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jakesteele · 15th June 2012, 08:11 PM

Multiple antivirus vs single antivirus
I am wondering what the average thinking when it comes to having one antivirus vs. multiple ones. I have some computer savvy friends who differ on this subject. One guy says that you should only have one because multiple ones conflict and fight for resources, but another friend says that no one antivirus can get them all and you should have an anitvirus, a malware and some kind of adware. I was using multiple ones for virus, spyware, malware, trojans, and WOT on Firefox. In spite of that, my computer got fried. Admittedly, I engage in some risky business and tend to be on the edge with P2P and whatnot.

What is the group think on this subject?
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paulhutch · 15th June 2012, 08:55 PM

Never have more than one antivirus program providing real-time protection. I've had to repair a friends PC where he ended up with AVG and McAfee both turned on and it lead to a system file getting corrupted. Specifically what happened was during a Windows update AVG was scanning an updated system file, McAfee considered it suspicious activity and quarantined the system file, on reboot the missing system file prevented Windows from starting.

It's OK to have multiple antivirus programs installed but only have one providing real-time protection and disable the real-time protection when you run a scan with the other program.

This only applies to real-time antivirus software (e.g. AVG, Norton, NOD32, Security Essentials) not other anti-malware tools (e.g. Malwarebytes, Spybot), they are designed to not cause problems with a running real-time antivirus tool.

The Norseman · 15th June 2012, 09:41 PM

My view is similar to paulhutch's view in that multiple real-time protectors tend to interfere with one another in addition to being system resource hogs (even on their own).

If you're on the edge with internet use however, I'd suggest a completely different set up than what you say you're running now and AV wouldn't even enter the picture.

rjh01 · 16th June 2012, 04:26 AM

You need two pieces of anti virus software. Neither works 100% on its own. Together they are a very powerful tool. The first piece is your normal software you can buy. Does not matter what brand. The second piece is your human brain. Do not do whatever it is that attracts viruses to your computer. In my case not much gets though this and my other software justs sits there and only takes resources up and tells me there are no viruses bar cookies on the computer.

KoihimeNakamura · 16th June 2012, 04:43 AM

If you do semi risky internet browsing, considering browsing the internet in a VM..

Sam.I.Am · 16th June 2012, 05:45 PM

Originally Posted by KoihimeNakamura

If you do semi risky internet browsing, considering browsing the internet in a VM..

Or go to a dual boot setup if your machine chokes when running a virtual machine.

CelticRose · 16th June 2012, 07:16 PM

Originally Posted by rjh01

You need two pieces of anti virus software. Neither works 100% on its own. Together they are a very powerful tool. The first piece is your normal software you can buy. Does not matter what brand. The second piece is your human brain. Do not do whatever it is that attracts viruses to your computer. In my case not much gets though this and my other software justs sits there and only takes resources up and tells me there are no viruses bar cookies on the computer.

This.

That said, I ran both the free version of AVG and McAfee Total Protection on my old Vista machine for years with nary a problem. I started doing so when McAfee missed a virus and I had to use AVG to get rid of it. It's true that no one antivirus program can catch everything: sometimes McAfee would catch things that AVG missed and sometimes AVG would catch things that McAfee missed.

I just got a new Windows 7 machine a few weeks ago, and I'm just running McAfee for now since 7's supposed to have better security features than Vista. However, if I have problems with malware getting through I won't hesitate to download AVG and run it along with McAfee.

Akhenaten · 16th June 2012, 10:04 PM

Originally Posted by CelticRose

This.

I don't think rjh's post says what you think it says.

He's not actually endorsing the use of two software programs, despite his post ambiguously saying that he does.

JJM 777 · 17th June 2012, 12:06 AM

One good antivirus program is enough. Adware and whatnot other programs just eat up system resources and make your computer slower.

Two actual antivirus programs probably start fighting each other and make the computer so totally stuck that you need an experienced IT guy to uninstall them in safe mode. Been there, done that.

If your computer gets infected anyway, use system rollback to return to an uninfected system state some days earlier.

Dancing David · 17th June 2012, 04:44 AM

This is from a very knowledgeable person at Bleeping Computer

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/foru...st__p__1046121

And they say you have to be careful even using one as scan only mode.

