by Jacquline Singer

Created on: June 01, 2010

According to TopTenReviews, BitDefender is the top antivirus program on the market.  Kasperkey and Webroot hold second and third place respectively.  Norton's comes in fourth and  AVG comes in fifth.  McAfee didn't even make the list.  In my personal opinion AVG is quite simply the best anitvirus software on the market.

The last virus to hit my computer was in  July 2001, I was using Norton's at the time. Everything was fine when I shut my computer down for the night.  The next morning, I turned on my computer and it went crazy, with rolling screens, flashing error boxes, the works.  I called the local repair shop and described the problem and the tech told me I was infected with a virus. 

When I put it in the shop, the computer technician asked what virus protection I used.  "Norton's", I stated proudly.  They removed the virus and installed the free version of AVG on my computer.  I was skeptical at first, but after thirty days, I was sold.  With six months remaining on my Norton's subscription, I cancelled my subscription, uninstalled the software, and I have never looked back. 

AVG is the only antivirus I have used on my personal computers since that time.  For the first four years, I continued to use the free version and never experienced a problem.  Five years ago, I purchased the full residential program with malware and adware protection and I have been very pleased.  In nine years of using AVG, I have experienced one problem and it took one phone call and it was handled immediately.

Having worked for several companies using Norton's and McAfee; I really came to appreciate AVG for several reasons.  AVG is so easy to install, setup and use that I never have to do anything except an occasional pause or change of scan schedule.    The scan does run in the background and the interference with other activities is very minimal.  They have several tiers of protection, ranging from free residential to full commercial protection.  They offer adware, spyware and malware and now identity theft protection..   

The biggest problem with any antivirus program is the owner/operator.  Most people purchase the software, install it and then forget it.  When the initial coverage period ends, they choose not to subscribe to the annual service for updates.  No antivirus program will do what it is programmed to do if the user chooses to opt out of updates.  New virus's hit the net every day.  When you fail to keep your antivirus updates current, you are open to any virus that hits the market the day after your last update.  So, if you value your data and your computer, keep your updates current and scan often.

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