If you are a Microsoft customer, you can optain the EZ Armor Security Suite for free. EZ Armor Security Suite is an antivirus and personal firewall bundle from Computer Associates. The only catch is that updates are only free for the first year. Obviously, the antivirus software would not be of much value after the first year since it is essential to keep your antivirus software up to date. I wouldn't worry as much about firewall updates after the year is up.
However, from what I have seen, their yearly subscription prices are very low. Certainly, if you don't have antivirus and/or a personal firewall, this is probably the cheapest way to get fully supported commercial solutions. If you want to grab your free copy while you finish reading this article you can find a link to the offer in the link box on the right.
I registered and then downloaded my copy with no problems. The installation also went very smoothly. Be sure that you uninstall any antivirus and personal firewall products that you currently have installed before attempting to install this software. Because of the way that antivirus and personal firewall products work, it is not a good idea to have more than one of each installed.
By default, the antivirus software checks all files that are accessed. Some antivirus software can significantly slow your computer when file checking is enabled, but this product seems to be well behaved in that regard. I've not noticed any slowdowns when browsing files.
When I saw the personal firewall, I noticed immediately that it was a rebranded version of ZoneAlarm Pro. I've used ZoneAlarm Pro before and have been very impressed by its ability to keep malicious programs for accessing the Internet. The configuration is very easy with their startup wizard. You don't need to be a security expert to use it. Even though I have a router with a very good firewall, I still find a personal firewall very beneficial. The router can block access from the outside, but it can't control what programs can access the Internet. With the continuing plague of adware and spyware a personal firewall that asks before allowing any program to access the Internet is almost a necessity.
In my opinion the EZ Armor Security Suite is a great way to help secure your computer and you can't complain about the price. We like free!