Two are better than one

[Dinesh]

Hi, as we all know, its never recommended to have 2 anti virus in one PC.
Then comes a question of "Which is the Best Anti Virus?"
Well, I don't really agree that just 1 anti virus can offer you maximum protection. Hence I thought of installing 2 anti virus on my Windows 7 Virtual Machine.

I tried several combination. Some started fighting with each other whereas some worked as a team (this is what I feel). They do NOT conflict with each other and have not slowed down my PC at all (Your experience may vary).

So after installing and updating both the anti virus programs, I went to Malware Bytes Forum and tried to download some nasty and newest malware. I was surprised to see that no malware was successful in entering my PC. It was blocked by either of the AV engines.

Some malware were blocked during download and some were blocked when I tried to double click and run it. If one engine missed it, the other quickly caught it and vice-versa.

What say?

 

[richc46]

Hi, as we all know, its never recommended to have 2 anti virus in one PC.
Then comes a question of "Which is the Best Anti Virus?"
Well, I don't really agree that just 1 anti virus can offer you maximum protection. Hence I thought of installing 2 anti virus on my Windows 7 Virtual Machine.

I tried several combination. Some started fighting with each other whereas some worked as a team (this is what I feel). They do NOT conflict with each other and have not slowed down my PC at all (Your experience may vary).

So after installing and updating both the anti virus programs, I went to Malware Bytes Forum and tried to download some nasty and newest malware. I was surprised to see that no malware was successful in entering my PC. It was blocked by either of the AV engines.

Some malware were blocked during download and some were blocked when I tried to double click and run it. If one engine missed it, the other quickly caught it and vice-versa.

What say?

Dinesh, I think a good A/V is one that updates its virus definitions timely. Eventually, they will all have the same definitions, but the one that consistently updates timely is the best. These new virus do the most damage, when the first hit the net.

 

[nate42nd]

That's certainly good to know. I'll bet if you kept running two AVs on a machine you used all the time, you would run into conflicts. I would never recommend it to anyone....unless they wanted to experiment like you.

Good info, what are some of the main combos you have tried?

 

[Dinesh]

Dinesh, I think a good A/V is one that updates its virus definitions timely. Eventually, they will all have the same definitions, but the one that consistently updates timely is the best. These new virus do the most damage, when the first hit the net.

Yeah the malware from the malwarebytes forum are fresh and newest.

That's certainly good to know. I'll bet if you kept running two AVs on a machine you used all the time, you would run into conflicts. I would never recommend it to anyone....unless they wanted to experiment like you.

Good info, what are some of the main combos you have tried?

OK I tried the following combinations:
Well, I tried one free AV with one paid AV.

Worked:

Avast 5 beta AV and MSE.
Avast 5 beta AV and Norton Internet Security 2010. (Currently using this combo)
ESET NOD32 AV and Panda Cloud AV.
MSE worked with almost all the Anti Virus and Internet Security software.

Did NOT work:
Avast 5 beta anti virus and NOD32 AV. (NOD32 deleted avast update files and crashed avast).

Kaspersky did not work with any of the AV. It slowed down the PC.
ESET NOD32 AV did not work with AVG free.
AVIRA with Norton Internet Security 2010.


These are the only combination I have tried so far.

 

[ilesal]

I have stopped using Avast and now use MSE and Malawarebytes, that's it. I also use Firefox not IE and install the Microsoft updates, I download stuff to seperate partition and scan first, I read email on line and not download using outlook or anything. I have not had a virus or spyware, malware problem in about three years.

 

[richc46]

Lets not forget, gang, although we all truly appreciate the work that dinesh is doing for all of us, we, not the A/V, are still the first line of defense against all the evil that is out there

 

[Dinesh]

Lets not forget, gang, although we all truly appreciate the work that dinesh is doing for all of us, we, not the A/V, are still the first line of defense against all the evil that is out there

I completely agree with what you say. True protection begins from us.

