9 Things To Consider Before Choosing An Antivirus Software

The internet is a vital part of our lives nowadays. We use the internet for knowledge, entertainment, education, etc. Besides having so many advantages, the internet is also filled with cyber threats. There are cyber criminals who will leave no chance to infect your PC with viruses and steal your data.

To avoid such cyber threats you must have an intact antivirus program installed on your computer be it Windows, Mac, or any other OS. There are many antivirus programs available in the market that are able to counter any kind of cyber threat.

Having so many options is a good thing but it also creates confusion to choose the best one. So, to help you I am going to provide you with 9 points that you should consider before choosing antivirus software.

9 Things To Consider Before Choosing An Antivirus Software

1.) Lightweight:

What is a lightweight antivirus? A lightweight antivirus is one that uses the least system resources to operate on your computer. Most antivirus programs are loaded with advanced features which make them heavy on your system.

If you have a low-end PC with 2GB or 4GB RAM then you need to take this point more seriously. Because if you install antivirus software that takes up most of your resources then it will make your PC slow. When your system resources like RAM, CPU, Disk, etc. are assigned to the antivirus program there will be no resources left for other tasks and processes.

So, whenever you make up your mind to choose an antivirus program make sure that it is lightweight.

2.) Try Free Before Purchasing:

PC software with a free trial is not too much to ask for nowadays. Almost every software developer provides you with a free trial.

The same goes with antivirus programs, every popular antivirus developer provides you with a free trial. If not the free trial then they must provide you with a money-back guarantee. So, if you are somehow influenced to purchase an antivirus program then don’t do it. First, use the free version of that antivirus program then you should decide to make a purchase.

If somehow your chosen antivirus program does not provide a free trial or money-back guarantee then you should find an alternative. I am not going to market any antivirus program here but let me tell you one thing, there is software available that will provide you with a 30-day or 60-day money-back guarantee.

3.) Easy User Interface:

Having multiple advanced features in your antivirus program is a good thing but too many features could make the software difficult to use.

So how to decide on the user interface? Checking this point is not as difficult as it sounds. You just need to search for the name of the antivirus program on images.google.com and you will see hundreds of images of that antivirus program. This will give you a rough idea of how the antivirus software will work.

For a detailed overview, you can search the antivirus program on YouTube. Here you will find multiple reviews of the software. These reviews will give you a clear idea of the working of that antivirus program.

If you find the antivirus software easy to use then you can choose it otherwise move to an alternate.

4.) Customer Support:

No matter how easy a program is to operate and how perfect it is, you may still need customer support. So, always check for good customer support options.

The software developer should provide you with 27*7 customer support. There are multiple types of customer support options available i.e. email support, chat support and phone support. The software developer should not charge you extra for any of the support options. If you don’t get the technical support for free then you should look for an alternative.

5.) User Guides:

Most of the functions in an antivirus tool are very simple to operate. But there are some advanced features that are difficult to comprehend. To understand them you will need user guides from the developer.

These user guides could be in the form of text or videos. So, make sure that you find the official user guide from the software developers. And it will be better if you find an official YouTube channel for the product.

6.) Expert Reviews:

Whenever you decide to install software including antivirus then you must read the expert’s reviews on third-party websites. There are many websites that provide genuine expert reviews i.e. TechRadar, PCmag, SoftAppWorld, CNet, etc.

All you have to do is go to Google.com and enter the following query “Antivirus name + Reviews”. After this, you will have hundreds of websites with detailed reviews about that software.

7.) Antivirus With VPN:

It is not a must but it is icing on the cake if you can find an antivirus with a VPN. There are antivirus tools available that have VPN tools built-in. VPNs provide an extra layer of security with antivirus.

Using a VPN tool you can access content not available in your country. Also if you have VPN turned on while browsing online then you are almost impossible to be tracked by hackers.

8.) Real-Time Protection:

An antivirus program should provide real-time protection. This means the program should detect threats in real time. For example when you visit a harmful website then the antivirus program should block it.

Also, if you are downloading a harmful file on your computer then your antivirus program should warn you. When you insert a corrupted drive into your system then the antivirus program should notify you about it.

Real-time protection means protecting your computer every time even when you are not around.

9.) Price Comparison:

Now according to the 8 points, I have described above you should shortlist the top 5-6 antivirus programs. Now it is the final step to compare their prices. If you are getting all the features at a lesser price then why spend more?

Antivirus programs have differences in their prices besides having the same features. So, choose the most affordable antivirus program of all.

Pro Tip: You can search for discount coupons and offers on Google before making a purchase.

Conclusion:

So, these are the things that you should always check before choosing an antivirus program. Also, this is not the absolute rank for the checklist, you can rank the points according to your requirements. For e.g. user interface could be the priority for you.

For me, the priorities are real-time protection and a built-in VPN but these could be different for you.

About the Author:

Priyanka Sharma is a technical content writer at SoftAppWorld. Her keen interest is in testing different kinds of software and writing reviews about them. Currently, she is doing research on different kinds of antivirus programs. In her free time, she likes to create different kinds of sketches and designs.

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