Got A Favorite Antivirus Program For 2016

 This is always a popular question from my customers. It always happens where they are not sure what antivirus program they should have. There is so much malware, spyware and adware on the internet that people are getting infected with these and viruses left and right. Almost everything in for repair is a associated with a virus. So once again the question is what is the best antivirus software to install on your computer.
 So what are the best pc computer virus programs available ? Well you can surf the internet for the best pc virus programs and you will find all kinds of them. Generally I have found that the most popular pc virus program is the one that the particular website sells. It's funny how that seems to work. In my quest for finding a good antivirus program I just go by what I have seen and how they work. I have found that there are at least five good paid versions of antivirus programs and at least three good free versions of antivirus programs for your desktop or laptop computer.

My Favorite 5 paid antivirus programs:

1. Kaspersky Internet Security Antivirus
2. Bitdefender
3. Webroot Antivirus
4. Norton Internet Security
5. Paid Avast Antivirus

My Favorite Free Antivirus Programs:

1. Free Avast Antivirus
2. Free AVG Antivirus
3. Microsoft Security Essentials

 There are many other paid and free antivirus programs that will work very well on your computer. Here is just a little advise. One make sure you only have one antivirus program running on your computer. If you have two installed they will fight each other and slow the computer down. Second always make sure that your antivirus program is up to date and has not expired or close to being expired. I can't tell you how many computers I have worked on that the virus software has expired or just has not been working for six months to a year.
 Now you can use the free or paid version of Malwarebytes with your Antivirus Program. Many people use the paid version of Malwarebytes, but it's really meant to work along side of your virus program. Now I have seen a few occasions where the virus program indicated the malwarebytes should be uninstalled. I would try and see if you can set your virus software to allow malwarebytes to be installed. Some programs have exclusion choices.
 One of the most important things I can advise anyone on besides virus software is make sure you are backing up your computer on a schedule. If you are using windows 7 or windows 10 you can use the back up program in the control panel. If you are using windows 8 or 8.1 you can perform a manual image back up and also run file history. Just make sure you are backing up to an external hard drive and disconnect it from the system when the back up is done. The other choice for backing up is to use carbonite and back up to the cloud on a regular basis.
 The main objective is to keep your data and computer safe from harm.

Here are some excellent antivirus programs below that you can choose from at Amazon.com
 

Keep That Computer Running Properly

 Yes the complaint from customers is still my computer is running very slow these days. Well as the customer there are a few things I would suggest to do. First you can download the free western digital life guard software and test your hard drive. You will be looking for bad sectors, bad clusters or corrupt files. If this software can not correct those run the test from the system itself. You could run the system file checker by running a administrator command prompt. At the dos screen type sfc /scannow and press enter. It will let you know if it finds problems and if it corrected them. Chkdsk /r can also be run as well and it will correct problems. Just remember if it finds bad sectors and or bad clusters I would replace the hard drive, because it will get worse.
 The next thing I would do is download free malwarebytes, spybot and rogue killer. Update them and scan the system. This can be done from a clean boot or from the safe mode with networking. There are other programs such as combofix, adcleaner and other programs. There are links to these in some of my posts. They can be downloaded from bleeping.com and run. If you are finding lots of infections I would suggest that you take the computer to a good computer service center in your area.
 Most customers always will say I have good virus protection. Their next question is why did it not work. Well the problem is no virus protection is 100% effective. That is why you should always have a current back up of your system and data. Current versions like windows 10 have the backup program in the control panel that was used in windows 7. This is actually a good program, but make sure to disconnect the back up drive when the back up is done. There are infections that can effect the back up drive. Also have a standard account and save data to it. Viruses like the cryptowall, crypto-locker and other ransom infections go for administrator accounts.
 Stay safe and keep your computer running smoothly.

Check The Reviews Before Buying

 This is just a little advise from a computer technician before you buy anything. Make sure to search the Internet for any reviews on any particular computer service center. I will tell you I have seen some sneaky things done that would make you turn and walk away. You are the customer and you need to protect yourself, because it's your money.
 Make sure to open the computer case if there isn't any warranty void sticker. You don't have to handle any of the boards inside the case. Just take a look and see if any screws holding the cards of motherboard are loose or missing. If you do touch anything inside the computer case make sure to ground yourself properly. This way you will not damage anything with static electricity.
 Another good practice before buying anything is to see if you can get a tour of the business you are thinking of buying a product from. Pay close attention of the surrounding areas. Look at the benches where Technicians are working or where someone is building computers for example. Look to see if they are practicing good esd protection. I have seen companies where they are working with carpeting on the bench. Another thing to check is do they have components such as a motherboard right on the Formica Counter top . Another trick I have seen companies use is to have the esd mat on the work surface, but it's not connected or grounded properly. Watch how someone carries a component, do they have it in a esd static bad or are they sandwiching the component in the bag.
 Pay close attention to what the person giving the tour says to you. Companies love to make it sound like they are doing tons of business. They will throw out numbers at you as to how much work they put out. Count the items on bench and waiting to be worked on. Look at the number of Technicians working. Do the math and you may realize that they are lying and just trying to impress you and get your business. There are alot of companies that will use these techniques. Once again always protect yourself and your business.