The benefits and advantages of having anti virus....?

Question

Yea yea I know.. even a computer noob could answer that but........... as it was in my assigment and had to type a few pages long I was GREATLY confused....
This is because my friends did how it works, functions, models..... but how to write the benefits without overlapping with my friends notes? (in terms of functions, options, and workings that is....) Thank you very much for reading...

Answer 1

If you have an anti-virus software, you are protected from:

1. damage incurred by a destructive viruses that deletes/damages files, formats your hard drive, or renders your computer useless.

2. information leakage. in addition to viruses, anti-virus (AV) software also protect you from malicious programs that spy on essential information you input in your computer, such as serial numbers of legal software, passwords in your internet accounts (even banking accounts) and credit card information.

Also, if you have your own anti virus software, you also prevent the spread of these malicious programs(aka malware) onto other computers, since they can also use your computer to attack other computers.

In short, using AV software can also make the computing world safer, even by just one computer at a time.

Quoting an anti-aids campaign:
Spread the love, not the virus ^_^

Answer 2

You don't have viruses on your computer. You don't have your computer being a zombie and sending out thousands of spam messages. You actually control you computer and it is not compromised. Less chance of losing your data due to a malicious program. You don't spread viruses or other malware to anyone else.