multiple AVs is a more secure route, but it seems that it would also bog down your system. I prefer the AVG with ad-aware and spybot SD. Bewteen those three program, I have ben able to keep my system virus, adware and bot free for a very long time.
But then again it is user preference.

true Xx - I used all them as well, AVG, spybot and adaware, can multiple AntiVirus programs be run??? If so, I'd run Avira and NOD32 are they compatible?

It is not a good idea to run mutliple A/V programs as they will conflict with each other. I think if you really look you will find most the top A/V programs find most of the viruses and are continually updated to treat and find new and previously unnoticed one's. There ia a difference between adware/spyware scanners and Antivirus programs, it is often recommended to have multiple adware/spyware removers.

I agree.....one Antivirus only. Even remnants of stuff can conflict.

I like Avira. I've used the personal edition for quite some time now. My suggestion is to run Windows Safety Scanner every now and then too. It's another decent free program.

http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm

Yes you can "have" two different anti virus programs on your pc at any one time so long as one is de-activated. If you have two active antivirus programs operating on your PC you will run into issues rather quickly. Most antivirus programs now have conflict detectors built into the installation process to warn you of the possible issues.

One should always remember that antivirus scan engines are not the same. If they were, Nortons, Microtrend, and other top brands wouldn't be charging a pretty penny for a scan engine you can download for free. No AV is infalible, and many of the virus we do get, are because we go to sites we shouldn't, or download quetionable certificates.
Most AVs will ask for you to participate in sending quarrentines items for supplemental break down. I recomend this, as most of the good AVs out there, share their databases with one another.

I'd like to add that AV can only protect us from what was already identified as malicious code. If we go on some website and click on things, we can get infection that was either very new or custom, and then it doesn't matter, what AV are we running at the moment.

+1

Nothing is going to stop you from getting infected, and good viruses while they might be removed by anti virus software will make changes to your security settings that will open you up to future attacks.

Best bet wipe and reload, (nuke from orbit) its the only way to be sure . . . .

I was told you can't run more than one AV.. that one would think the other was trying to wrest control of the system and think it was a virus itself..

SO I took pccillin off when I installed AVG..

but you guys are saying that you can run, for instance, AVG and Avira at the same time?

No, don't run more than one A/V at time. It is more trouble than anything you would gain in benefit.

Hi,

First off... why would you remove PCCillen.... it's a damn good product and i assume you were paying for it...

Secondly... 2 Free AV's will be just the same as running one but with the added chances of conflict.

Keep your AVG and relax... If you suspect something then go to google and type 'Trend Micro Housecall' (The makers of the software you shouldn't have removed(. This is a web based service that scans your machine... I suggest you use the 'Browser Plugin' as it is quicker and easier and run a complete scan ... remove anything you find and update any patches it suggests you should have... If it does find something then i suggest you download the latest free AVG and do a full uninstall/reinstall of the software incase a virus has tampered with the software in anyway. You should use a free firewall too to prevent applications accessing the internet without your permission. Download the free version of Zone Alarm... allow anything you know to access the net and if unsure about something deny... if you keep getting the popup but you can't see any good reason why this application needs internet access block permanently... Problem solved

And don't freak out if it finds a tracking cookie or something... EVERYONE has stupid things like this on their machines... you need to scan occasionally to remove them... data miners and cookies will always exist so it's a question of maintenance... Run Adaware periodically if your really anal about keeping your machine clean...

Not entirely true, generally malicious code running on a computer attempts to do similar things (create randomly named files, hook into function calls, connect to IRC channels, scan for email addresses).

Good Antivirus will pick up and stop this kind of activity, even if it doesn't have the viruses signature in it's database.

The majority of viruses are polymorphic now too, so you can't just scan for a header or expected bit of hex in a file.

I think Norton call this technology Bloodhound and F-Secure call it Deepguard.

In my experience, across the thousands of machines I've seen and many viruses, pay for F-Secure.

Ta,

Chris.

jpr/// doesnt using diff virus dect. infer with each other?
i used norton now i use FREE avg..
downloads once a day while im gone.
loading pages.. seems slower prob due to the phishing dect. but not sure. anyone else ?? use this??? i like avg.. so far.. caught a few trogens.. n one mil. download.. so yeah i like it so far

I started using AVG and I've noticed now that it takes forever for internet or my games to open. Would this be why? How do I change it to run minimal? I feel now like I'm back on dial-up almost. And dying in a game due to lag really sucks.

it doesnt have a minimal function, your best bet would be to schedule scans where it would be the most convenient.

My entire networking and technology school only allows ALWIL Avast! Anti-virus. They even supply the keys.

I haven't used AVG for some time, so I don't remember the exact process of doing so, but AVG starting with release 8 included a web page scanner, that scans web pages before they load. Many people have noticed a dramatic decrease in load times because of this. And as for games, if the slow down has only begun since installing AVG, then I would say AVG is sucking up too many resources on your PC. On an older PC it may be necessary to shut off real time scanning, but you will want to set a regular time for it do a full scan when you are not going to be using it. Maybe someone more familiar with AVG can tell you how to do this for sure.

I use AVG but I can't tell you crap about it

I've used it forever. Seems to work just fine. Worked when I needed it to work.