OK to have two anti-virus program if one is turned off

Question

Is it OK to have two anti virus programs as long as one is turned off?

I have Antivir and Avast. I keep Avast turned off and use Antivir most of the time.

Once in a while, I'll turn on Avast and turn off Antivir to see if anything was missed by Antivir.

Is this a waste of time and systems resources?

Answer 1

It's very bad practice to have 2 anti-virus's on your computer even if you turn one off because there are background processes that run even if you think you have it totally off. The 2 can clash and your protection is greatly reduced even though in theory the opposite should be true.  I wouldn't worry about a good anti virus missing stuff. Remember even the best anti virus in the world won't protect a careless user from obtaining a virus. My advice chose which one you like and uninstall the other.

Answer 2

stick with any one antivirus,be sure to update your antivirus daily,i am using NOD 32 antivirus http://3ginternet.blogspot.com/2008/07/s...  

Answer 3

Is this a waste of time and systems resources - YES

Run one AV if you think its missing Viruses from time to time do a free online scan:

http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/uk/

Answer 4

Never ever install 2 Anti Virus programs on your computer this will cause serious conflict such as computer freezing up  false positives when scanning for malicious programs and a wast of resources,

Even if you have one Anti Virus turned off you are still receiving updates for it and it's still   running in the background "it's just not protecting you so chose on and uninstall the other.

Answer 5

Having two different antivirus is waste of time and system resource. Most of the computer are infected with spyware than viruses. You have two different antivirus but not spyware. Better buy or download a good antivirus product which also have spyware protection.

Answer 6

You are right on,It is a waste of time and resources.I have one program,and that is BitDefender.No problems or conflicts,and it goes the whole nine yards.