What is a Virus, a Trojan and a Worm?

Computer viruses are programs which attach themselves to, overwrite or otherwise replace another program in order to reproduce itself without the knowledge of the PC user. Most viruses are fairly harmless, and may be on your system for years with no noticeable effect. However, some may cause damage to your files or attempt to destroy them and sometimes to destroy hard disks (although very rarely).

Trojan Horses are programs intended to perform a malicious act that the victim is not aware of or wants. They do not reproduce like viruses but do install themselves covertly onto your system usually in order for another party to gain access to information.

Worms are programs which spread through network connections, including the internet which after all is a huge network. They do not attach themselves to a host program, but uses the network to spread itself to other computer terminals (including a local home/business network). Worms will harm the network by consuming bandwidth, this is the available space for network data flow to and from the network to your computer.

Can two antivirus scanners be run on the same system at the same time for better protection?

The simple answer is no, you should not run two antivirus programs at the same time. You should uninstall your existing program before installing a brand new one as they may clash while trying to scan the same file at the same time possibly causing both to fail and even risk damaging the file they are scanning.

What do Electronbox recommend?

What do we trust to scan all our own office machines and in the Tech room where we scan all the client machines we receive? AVG 8, AVG is short for Anti Virus Grisoft. A good Anti Virus program will go a long way to protecting your system from many types of these annoying pests. AVG is a prime example of the type of antivirus program you need, a proven track record, established virus definition database and regular automatic updates via the internet, usually the same day new variants appear. It does not interfere with your PC resources as much as many of the other "well known" brands but it does do as good a job as the ones you see most frequently advertised in the TV adverts. We have used AVG for many years now and find that it is a good balance of automatic scanning with user adjustable features, the recent 7.5 version has added more versatility to the users requirements and PC's resources usage. It also has the ability to scan your incoming emails and attachments and has a scan on demand feature for files you may receive through other sources (CD’s, Floppy Disk, USB stick or MP3 player etc.) One of the biggest bonuses of the AVG is its price, at 58€ (Inc. IVA) for a TWO year licence it is superb value for money as well as great practical use. You can try before you buy just ask us for an email link to get a free 30 day trial version, or to get your full copy now just call our sales office to arrange for a licence number, no CD’s to buy just an internet download (around 6 minutes with ADSL) and you are ready to install. At the end of the 30 day trial if you like it call us for a full two year licence number, pay the fee and not have to worry about your renewal for two whole years.

other antivirus program include Norton, McAfee, Avast,