Anti-Virus Help
What does an anti-virus program do for me?
An anti-virus program is yet another step in protecting your computer from unwanted viruses. As long as you keep your program up to date with all of its virus definitions, the program will protect your computer from a very good portion of the viruses on the internet. Unfortunately, no program is 100% safe, secure and effective. Viruses evolve, they change, they grow, and with that it will likely not be caught by an anti-virus program to start. Once the program is updated though, it will start catching that virus and you’ll be back in good shape.
Anti-virus programs, as with any software, come in all sorts of packages and suites. Searching the internet for reviews and testimonials is likely your best recourse for finding an anti-virus package that will work for you and what you want to do on the internet.
Do I need to update my anti-virus regularly?
Yes, absolutely. If you do not update your program regularly, you will miss new virus definitions that will protect you from existing or new viruses. Without these updated definitions, you put yourself at risk of having a virus infect your computer.
Is it still possible to get a virus with an anti-virus program?
Unfortunately, yes, it is possible to get one. This is usually because your definitions are out of date or because it is a brand new virus. Viruses tend to win the fight in the beginning, since the anti-virus programmers do not know how a virus will change or evolve. After a virus has been released, within a very short amount of time the anti-virus designers will start working on new definitions on how to detect and clean up that virus. Once they have a working definition, they will make it available for download and your program should notify you to update it. If you have turned off automatic updates, you will need to periodically check their website for updates.