1. Any antivirus software can slow down your computer's speed.

Solution: Consider adding more RAM. If you have 256 MB, it's not enough. It's good to add up to at least 1 GB.

2. Get the latest software available to avoid as many configuration conflicts as possible. Usually they happen if your software (Antivirus) is quite new, e.g. the company exists for several years not decades. The other reason for multiple errors is a newer version of your OS. That's where your OS and antivirus program can have quite a few conflicts and get you in its solving. The latest versions will have fewer bugs and it will make your life a bit easier.

3. Regularly check for program updates. Many users underestimate this feature though it's the most important thing in any anti-adware or anti-virus program. New viruses pop up every single day. If you install the updates at least once in every three days, then you can sleep well, knowing your PC is safe.

4. Get the anti-virus with firewall included. Having your Windows Firewall protecting you is good unless you'd like to get more advanced control over your firewall settings. It's useful if either you'd like to open any particular port or close it, or simply to allow or restrict any program's access to internet. It can be useful if your ISP provided you with limited traffic. This way you won't need to pay for all the traffic your software programs downloaded in your absence. Yes, your software programs can download updates without you having a clue about it! Kaspersky Internet Security is one of the best programs I know that exists at the moment. It includes antivirus, firewall and other handy features like spam protection, mail anti-virus protection and antispy protection. When mail antivirus could be an excess, anti-spy protection saves me all the time, when I am surfing the Net and suddenly one if the websites turns out to be a phishing page. It's very handy to get an anti-virus warning every time you are about to enter pages like that and saving your accounts and other sensitive information. You can check more on Kapersky Anti-Virus 7.0 - 50% discount here.

5. Another thing you need to consider before buying antivirus software is that lack of knowledge about it could lead to thrown away money and viruses in your PC. Why? Many antivirus programs have a feature for allowing you to choose the simplest method of protecting your PC - zero knowledge user and minimum actions from you. It can be good for the first time but then you might start recognizing some suspicious actions on your PC called viruses. Antivirus protects you and your PC but the settings that are set by Default cannot guarantee to completely protect your PC, simply because all computers are different.

Solution: Learn more about the software you choose and set it up with custom settings for your computer yourself. This will give you more opportunities for staying protected and figuring PC's weak spots.

Hope this was helpful. I'm looking forward to see you in the next Hub!