However, I tend to have Malwarebytes, and Eset online on my machine along with MSSE, but I do not use M-bam in protection mode and when I run the Eset scanner I disable MSSE.

CelticRose · 17th June 2012, 05:43 PM

Originally Posted by Akhenaten

I don't think rjh's post says what you think it says.

He's not actually endorsing the use of two software programs, despite his post ambiguously saying that he does.

I don't think my post says what you think it says.

Rjh says that you need to use one antivirus program and not engage in behavior that's going to get your computer infected. I endorsed this.

Then I stated that despite agreeing with rjh I had in the past used 2 antivirus programs concurrently.

That a bit clearer?

Akhenaten · 17th June 2012, 05:47 PM

Yep. Thanks.

Sam.I.Am · 18th June 2012, 11:14 AM

Nowadays most crap comes from ad servers and such. In other words the bad content comes from outside web sites that the actual web site that you went to had no idea what it was in most cases. Even "Good" web sites can end up giving you "Bad" stuff without their knowing it at the time.

Use a good hosts file, it takes up a lot less resources than any anti-virus or malware program and unlike ad-block or ad-aware it is entirely non browser dependent. In conjunction with a good (up to date) AV program you should be covered unless you are going to places that you shouldn't be going to and downloading illegal software.

I use this one:

http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

The installation instructions (XP, Vista and Win7) and link to the hosts file are all on that page.

One nice thing about the hosts file is that a good one will actually speed up your web browser because it blocks the offending content by not allowing your computer to even ask for it in the first place, it simply tells the web browser that it's not available before it even goes out on the internet to look for it so the browser moves on to the next item (like the content that you actually want to see).

Monketey Ghost · 25th June 2012, 09:52 AM

I use AVG and run MalWareBytes. I do lots of risky browsing and maybe my computer is chock full of nasty, but it runs fine and everything checks out so...

Stomatopoda · 8th July 2012, 02:57 AM

Close to 100% of malware comes from either ads or just plain user stupidity.

Windows defender + ad-blocking and script-blocking software + common sense > any commercial antivirus. If you see ads, you're doing it wrong.

Pantaz · 8th July 2012, 11:58 AM

Alwil's Avast (free version) has been very good to me for a long time. It's starting to get bloated, though. They're tried to make the user interface "prettier", but I'd say it's just wasting resources. They're also getting more aggressive at pushing paid upgrades and including ads in the UI.

Originally Posted by Sam.I.Am

... Even "Good" web sites can end up giving you "Bad" stuff without their knowing it at the time. ...

Yep. That's what happened with my sister's laptop. She saw the "Windows Security Alert" pop-up and thought it was legit.

Quote:

http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

One nice thing about the hosts file is that a good one will actually speed up your web browser because it blocks the offending content by not allowing your computer to even ask for it in the first place ....

I've been using that one for years. When I get on a computer without it, I'm always surprised at how much junk it actually filters out!

15th June 2012, 08:11 PM	#1
jakesteele Graduate Poster Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 1,238	Multiple antivirus vs single antivirus Multiple antivirus vs single antivirus I am wondering what the average thinking when it comes to having one antivirus vs. multiple ones. I have some computer savvy friends who differ on this subject. One guy says that you should only have one because multiple ones conflict and fight for resources, but another friend says that no one antivirus can get them all and you should have an anitvirus, a malware and some kind of adware. I was using multiple ones for virus, spyware, malware, trojans, and WOT on Firefox. In spite of that, my computer got fried. Admittedly, I engage in some risky business and tend to be on the edge with P2P and whatnot. What is the group think on this subject? Reply With Quote
	__________________ Occam’s Beard – The simplest solution isn’t always the best

15th June 2012, 09:41 PM	#3
The Norseman I Void Warranties Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: The Treasure Valley Posts: 3,303	My view is similar to paulhutch's view in that multiple real-time protectors tend to interfere with one another in addition to being system resource hogs (even on their own). If you're on the edge with internet use however, I'd suggest a completely different set up than what you say you're running now and AV wouldn't even enter the picture.
	__________________ "I have always thought that a wild animal never looks so well as when some obstacle of pronounced durability is between us." "Sticking the flounce is the hardest move in forum gymnastics." -tsig

