will have differing oppinions. And they are just that. Opinions. Just like buying a car, the best car may not be the right car for you. The selection would be based on price, utility and many factors. What you need is something "sufficient for your needs". In that category I recommend the following that are sufficient for the needs of most common users. Microsoft Security Essentials or Avast Anti-virrus, but NOT both. Both work well, do their job with minimal intrusion, are free, and easy to install, update and use.

In addition I have solved most malware problems with already infected non-bootable computers by having on hand the stand alone scan Microsoft Security Sweeper.

In addition, unless you are a commercial user best = free. There is no need for a home user to pay for computer security. That being said, there is also no need to overload a system with too much security software. KISS applies.

I like Avast pretty much because it's a complete suite, however they only use a trial version, and for day I've been getting this annoying pop-up meesage telling me it will expire. It's a free download like the others and it recognized pretty much al viruses.  I think Antivirus should be free these days, I know this companies wants some profits, in that case there are couple of ones like Sytmenec or zenok that add some other features like online backup and they charge fair amount for that and you can still protect your important data.