
Should I Install Two Antivirus
Two Antivirus better or worse? In a world of cyber-attacks, everyone worries about the security of their personal computers and devices. The last thing anyone of us wants is to learn that we have been hacked. Our personal information stolen to be sold to the highest bidder on the dark web.
Advertisements
In an attempt to stay safe, you may have installed two antivirus in one PC. But would installing two antivirus in one PC improve your computer protection? Does staying safe mean using as many antivirus programs as your machine can handle?
Most people can say with certitude that installing more than one antivirus in a single machine is a bad idea. Less computer savvy users would be forgiven for the impolitic idea of installing more than one antivirus in a single machine. They believe that more antivirus programs means more eyes on the system and consequently more and better protection. The facts are invariably opposite.
Arguments against installing two antivirus
Consider the following arguments against installing two antivirus:
Advertisements
Antivirus redundancy
PCWorld advices against installing two antivirus in one PC, arguing that doing so is at the very least, a redundant exercise. In fact, using two antivirus’s in one Operating System is a quick way of transforming your computer into a dingy working environment. As the two antivirus’s fight each other to do the same tasks in real time.
Two antivirus are less effective
In a post published on Microsoft’s Secure Blog, Eve Blakemore, the Group Manager of Trustworthy Computing discourages users from using more than one antivirus programs on one computer. He says doing so makes the two antivirus less effective.
The two will deviate from their main task of protecting your system and instead use every disposition to outdo each other and perhaps, remove each other from the system.
This antivirus ‘cat-fight’ is an unnecessary burden for your machine and may make your computer a sanctuary for viruses, malware and other threats. Ultimately, your system will be the biggest loser of this sanguinary battle between the two antivirus programs.
Advertisements
Two antivirus will slow down your computer
Two antivirus in one PC is a voracious combination: they will eat up your RAM and your system will drastically slow down.
By design, antivirus software runs as soon as you start your machine, giving you real time protection from viruses, malware, ransomware, adware and other threats to your system.
When you have two of these programs running concurrently, your computer RAM is consumed with relentless abandon.
Two antivirus see each other as threats to your system
Each antivirus software has a determinate computer protection process and will certainly conflict with any other antivirus installed in the system.
By default, each antivirus will vehemently oppose the existence of another in the same system. If you insist on installing both and somehow succeed, the two will see each other as threats to the system resulting in a standoff.
LennyFace does an impressive demonstration on imgur of what happens when two antivirus programs find themselves in the same system.
Exceptions to the rule – instances when you could install two antivirus in one PC
Some advanced computer users do install two antivirus programs in the same OS. But they make sure that the two programs do not both perform real time computer protection tasks.
Typically, one does on-demand tasks that require the user to start and stop them manually while the other does the real-time protection of the system. This dainty approach is not recommended for the average person and is seen as an unnecessary and impious undertaking even for advanced users.
The best solution
You should go for Layered Security approach which is implemented by combining multiple security controls to protect data.
This is, perhaps, the best solution for users who would want the maximum level of security for their computers. That’s because in layered security configuration, potential weakness of one layer is mitigated by the strength of corresponding layers.
In this approach, you still install a single antivirus program, but in addition, install an anti-malware product. Which will primarily detect and remove malware from your system. A task that many antivirus programs struggle to do alongside all their other tasks.
Some great anti-malware programs like MalwareFox will also clean up your browser and repair files that have been damaged by Rootkits. And for those users afraid that installing anti-malware software will slow their machines. MalwareFox is lightweight and is optimized for full compatibility with whichever antivirus running in your system.
Conclusion
To summarize, there is a general consensus that it is not prudent to install two antivirus in one PC. Instead, you should consider installing anti-malware software that would not affect your primary antivirus.
MalwareFox is a good example of a lightweight anti-malware program that runs in your system without interfering with the working of your antivirus.
The anti-malware software will detect the malware that antivirus programs are traditionally known to have a hard time detecting. It would also keep your browser clean and repair your system files that may have been damaged by Rootkits.
Have you installed an antivirus alongside an anti-malware program? What is your experience with this approach? Tell us in the comments section below.
Advertisements