it depends on......... A LOT!
Wow, a new computer for the lady. How cool for her! I remember when my fiancee bought her first laptop, she was so proud of it.
I did a few things once she got it, and I had a little help along the way. Once she bought it and got it home she knew she needed security programs because I had talked so much about the things I see on here. She understood many of the risks online, what to be wary of and where/what to stay away from.
She understood the need to avoid download sites like limewire, and that she shouldn't open emails that are suspicious. I had a little help with informing her on why we should be careful online. She had seen the work I did on her parents computer, and the over 600 infections I had discovered and had to clean out. It got to the point though that their computer had become so utterly discombobulated by viruses, trojans, worms, spyware, etc... that I had to reinstall their OS. Her parents lost all the data, files, photos, music, an so forth.
That scared her, she didn't want to lose all her files and photos. So she knew she needed an antivirus program and she needed to scan with malwarebytes as well, in addition to just being cautious. She got AVG free, and it has worked well. I recommend it a lot because it does what it should, it protects and scans well.
BUT, she knows to be careful and what to look out for. However if someone is not careful in what they do, look out. If the person isnt careful then I would HIGHLY recommend NOT going with free versions. This is for the simple fact that they are made for someone who is only going to safe sites and being cautious online. If they arent being careful then the flood gates will be opened and the free version may or may not catch it. Especially since the windows firewall is very poor in my opinion on catching "things". Many free virus programs just dont or or arent made to actively monitor the computer for threats.
In the case that someone is not the most cautious, or maybe under informed, or just isn't as careful as they should be; the paid version is the route to go.
For instance if you have kids or you do a lot of random surfing then I would recommend an antivirus suite that can block sites that you choose. For instance I block sites that are classified as: porn, hate, occult, racism, drugs, unknown, and more... However there are other programs, labeled as parental control programs, that can limit web access. It sounds kind of odd to put controls on yourself, but sometimes its hard to tell what is ok and what isnt as security is concerned.
There are antivirus suites that will offer options to block web pages based on preferences like that, and also offer a better firewall and better scanning and scan scheduling (to name a few options).
If you want to go light on the system, avoid any Norton product (IMO). I believe Norton to be almost as bad or worse than no A/V protection at all. I believe this because I've seen computers that Norton products have scanned, and then were rescanned by other products (like AVG) and lists of malicious software were found.
Norton is also a resource hog, it will eat into your machines ability to run well and fast.
I use TrendMicro internet security, my fiancee uses AVG free, my dad uses AVG paid, and a friend of mine uses MSE. All of them are good, you just have to look at the abilities of each one and determine if it will protect her from the threats she will face online.
If she does nothing more than facebook and email, I'd teach her about the danger that email can pose, not to click the ads on web pages, and be careful of clickjacking/redirects. Then I would use a free version and install a firewall instead of using the windows firewall.
If you are doing any more than that, I would go with a paid version.
Whatever you choose to go with, I would definitely recommend that you install Malwarebytes*, Super Antispyware*, CCleaner, and Hijack This. The asterisked programs are virus removal programs, and they wont interfere with the A/V program, they are an absolute necessity to me and many other people.
And if you want to be REALLY safe, buy an the "gift" of an external hard drive and backup her computer a few times a year. Do it when you are absolutely sure the computer is virus free. I bought a Western Digital 500GB external hard drive for about $120, and it came with the software to backup my machine. Well worth the money! Now I dont have to worry about my hard drive dying and losing all my data.
Though whatever program you choose, only choose ONE. For instance, dont install AVG & Norton at the same time. Two A/V's working at the same time will cause them to miss threats.
I hoped this helped. If she wants to see why she needs to be careful online, just show her the computer security section of computer forum. That should get the point across without
you looking like your just trying to scare her.
(EDIT: DUH on me! Check out the list that Johnb provided us with. Its a great place to start looking and comparing. Go here:
http://www.computerforum.com/166728-list-security-programs-use.html)
