As consignment store owners, you don’t have time to wrestle with computer viruses. All it takes is an employee browsing Google for images to become the victim of a drive-by infection.
When it comes to your business PC, you can’t afford free anti-virus. Sound like a contradiction? It’s not. Free antivirus products protect your computer from a lot of buggies, just not all of them. Other antivirus products such as Norton and McAfee, can bog your system down and conflict with other programs.
The Computer Peeps recommend ESET Nod32 Antivirus.
It is extremely lightweight and transparent, yet effective. ESET Nod32 is extremely effective in preventing system infections and it doesn’t interfere with Explorer (we’ve seen issues with BitDefender in this area) or consignment software.
A computer infected by viruses, Trojans, etc. costs you both time and money. It’s frustrating to use a PC that’s slow and sluggish and doesn’t do what you want as soon as you click. A virus can bring a computer to its knees, preventing you from using the system at all. That means no item entry, no Point of Sale, no consignor lookup…nada.
If you add up the cost of a year’s worth of issues caused by an unprotected computer, it goes far beyond money. How much is your time worth to you? Kate Holmes discussed this very topic on her blog.
ESET costs about $60 for 2-years worth of protection (for one computer). It is easy to install, it updates itself automatically, it doesn’t slow your system down AND it’s very consignment-software-friendly.
Before purchasing ESET or before making any technology-related decisions for your business, consult with a professional. ESET also needs to be configured as per the PCI DSS. If you just don’t want to bother with it and if you want the job done right (and quickly), there are people out there who love doing this sort of stuff. What’s the name of that company again? Hmmm, it’s right on the tip of my tongue. Oh yeah! The Computer Peeps! 🙂
Dean
I am a Software Developer, System Administrator, and consignment software specialist. I currently manage hundreds of consignment workstations, point of sale systems, and database servers all across North America and I am the developer of Peeps' Software, Peeps2Go, and Peeps' Consignor Login for iOS and Android. I've been helping consignment & resale store-owners since 2003. I started The Computer Peeps in February of 2010. Peeps' Software launched in 2016 and is now on hundreds of systems all across North America. I have successfully converted dozens of stores from all of the major consignment software systems. After 20 years of working with consignment stores, I understand the unique challenges consignment & resale store-owners face. From electrical issues in old buildings or strip malls, to advocating for them when their old consignment software keeps crashing.