Since starting fredshed in 2000 I required the service of anti-virus software and followed the route of most home PC users and started off purchasing one of the well known brands that is recommended by PC retailers.
At first this seemed to work reasonably well although it did nothing to stop the horrendous amount of spam and junk mail that carries the links that commonly cause the problems.
All seemed well until one year I received a reminder from my "big brand anti-virus company" that I needed to renew my subscription.
I duly paid with my credit card and downloaded the latest version. Within days my PC seized up and nothing would get it working again.
I paid an IT professional who found the virus and also detected that my anti-virus software had not in fact been renewed.
Angrily I tried to contact said "big name anti-virus company" who proved to be beyond human reach. Even my tenacity failed!
A friendly PC dealer got me a refund for the faulty renewal by using his dealer facilities. As a normal punter I had no way of resolving the issue and almost lost my business.
Luckily for fredshed and my thousands of readers an employee of Sophos came to the rescue and installed their superb anti virus software on my new PC.
The shed went from strength to strength and my PC was never infected again despite being used almost non stop and receiving an extraordinary amount of e-mail (and spam)
Sophos are a Uk based company who have grown rapidly and now supply anti-virus software to businesses with more than 5 computers.
Fredshed will be eternally grateful to the services of Sophos and is happy to recommend them for business users.
If your business owns less than 5 PC's or you just want to protect your home/family PC's then you will find there is a bewildering range of options.
As I found from my research on gardening tools the best products don't necessarily come from the best known names.
But how do you find the best and avoid the marketing and sales hype?
Many readers have asked me for IT recommendations but as I put all my efforts into researching garden and DIY products it is something I don't know enough about.
But I know a man who does!
As Fredshed has grown it has become necessary for me to import more IT help, and I like to use self employed, qualified, freelance specialists.
Current my IT support is provided by North Oxford Computer Services. The owner, David, is a Microsoft Certified Professional and has a great deal of experience in dealing with viruses and Internet security. I have been impressed with his knowledge and skills.
Click here to read David's recommendations for anti-virus software; there is also a link to his new Internet security website, which has lots of information and advice about staying safe on the Internet.
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