The one thing that all of us worry about when we use the computer is that a new and unknown virus will come along and destroy all of the data that we have saved. So to keep that from happening, we do what the experts tell us to do. We buy or get a free copy of the latest and greatest antivirus software that is on the market and we install it on our computers. After the software is installed we let it examine the computer files that are already on there to see if there is a problem. Before we do that, we make sure that it is updated so that it will be able to catch any new infections. And now we just wait. But is there an easier way to do this? Some people say yes and it comes in the form of online antivirus scanners.

Several years ago, some of the third party security companies that are out there, found out that they can create an online version of the scanner tools. It started by letting people upload a file to their server and see if there was an infection in it. It went from that to the companies creating full blown tools that would scan the persons whole computer. This became a great tool for people to use. But the question remains; should you use an online scanner instead of one already installed on your computer?

The answer to that is no. You can use the two as a complement to one another but there is no way that you should use the online version of the tool without having an offline version installed and updated on your computer. The reason why is simple. Most antivirus scanners that are installed on your computer will scan new files that are introduced to your system automatically. This is not like the online version where you would have to upload a file every time that it is new to your system. More than likely you would get tired of doing that and you would start to use judgment calls. If the file looked safe in your eyes or at the very least if it came from what you thought was a safe place, then you wouldn’t bother to upload it for scanning. When it comes to matters such as this, it is best to let the computer handle it automatically.

An online scanner works best if it is used for scanning suspicious files and if somehow you are not able to get your antivirus working because of some strange infection. But it is not the best solution if you need full time protection on your machine.  For cases such as that, it is best to go with the tried and true method of installing the antivirus on your system.

Here you can find a good list of online antivirus scanners.

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