Malware confusion

While reading here I found the warning that you should never install more than one anti-virus. Then I found this:

The art of good security practises is to have layered security which in simple terms means that the computer is protected at all times by various pieces of software. All subtlety different but looking out for there specific chosen targets.

In: http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=28840

I can see why heavily embedded stuff like AVG 8 could interfere with similar software, but how can you know when the above is good advice? Are there anti-virus programs that do NOT dig in so deeply and permanently as AVG 8 (which I have and am not greatly pleased with)?

It's been my experience that NO anti-virus gets everything so I am really disappointed that I can't use more than one.

Might the above (multi-layer advice) refer to anti-spyware but not to anti-virus programs?

(I've been trying to get a handle on a problem of a very high hard drive access rate under XP Pro since before I got SP2. Now on SP3 I have 1 gb of memory - all this machine will allow - no big applications.)

JimLL

 

Yes, when someone refers to proper protection saying "multi-layer protection" they are referring to AntiVirus, AntiSpyware & Firewall protection.

It is true that running more than one antivirus will cause conflicts on your system and it is also true that running more than one firewall will cause conflicts on your system as well as possible problems with internet connectivity. With antispy programs, you can have more than one installed however it's not recommended you run more than one with a real time protection component because of the same problem with conflicts. You can have multiple "on-demand" scanners installed but not multiple real time protection components.