Do You Need a Virus Scanner on Your Computer?
Nowadays it seems that people like to think that having a virus scanner running on your PC at all times is pretty much mandatory. Virus protection can be helpful, especially for those who always seem to end up going to websites that have all sorts of garbage and adware popping up all over the place, but you certainly don't have to have a virus scanner installed on your PC. And on top of that, they don't always work anyways.
The best way to avoid viruses isn't even with a virus scanner; common sense is actually a much better weapon when it comes to avoiding computer viruses and adware / spyware. So in other words, stay away from questionable websites, or if you do happen to find yourself on one, just hit your back button 'the longer you spend on a site that is blasting your pc with pop ups etc., the more likely you are going to pick up a virus from that site.
Also, always be sure to quickly delete emails that have suspicious looking content, and avoid unknown email attachments like the plague, as they are probably the biggest cause of a virus on the whole entire internet. Email attachments are the classic method of delivery for a virus or spyware software.
You should also know that the virus and spyware removal programs that run on your computer 24/7 will greatly reduce the speed of your PC, especially the ones that are setup to check literally every file that you ever open on your computer. So why deal with something that is going to make your computer run far slower than it normally would? And on top of that, virus protection is never 100% fail safe anyways, and neither are the spyware protection programs.
Lastly, if you DO happen to get a virus or spy / adware on your PC, then there is a good chance that your virus / spyware remover software wont even be able to get rid of it anyways, which often means that you will need to format your hard drive, and virtually erase everything on your whole entire computer, then start over again from scratch. So in other words, use common sense and avoidance as your primary weapon against computer virus's and spyware.
Gloss