If your budget is tiny and dont want to pay cash on a antivirus program, you should take into account the following 6 as suggested by PC World: Avira AntiVir Personal, Alwil Avast Anti Virus Home Edition, AVG 8. 5 Free, Microsoft Security Essentials, PC Tools Antivirus Free Edition and Comodo Internet Security. These totally free software have been analyzed, rated, and reviewed by PC World.

However, remember that free software programs will not give you everything that the paid ones do. Most free programs offer little to no technical support if you run into trouble. They may offer online message boards or bill you for over the phone technical support. For example, AVG offers paid phone support for $50 which is actually crazy and not really worth it.

Free anti-virus programs have a reduced amount of regular updates which in todays world with new malware and spyware showing all the time maybe a major problem. Free programs also offers limited features. For example, Aviras paid anti-virus programswill check traffic before its down loaded to your computer system, but its free edition doesnt.

Lastly, some free anti-virus will down load toolbars and will urge you to update by obtaining the paid version. Some vendors will offer you a free edition but their goal is to have you update to the paid edition sooner or later.

Free Trial offers for Paid Antivirus Products

If you are in the marketplace for a reliable paid anti-virus software package yet dont fully understand which one to choose or whether or not the one you want to get does a good job, you should consider testing first via a free trial. You may want to choose a software such Norton Antivirus Free Trial, which offers 30 days of full functionality of the Norton Internet Security software package to test out for free. Many if not all, anti-virus software programs offer a free trial period for you to test out their product before you purchase which is a great idea.

Throughout testing a software, you want to pay special attention to how the software affects the functioning of your laptop or computer. You definitely dont want an software slowing down your laptop or computer which is bothersome. You also dont want too many notices by the software while you work on your pc, which may also be bothersome. You also want to pay focus to how often the software up-dates. Regular upgrades suggest that fresh malware are being found and are being added to the programs on your computer to keep it protected.

After the totally free trial period has ended, you can remove the software program from your pc and try a different program. Obviously, if you are satisfied with the one you just tested, you can keep it.