AVP for Me?

June 16, 2010 12:23 PM

Virus Protection at a discount? I use Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 (or internet security in past years) and it's usually $60. However this time of year it is only $10-$20. I currently have 189 days left on my current subscription. Can I buy another copy of Kaspersky 2010 now and install it in 190 days and get another year of service or do I have to buy a 2011 version next year?
posted by saradarlin to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

Mod note: Comments removed. Asker's questions is really specific; please either answer it or give the thread a pass.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:07 PM on June 16, 2010

Generally subscription services upon renewal will add another 360 days to the term of your subscription. This is how everything IT that I renew (SSL certs, domains, filter subscriptions, etc) operate. I would be surprised if they renewed you for 1 year from today instead of 1 year from the end of your current license.
posted by msbutah at 1:20 PM on June 16, 2010

Found this too:

"If your current license (license key) is valid for more than 2 weeks, then after you activate the application with the new activation code, the remaining validity period on your old or original license will be added to the new license validity. Therefore 2 license key information will be shown. Once the old license has expired, the backup or new license will start it's countdown.

posted by msbutah at 1:22 PM on June 16, 2010

Best answer: I've seen several people stack multiple Kaspersky licenses, so you shouldn't have any problem there. Whenever a new version of Kaspersky comes out, your same license will be valid for it--but you may have to download the new version manually. In the past, Kaspersky definition updates were pushed out automatically, but full versions were not. (This may have changed recently.) To clarify, yes, buying five years of Kaspersky now should give you the ability to stay fully up-to-date with Kaspersky for the next five years.
posted by Phyltre at 1:32 PM on June 16, 2010

Regardless of whether it will extend your existing license or start over at 365 days, if you do the math it's a win-win for you. It's $60/year, which is $30/6 months. If you buy and activate now, you're getting an additional six months for $10-$20 (in the worst-case scenario), which is still a good deal.
posted by Simon Barclay at 7:11 PM on June 16, 2010

Consider this, if you are using a Windows machine.

Ditch the pay-for software. Instead get the free Microsoft Security Essentials as your anti-virus and anti-spyware program.

The folks at Lifehacker like it, and so do I.
posted by mbarryf at 5:50 AM on June 17, 2010 [1 favorite]