Anti-virus and anti-spyware checks

[LouBee]

Hi

I have a question, I have AVG and Norton anti-virus checkers. I do regular checks in safety mode. Can I run them both at the same time?

Likewise with my anti-spyware software... can I run any of those simultaneously?

Thanks.

LB

[rik]

Most of the Anti-Spyware SW can be run together with no problems. As far as AV's, it's hard to say. I know that NOD 32 and Avast run fine together but also know that Norton and McAfee do not.

[gamedango]

I wouldn't run them at the SAME time. You can run them at different times..even one after the other. If you run them at the same time, they will most likely conflict when scanning.

IMO, I wouldn't run 2 antiviruses..at least not norton. AVG by itself is a great antivirus that will protect your system just as well as norton. Norton is a system resource hog.

But it is good to have more than 1 ant-spyware system. Just don't run scans at the same time and you should be good.

[FastGame]

Except the example rik gave on NOD32 + Avast (does work) I wouldn't run 2 AV's at the same time.

If you do on-demand scan with AV then disable the real time protection (resident sheild/standard sheild) of the other AV before doing so.

Norton is one of the AV's that doesn't get along well with other AV's, its best not to have any others installed with Norton. You can use the various online scanners though.

Contrary to popular myth Norton is one of the top AV's in detection, AVG is towards the bottom. IMO I see no need for AVG with Norton. If I were to use (try to use) another AV as backup on-demand to Norton it would be an AV with better heuristics than Norton, BitDefender 8 Free or AntiVir Personal Edition BitDefender 8 is on-demand only, AntiVir will need the real time protection disabled from start up.


Norton & resource hog ?, thats relative to one's system. Norton 2005 & 2006 are much faster and lighter than previous versions.

Anti-Spyware caution ! You need to be aware than many of these programs do report "False Positives" The more programs the more chances of FP. Be careful on what you delete.

[gamedango]

Norton is a resource hog compared to other anti-virus systems. Sure it will run good on a fast system, but Norton integrates itself more parts of the OS than it really needs to.

Norton is becoming like IE. Why? People love firefox because it's so stable and spyware free. What they don't understand is the reason for that is because why would virus/hackers/malware writers attack a system that's used by a minority of people. IE is the king-ding-along. The majority of surfers still use it. So to effect the most people, write the attacks for IE. Firefox has tons of holes that are just now being realized because it's becoming more popular.

Same with norton. If I'm a virus writer, chances are my targets will have Norton over most other antivirus software. So what do I do? I do everything I can to attack Norton and shut it down or break it. Norton is more complex and thus more can break. There are viruses that specifically target norton to shut it down or break it. And because Norton "leeches" itself deeper to the OS, it ends up being a bigger problem once broken. Not that any AV is immune to this effect, but as I have noticed in working in the field and as a network admin, norton takes the cake in this department. Once having client/customers switch to other AV solutions like AVG or the good AV's mentioned above, problems decreased.

This is just from my experiences.

[Curio]

gamedango is spot on but I would ask this of anyone using NOD32 + Avast in combination - does Avast pick up anything NOD32 doesn't? If not then why run it at all?

[FastGame]

Originally Posted by Curio

gamedango is spot on but I would ask this of anyone using NOD32 + Avast in combination - does Avast pick up anything NOD32 doesn't? If not then why run it at all?

I don't use this (Avast! + NOD32) but according to some that do, Avast! HTTP scanner works better (faster/less problems) than NODs. And yes Jottis scanner has been known to show avast! detections that NOD32 missed, of coarse the other way around more in NOD32s favor due to it's Heuristics more so than signatures. Its also reported by some (so called) experts that avast! is better at unpacking.

Dam look what I found



gamedango may be "spot on" about some of the problems Norton faces, and some he pointed out are why I don't use Norton. Fact is there's plenty of people who use Norton daily without a problem, and Fact is Norton is one of the Top AV's in detection.

One thing I've noticed about PC'n, when it comes to AV's it seems as though the subject fits in with Religion & Politics, people fight for their AV till blood flows

Show me a fish that uses Anti-Virus software and I'll show you a "Dolphin" that eats cabbage

[gamedango]

lol. I wasn't meaning to be confrontational. That is just what I have experienced in my time in the field. Your right eveyone has their own personal software that's for sure.

[FastGame]

Originally Posted by gamedango

lol. I wasn't meaning to be confrontational.

I didn't take you as confrontational

I was pulling on Curio's toes, wanted to see how hard he kicks back

[gamedango]

Did it hurt? :P

[Curio]

I bet that Dolphin leaves a bubble trail - and as I was asking anyone that uses the NOD+Avast combination and you say you don't, why you reply - are you dyslexic? Lynchknot always used to claim NOD32 detected everything in the world and I know for a fact it detects that w32.Banker - must be a problem with Jotti's. Please no-one need apologise for being confrontational, if everyone just agreed with each other how the hell would anything ever get sorted out? Everyone on this forum is generally good humoured enough to realise a bit of teasing is just part of the fun.


Except me.

[tarun]

Offtopic -
Gamedango, have you tried Drupal (CMS) for your website? Its pretty good.

[gamedango]

No I haven't. I really don't need it right now, what I'm using is working pretty good. Thanks tho.

[Kane]

Originally Posted by LouBee

Hi

I have a question, I have AVG and Norton anti-virus checkers. I do regular checks in safety mode. Can I run them both at the same time?

Likewise with my anti-spyware software... can I run any of those simultaneously?

Thanks.

LB

Running av scan in safe mode is good idea.
As the other posts said run only one antivirus/anti-spyware program at a time. Having more than one antivirus program active in memory uses additional resources and can result in program conflicts and false virus alerts. Your best defense against computer viruses and malicious programs is to keep your virus definitions up to date, and run Norton AntiVirus Auto-Protect. If you choose to install more than one antivirus program (layering) on your computer, then only one of them should be active in memory at a time.