A virus finds its way onto a computer without the knowledge or consent of its user and, depending on the type of virus, can do huge amounts of damage. Within minutes of the virus becoming active it might try to spread by sending out unsolicited emails to your friends, change the settings of your system, corrupt your important files so that they are no longer accessible, and maybe even make your computer totally unusable and reformat your hard drive.

Since the first known computer virus in 1982, malicious programs have become more and more of a risk, with many new ones being discovered month after month. Although not all of them will cause fatal damage to your computer, they can take up memory and cause problems with your system works, leading to poor performance or system crashes. Coupled with the risk of viruses, spyware has also become a common issue when using the Internet. Spyware is a program which secretly installs itself on your system and monitors your behaviour, and in some cases steals information from your hard drive and sends them to other people.

Antivirus programs, such as Symantec’s Norton Antivirus 2009, have been developed to reduce the risk of viruses and spyware. By searching your computer’s files, scanning the system registry and protecting emails, antivirus software ensures that your computer stays protected. It is important to be kept safe from newly discovered viruses, and as such many antivirus programs have facilities to download the latest ‘virus definitions’ to combat emerging threats. Norton Antivirus 2009 has a tool called Live Update which will make sure that it is constantly protecting against all known and emerging infections.

Compare Antivirus Products

Read more about what various antivirus products have on offer and take a look at our comparison page. Using our tables, you can compare Norton AntiVirus 2009 with other leading software on features such as platforms required, supported email programs, supported IM clients, price of product, browser requirements, and more.
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Read Guides on Antivirus Products

Take a look at our guides on antivirus products so you can be as informed as possible before deciding on the product that is best for your needs. Find out exactly what ‘antivirus lingo’ refers to in our Jargon Buster, see what security threats you should be looking out for and how you can stop them, and much more.
Read our guides on antivirus products

FAQs

If you are unsure of anything, then you might be able to find the info you need in our frequently asked questions section. Seet if your PC is compatible, whether you can run two types of program at the same time, as well as many the answers to other Frequently Asked Questions.
FAQs answered

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