Recommended free anti-virus software: Avast

This is from a facebook email I was exchanging with my cousin, it got pretty long and I thought with all the crap I put on this site, this somewhat educational email is more than worth a blog post of its own.

Background: he got a new laptop a month ago and his free Norton anti-Virus will expire soon.

So after editing my email from Tag-lish (Tagalog-English mix) to English... and making it 50times more interesting for blog readership...

Image Source: Avast

You have a couple of options for your anti-virus problem:

(1) Either you keep Norton and buy a one year license (you can do this online)
(2) Or get a free anti-virus software.

(Of course that's the simplified version. Other options include buying a different anti-virus license other than Norton, or getting cracked versions of these softwares which is difficult and totally against the law but people do it anyway if they could.)

Let's assume you'll choose option #2: Free anti-virus software.

As long as you don't expose yourself too carelessly online, then you're most likely safe from the really, really, REALLY bad viruses/worms/etc.

Translation: as long as you're smart enough to know that music files don't end in ".exe" and video files are more than a few hundred bytes, as long as you know what a phishing site is, as long as you don't click random dubious popups or ads especially when you're visiting pron sites.

Free anti-virus suggestion: Avast (www.avast.com)
There's a Professional Edition that you have to pay for.
But there's a free Home Edition - this is adequate for most people's safety needs

If you decide to get Avast then follow these steps:
(1) Download Avast
- go to http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html
- click "Download Now" image in the middle of the screen
- click "Download Now" again (e la makaying makulit ne?)
- you'll get a .exe file
- keep it, don't run it yet

(2) Uninstall Norton
go to Start
- Control Panel
- Programs -> Uninstall a program (small text beneath it)
- right click Norton, then choose Uninstall
- Restart computer

(3) Install Avast
- double click the .exe file you downloaded from the Avast page earlier
- click through the installation
- Restart computer

Done!

Some things you might want to know:

Why is the free version enough?
Aside from your anti-virus software, Windows has its own internet firewall. The anti-virus software is an additional protection.
The free version also answers our basic needs: it updates its database of viruses to look out for, and it scans your computer periodically (as long as you allow it to :P) for these stuff.

If you have Windows Firewall, then why do you need another anti-virus?
Windows Firewall protects you from the common harmful stuff online. However, bad people are constantly creating new viruses/worms that can outsmart Windows Firewall. That's when the anti-virus software comes in.