Free Antivirus & Antispyware Software

  There are many XP and Vista home computers that have no antivirus and antispyware protection because users think they need to pay Symantec, McAfee, or Webroot $50 per year to use one of their products. Take it from the pro’s at Beachwood Systems, the free version of Grifsoft’s AVG antivirus & antispyware software is good stuff. And while you can’t use the free version in a commercial organization of any type, over 80 million people around the world use it at home. And you should too.

   This program is the most requested software on Download.com. It includes the ability to schedule hard disk scans and exclude select folders. It has a resident memory scanner and an e-mail scanner. Its real-time LinkScanner technology keeps you from clicking search links to dangerous sites. Virus definitions and application updates are updated on a regular basis and download to your computer unobtrusively in the background. It is fast and effective and doesn’t hog CPU resources like some other products on the market. And there seem to be fewer conflicts with other programs than some of the more complex security suites.

   Go to http://free.avg.com to get Version 8. Grifsoft has a more advance version that you can purchase. They do a nice job explaining the benefits on their web site between the two. There is no tech support with the free version but there is a forum. Be sure to fully uninstall any existing antivirus and antispyware before installing AVG.

   Stay safe.