I would guess your subscription year will begin when you load it on your computer, that would be when your subscription starts. Over the year of your subscription the program will check on updates and, usually, down load updates automatically. this is necessary so that your protection is current all the time. At the anniversary of the subscription you will be asked or notified to review (this all happens on line or through your email). If it worked well renew, if not get another program. You cannot go online without some kind of security. If you suspect that you have been compromised take your machine to a tech to have it cleaned. All of your email contacts will already have gotten an opportunity to become infected with the virus.