More Is Not Always Better

More is not always better.  Someone I know learned this the hard way when he took more than the maximum dose of Motrin and ended up in the hospital with symptoms resembling a heart attack.  However, this maxim is also true when it comes to antivirus software.

You should never have more than one active antivirus program installed.  (By active, I am referring to a program that actively runs in the background, scanning web sites and downloads and checking for possible threats.)  Running multiple antivirus programs can cause major issues.  First, each program will take up your computer's resources.  This means you are giving up double CPU processing speed, RAM space, and clock cycles to run the two programs.

The two programs may also cause additional conflicts.  If you try to download a file, both programs may try to scan it simultaneously, and you may end up with an error message or a crash.  Since antivirus software requires many permissions and take many actions that malware takes, the two programs may also attempt to disable each other.  Simply put, running two active programs will only cause you a load of headaches.

However, there are plenty of software programs that are not active programs.  These programs only scan when you tell them to, and they are designed to work with your existing active program.  Since they won't use your resources without your permission or try to shut down your antivirus protection, you can use as many of them as you want.

If you need antivirus software, try out these free programs that I recommend:

Active Software:

Avast - Avast is the program I currently use, and it is the one that I recommend. It has consistently scored high on antivirus tests, and it is one of the largest antivirus programs to offer a bug bounty. (They pay people who inform them of bugs and security holes in their software.)

AVG - AVG is another excellent program. I have used AVG in the past, and I feel that it is one of the easiest to install and use. I have had disagreements with some of their practices in the past, but they have made steps to improve them.

Inactive Software:

Hitman Pro - Hitman is one of my go-to programs when I suspect a malware infection that is not detected by a computer's primary antivirus. It scans quickly and thoroughly, and I have found it to be the best at detecting malware by behavior. This program is not completely free, but you can scan for free unlimited times, and you can get a free 30-day license to remove anything it finds.

Malwarebytes - Malwarebytes is a completely free program that will conduct a thorough scan and remove anything it finds. It is another one of my go-to programs.

Super AntiSpyware - This is another highly-recommend program among computer technicians. While I do not regularly use it myself, I have found that it has caught a few issues that have escaped other options.