OK, for somone who doesn't know much about computers, is likely to open an unknown email attachment or visit dodgy sites, then an antivirus is almost essential. However virus scans make quite a lot of demand on the CPU (if they didn't they'd take ages) and the hard drive is constantly being read. Isn't this likely to shorten the life of these hardware components? So maybe regular virus scans do more harm than good.
Serious answers only please. Please do not use this question in order to recommend your favourite antivirus or any other software. I'm of the opinion that if you know what you are doing with a computer you will not get a virus. Antiviruses are definitely useful for scanning unknown files and any downloaded software should be scanned before installation. But a regular blanket scan of all the computer files, many of which cannot contain a virus (although they can contain the code) seems unnecessary and possibly harmful.
Are anti-viruses harmful?ktm
I tend to agree with you, but then again it depends on the user and their online habits. I happen to have a strange hobby, I collect virus's %26 spyware, so having the real time scan on is essential to me!
I generally use more than one AV, Spyware etc once a month on a manual scan, instigated by me if I feel my system needs it! Most of my collection is stored away on their own discs, collated %26 cross referenced so I don't get duplications. I actually get excited when I contract a virus, especially if its new!
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