16th June 2012, 04:26 AM	#4
rjh01 Gentleman of leisure Tagger Join Date: May 2005 Location: Planet Earth Posts: 17,323	You need two pieces of anti virus software. Neither works 100% on its own. Together they are a very powerful tool. The first piece is your normal software you can buy. Does not matter what brand. The second piece is your human brain. Do not do whatever it is that attracts viruses to your computer. In my case not much gets though this and my other software justs sits there and only takes resources up and tells me there are no viruses bar cookies on the computer.
	__________________ dddffffpppqqqq Want to use your computer for something that will make society better? See this thread for details Folding@home

16th June 2012, 04:43 AM	#5
KoihimeNakamura Creativity Murderer Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Graham, WA Posts: 6,923	If you do semi risky internet browsing, considering browsing the internet in a VM..
	__________________ Don't mind me.

16th June 2012, 05:45 PM	#6
Sam.I.Am Illuminator Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Hunting Moose and Squirrel Posts: 4,164	Originally Posted by KoihimeNakamura If you do semi risky internet browsing, considering browsing the internet in a VM.. Or go to a dual boot setup if your machine chokes when running a virtual machine.
	__________________ "Swift, silent and deadly" was a part of my job description Upon hearing me say that my friend asked me "So you're a fart?"... About my avatar.

15th June 2012, 08:55 PM	#2
paulhutch Scholar Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Blackstone River Valley, MA Posts: 107	Never have more than one antivirus program providing real-time protection. I've had to repair a friends PC where he ended up with AVG and McAfee both turned on and it lead to a system file getting corrupted. Specifically what happened was during a Windows update AVG was scanning an updated system file, McAfee considered it suspicious activity and quarantined the system file, on reboot the missing system file prevented Windows from starting. It's OK to have multiple antivirus programs installed but only have one providing real-time protection and disable the real-time protection when you run a scan with the other program. This only applies to real-time antivirus software (e.g. AVG, Norton, NOD32, Security Essentials) not other anti-malware tools (e.g. Malwarebytes, Spybot), they are designed to not cause problems with a running real-time antivirus tool.

16th June 2012, 07:16 PM	#7
CelticRose Graduate Poster Join Date: May 2009 Location: Mesa, AZ Posts: 1,381	Originally Posted by rjh01 You need two pieces of anti virus software. Neither works 100% on its own. Together they are a very powerful tool. The first piece is your normal software you can buy. Does not matter what brand. The second piece is your human brain. Do not do whatever it is that attracts viruses to your computer. In my case not much gets though this and my other software justs sits there and only takes resources up and tells me there are no viruses bar cookies on the computer. This. That said, I ran both the free version of AVG and McAfee Total Protection on my old Vista machine for years with nary a problem. I started doing so when McAfee missed a virus and I had to use AVG to get rid of it. It's true that no one antivirus program can catch everything: sometimes McAfee would catch things that AVG missed and sometimes AVG would catch things that McAfee missed. I just got a new Windows 7 machine a few weeks ago, and I'm just running McAfee for now since 7's supposed to have better security features than Vista. However, if I have problems with malware getting through I won't hesitate to download AVG and run it along with McAfee.
	__________________ Be who you are & say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter & those who matter don't mind. - Dr. Seuss Be yourself no matter what they say. - Sting My needlework blog: http://rainbowpincushion.blogspot.com/

16th June 2012, 10:04 PM	#8
Akhenaten Heretic Pharaoh Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Pi-Broadford, Australia Posts: 24,749	Originally Posted by CelticRose This. I don't think rjh's post says what you think it says. He's not actually endorsing the use of two software programs, despite his post ambiguously saying that he does.
	__________________ Life is mostly Froth and Bubble - Adam Lindsay Gordon The Australasian Skeptics Forum

17th June 2012, 12:06 AM	#9
JJM 777 Illuminator Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Finland Posts: 3,175	One good antivirus program is enough. Adware and whatnot other programs just eat up system resources and make your computer slower. Two actual antivirus programs probably start fighting each other and make the computer so totally stuck that you need an experienced IT guy to uninstall them in safe mode. Been there, done that. If your computer gets infected anyway, use system rollback to return to an uninfected system state some days earlier.
	Last edited by JJM 777; 17th June 2012 at 12:10 AM.