 

[nate42nd]

Dinesh, I think a good A/V is one that updates its virus definitions timely. Eventually, they will all have the same definitions, but the one that consistently updates timely is the best. These new virus do the most damage, when the first hit the net.

Yeah the malware from the malwarebytes forum are fresh and newest.

That's certainly good to know. I'll bet if you kept running two AVs on a machine you used all the time, you would run into conflicts. I would never recommend it to anyone....unless they wanted to experiment like you.

Good info, what are some of the main combos you have tried?

OK I tried the following combinations:
Well, I tried one free AV with one paid AV.

Worked:

Avast 5 beta AV and MSE.
Avast 5 beta AV and Norton Internet Security 2010. (Currently using this combo)
ESET NOD32 AV and Panda Cloud AV.
MSE worked with almost all the Anti Virus and Internet Security software.

Did NOT work:
Avast 5 beta anti virus and NOD32 AV. (NOD32 deleted avast update files and crashed avast).

Kaspersky did not work with any of the AV. It slowed down the PC.
ESET NOD32 AV did not work with AVG free.
AVIRA with Norton Internet Security 2010.


These are the only combination I have tried so far.

Sweet! That's good to know. Thanks for the information.

Maybe it is a good idea for some people....people who don't know how to protect themselves. (like some of my family members)

 

[Dinesh]

No problem mate.

 

[Tews]

Im sorry, but the "if one is good, two is better" theory just doesnt make sense to me... If the perceived threat of a "virus" is so great that you feel two anti-virus programs are necessary, then why not three... or four?? You can run this virus paranoia till your computer burns up, but I dont think its going to protect you any better than a single good a/v program and a good measure of sense ...

 

[nate42nd]

Im sorry, but the "if one is good, two is better" theory just doesnt make sense to me... If the perceived threat of a "virus" is so great that you feel two anti-virus programs are necessary, then why not three... or four?? You can run this virus paranoia till your computer burns up, but I dont think its going to protect you any better than a single good a/v program and a good measure of sense ...

This is true. I monitor 3 machines that belong to other people. None of them have any sense when it comes to "protecting themselves" If I could find a better way to keep them safe, I would do it.

My own machines just run one AV (MSE or Avast)

 

[hackerman1]

hi !

actually it´s not a bad idea to have 2 A/V´s together since no single A/V offers 100% protection.

if you read the testreports from fx. VB100 & A/V-comparatives etc.
you always see the same story, some A/V´s detect virus & malware samples that is missed by other A/V´s.

as Dinesh said: "Some malware were blocked during download and some were blocked when I tried to double click and run it. If one engine missed it, the other quickly caught it and vice-versa."

i´ve been using Avira & MSE together since i installed MSE-beta.
i decided to keep Avira because MSE was a beta, and i´m glad i did because it has showed some problems, like turning itself off and then refusing to turn on again...
Avira wasn´t on the list of non-compatible A/V´s, and MSE didn´t complain during installation.

i´m still using Avira, even now with MSE released, since they work very well together.
i want to be sure that MSE really works reliable & doesn´t turn itself off again, before i let Avira retire.

my security: a normal "USER-account", MSE, Avira-free, a2-full, MBAM-free, Comodo´s FW & D+, WinPatrol, a HOSTS-file, UAC at max, a working "main CPU" & "2 optical input units".

no problem with that combination.

 

[TheIgster]

Layered protection is what it is all about IMO.

2 AV's though...not sure about that, although you appear to have found a couple that seem to work well together.

I like using something that is said to have no issues running alongside my AV. There are apps out there like behaviour blockers (ThreatFire) or other anti-malware apps like Prevx, which I currently run alongside Avast 5 with no issues at all.

Personally I think it is good to run things that are said to be OK running alongside other AV's, like TF or Prevx.

 

[Ray95]

Well, I have one anti-virus and its working fine so far, It may work for a while having to AVs but I really don't know, from the way i think, you can't have two drivers for one car, can you?

-Ray95

 

[polarbear]

MSE missed two Trojans on mine but Malwarebytes nailed both... I update both programs everytime I jump onto the net... gl