How to Choose a Computer Diagnostic Utility

Video Transcript

"Hi. My name is Dave Andrews. Today I'm going to talk to you about choosing a computer diagnostics utility. Now what I'm talking about when I'm referring to computer diagnostics utilities is I'm talking about firewalls, I'm talking about virus scanners, I'm talking about programs that keep you from getting spyware on your computer. And it's a very important choice what program you're going to use for these means. If you go to any computer store, they're probably going to have a section on computer security, or you'll see programs like Symantec Anti-virus, McAfee Anti-virus. There's a lot of system suites that you'll find, which include anti-virus and firewall and spyware protection. What you want to do when you're choosing these is go with a big name. And the reason I say that is because there's lots of smaller companies out there that release their programs to protect you from viruses and things like that. And they typically won't have the level of service or the capability of protecting your computer, as well as downloading updates to themselves from the internet that some of your more big name programs would. And I'm referring to Symantec and McAfee as the big names, because they've been around a long time. They've had a lot of time to refine their products, to overcome new obstacles that appear. Another thing you want to look at is what exactly do you want to protect. Do you just want virus protection? If so, just buy the virus program. You don't need the entire system suite. Do you want to just protect internet connections to your computer? If that's the case, just buy the firewall program. You don't need the rest of the programs. So you have a little option to be picky over which product you would like to purchase, or you can just purchase the entire suite. My name is Dave Andrews. And I've just talked to you a little bit about how to choose a computer diagnostic utility."