17th June 2012, 04:44 AM	#10
Dancing David Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Central Illinois Posts: 34,929	This is from a very knowledgeable person at Bleeping Computer http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/foru...st__p__1046121 And they say you have to be careful even using one as scan only mode. However, I tend to have Malwarebytes, and Eset online on my machine along with MSSE, but I do not use M-bam in protection mode and when I run the Eset scanner I disable MSSE.
	__________________ Hell, dynamiting fish in a barrel is more challenging. - Ladewig I suspect you are a sandwich, metaphorically speaking. -Donn And a shot rang out. Now Space is doing time... -Ben Burch You built the toilet - don't complain when people crap in it. _Kid Eager

17th June 2012, 05:43 PM	#11
CelticRose Graduate Poster Join Date: May 2009 Location: Mesa, AZ Posts: 1,381	Originally Posted by Akhenaten I don't think rjh's post says what you think it says. He's not actually endorsing the use of two software programs, despite his post ambiguously saying that he does. I don't think my post says what you think it says. Rjh says that you need to use one antivirus program and not engage in behavior that's going to get your computer infected. I endorsed this. Then I stated that despite agreeing with rjh I had in the past used 2 antivirus programs concurrently. That a bit clearer?
	__________________ Be who you are & say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter & those who matter don't mind. - Dr. Seuss Be yourself no matter what they say. - Sting My needlework blog: http://rainbowpincushion.blogspot.com/

17th June 2012, 05:47 PM	#12
Akhenaten Heretic Pharaoh Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Pi-Broadford, Australia Posts: 24,749	Yep. Thanks.
	__________________ Life is mostly Froth and Bubble - Adam Lindsay Gordon The Australasian Skeptics Forum

18th June 2012, 11:14 AM	#13
Sam.I.Am Illuminator Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Hunting Moose and Squirrel Posts: 4,164	Nowadays most crap comes from ad servers and such. In other words the bad content comes from outside web sites that the actual web site that you went to had no idea what it was in most cases. Even "Good" web sites can end up giving you "Bad" stuff without their knowing it at the time. Use a good hosts file, it takes up a lot less resources than any anti-virus or malware program and unlike ad-block or ad-aware it is entirely non browser dependent. In conjunction with a good (up to date) AV program you should be covered unless you are going to places that you shouldn't be going to and downloading illegal software. I use this one: http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm The installation instructions (XP, Vista and Win7) and link to the hosts file are all on that page. One nice thing about the hosts file is that a good one will actually speed up your web browser because it blocks the offending content by not allowing your computer to even ask for it in the first place, it simply tells the web browser that it's not available before it even goes out on the internet to look for it so the browser moves on to the next item (like the content that you actually want to see).
	__________________ "Swift, silent and deadly" was a part of my job description Upon hearing me say that my friend asked me "So you're a fart?"... About my avatar.

25th June 2012, 09:52 AM	#14
Monketey Ghost Body of Work Join Date: May 2003 Location: I'm on your screen! Posts: 14,814	I use AVG and run MalWareBytes. I do lots of risky browsing and maybe my computer is chock full of nasty, but it runs fine and everything checks out so...
	__________________ _{The membership of this forum is henceforth to refer to me as potato-headed Bobby} _{SSKCAS, member in long standing}

8th July 2012, 02:57 AM	#15
Stomatopoda Muse Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 892	Close to 100% of malware comes from either ads or just plain user stupidity. Windows defender + ad-blocking and script-blocking software + common sense > any commercial antivirus. If you see ads, you're doing it wrong.
Stomatopoda Muse Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 892

8th July 2012, 11:58 AM	#16
Pantaz Muse Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Van Nuys, CA Posts: 906	Alwil's Avast (free version) has been very good to me for a long time. It's starting to get bloated, though. They're tried to make the user interface "prettier", but I'd say it's just wasting resources. They're also getting more aggressive at pushing paid upgrades and including ads in the UI. Originally Posted by Sam.I.Am ... Even "Good" web sites can end up giving you "Bad" stuff without their knowing it at the time. ... Yep. That's what happened with my sister's laptop. She saw the "Windows Security Alert" pop-up and thought it was legit. Quote: http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm One nice thing about the hosts file is that a good one will actually speed up your web browser because it blocks the offending content by not allowing your computer to even ask for it in the first place .... I've been using that one for years. When I get on a computer without it, I'm always surprised at how much junk it actually filters out!