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I’m often asked to remove viruses and other forms of malware from ailing computers, and many of those machines are running two or more antivirus programs at once.
The problem is, when it comes to antivirus apps, more is not better. I know that probably sounds like it can’t be true, but it actually is.
Before I discuss why that is, here’s a quick overview of the two primary types of anti-malware programs:
1 – Full-Time / Real-Time Protection – Antivirus programs such as AVG, Norton, Bitdefender and others run continuously in the background, protecting your PC from threats on an ongoing basis.
It is essential to have ONE full-time antivirus app running at all times if you use your computer to connect to the Internet.
Note: You can also opt to stick with Windows’ own Microsoft Defender if you wish.
2 – On Demand – These anti-malware programs should be run periodically as a “backup” scanner to catch any nefarious code that might have slipped through the cracks in your regular full-time antivirus program (and they ALL have cracks).
Whenever two full-time antivirus programs run at the same time they tend to fight one another, reducing your PC’s overall protection against viruses and other malware by a large margin.
In other words, ONE good full-time antivirus program will do a better job at protecting your PC from malware than any two of them combined.
My recommendation is to pick ONE high quality full-time antivirus program and go with it. You can then occasionally ask for a second opinion by running one of these on-demand virus scanners.
Bonus tip: Choosing one good full-time antivirus app and supplementing that with occasional “second opinion” scans with a good on-demand virus scanner can go a long way towards keeping your PC virus free.
If you want to best protection you can get I recommend installing the Premium version of Malwarebytes. Unlike the free version (which is actually great when you run it), the Premium version runs full-time in the background, protecting your PC from viruses AND other forms of malware that regular antivirus apps don’t even check for.
What’s more, it will protect both your computer and your phone with one low-cost annual subscription.