I’m surprised how many machines I see without antivirus, the first thing I take a look at is for any installed software and usually I find nothing. It’s one of those initial preventative steps to protect your system from any damage at a later point.

Kaspersky

It was the best for a long time, so good that it from being a free antivirus to one you had to pay for. It seems to always keep your machine updated and on top of most of the little bugs that bother your machine. I have seen it block out quite a few viruses that come through outlook or downloading attachments. They do have a good internet suite which also protects you fro malware and other problems as well. So if your going with the paying option then Kaspersky is your best option.

AVG

AVG is the best free antivirus software out there period, I have tried a few it’s always updated and works lightly on your system. It works stabely without bothering your system at all, and it always automatically scans your USB and many time I have plugged other people’s USB’s to find malware and virus, it cleans them out and makes them accessible which is great. Every system must have it installed if you don’t have one in the first place.

I would avoid any McAfee or Norton Symantec software out there, it messes with your machine’s registery and always becomes slower. Some how the machine never recovers from an install of McAfee or Symantec install, if you try pulling it out it seems like it trys to do as much damage as possible before leaving your system.