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Viruses
Virus Cleaning Programs
If you want to protect yourself from viruses, you will need some armor and weapons to do battle. Virus checking programs can provide both. These programs can be loaded into the memory of your computer and examine every file that you open. Alternatively, if you only want to check your files on an occasional or regular basis, they can do that as well.
Features of virus cleaning programs that are important
Well known virus checking software
Free virus checking softwareFree virus checking software
AVG Antivirus Free Edition
This software, developed in Czech Republic, is a fully capable anti virus program.
The company hopes to make money by selling the Professional edition of the software, but the
Free edition is, well, free. The Professional edition provides enhancements which may be of value
to you, but the Free edition does a good basic job of virus protection.
Download the software from the company web site at
http://www.grisoft.com/html/us_index.html
avast! 4 Home Edition
This software was also developed in the Czech Republic. Does the Czech Republic specialize in
anti-virus software? Anyway, the Home Edition is free and the company makes money on their commercial version.
Download it from the company website at http://www.avast.com.
AntiVir PE
AntiVir PE (Personal Edition) offers the effective protection against computer viruses for the
individual and private use on a single PC-workstation. It detects and removes more than 50,000
viruses and an Internet-Update Wizard for easy updating.
Download it from the company website at http://www.free-av.com.
F-Secure Anti-Virus for DOS
Does anyone still use DOS? Well, if you do, this is the anti-virus program for you. Download it
from the company web site at http://www.f-secure.com/download-purchase/tools.shtml. F-Secure
actually has a full line of commercial anti-virus software.
Commercial virus checking programs
Norton AntiVirus by Symantec Corporation
The Norton AntiVirus program is available under many guises. It is available as a dedicated program
or packaged as part of Norton System Works and Norton Internet Security. Corporate versions are
available to companies.
The purchase of one of these Norton products includes a one year subscription for updating the
virus definition files. After the subscription expires, you will need to extend it and payment can
be made directly to Symantec online.
30 day evaluation copies of the software are available from Symantec's web site if you would like
to try the product before you buy it.
Download virus definition file updates from http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/defs.download.html
McAfee Virus Scan
McAfee Virus Scan has been a popular virus scanner for a long time. Corporate licensing for this
product is available. An evaluation copy may be downloaded from McAfee's web site.
Unlike Norton AntiVirus, McAfee provides updates to the virus definition files free of charge.
They can be downloaded from http://software.mcafee.com/centers/download/default.asp
McAfee also makes available Virus Scan Online, an online and immediate virus scan of your computer.
This is a subscription based service, currently $24.95 per year. This virus scan works through
your web browser. You do not need to install the software itself.
eTrust EZ Antivirus by Computer Associates
Computer Associates is one of the largest software companies in the world. They are better known
for their corporate anti virus software, which they sell under the Innoculate name. For individuals
and small businesses, they market their software under the eTrust name. eTrust EZ Antivirus is
very inexpensive, costing just $19.95. Annual fees for the subscription service for updating the
virus definition files are only $9.95.
A 60 day evaluation copy of the software is available for downloading from the web site.
Sophos Antivirus
Sophos provides a complete line of antivirus products, both for the desktop and for the enterprise.
You can try an evaluation copy. Virus IDs are download from their web site to keep your software
up to date. Find Sophos at www.sophos.com.
F-Secure Anti-virus
F-Secure provides a complete line of ant-virus products for the desktop, enterprise, handhelds
and service providers. Evaluation copies can be downloaded from the web site. The F-Secure web
site has an unusually rich collection of information about viruses and excellent removal tools.
Virus checking through your web browser
Don't have a virus checker installed? Not up-to-date? Just found a virus? You're in luck. You can check your computer through your web browser. Yes, its hard to believe, but you don't actually need a virus checker on your computer to scan your computer for viruses. Several companies offer on-line virus checkers. The benefits are simply that you don't need to keep up with the latest edition of a virus checker and you don't need to install the software. The downside is that anti-virus software can't constantly monitor your computer. It is a slower process since the anti-virus code must first be downloaded to your computer before it can start checking. Frankly, since the companies that make this type of software available also want to sell you their other software, the on-line version does not have all the bells and whistles.Trend Micro House Call
http://housecall.antivirus.com/
Panda Active Scan
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/com/activescan_principal.htm
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