BleepingComputer.com: Wondering If I'm Running Too Many Programs

Hi, I'm new here. I signed up a while ago when I had a problem and hope that I've gotten that taken care of.

My question, and I hope this is the right place to ask. I currently run Trend Micro for my anti-virus and Spysweeper for anti-spyware. I know you aren't supposed to run more than one anti-virus at at time but what about for spyware? I didn't get any messages saying that I needed to close one program, but I want to be sure.

I am no comptuer expert, but I've muddled my way through getting rid of a trogan. I want to try to get my comptuer running smoothly and hopefully prevent anymore trogans from getting on it. I've had 3 within the last year, so any suggestions about what the best software to use to protect my computer would really be appreciated.

Thanks!

This post has been edited by KoanYorel: 23 October 2007 - 11:06 AM
Reason for edit: Moved to the more appropriate forum

yes, u cant run more than one antivirus at any time.


But it is ok for antispyware, just make sure that not both antispyware have real-time protection, it may cause conflict.

I suggest a antivirus that detect virus and spyware at the same time like nod32 2.7 antivirus system and kaspersky antivirus 7

Are you using a Firewall?

General practice would be 1 Active(realtime) antivirus
Several layers of Spyware protection
And 1 software firewall

Some other helpful topics to read
Suggested Safe Practices

How did I get infected?,

Freeware Replacements For Common Commercial Apps

Edit: Oh and Welcome to BC

This post has been edited by boopme: 23 October 2007 - 11:33 PM
Reason for edit: Add a line

Using more than one anti-spyware program with real-time protection increases your protection coverage without causing the same kind of conflicts or affecting the stability of your system that can occur when using more than one anti-virus. Even if your anti-spyware programs are not running in real-time, the overlap of protection from using different signature databases will aid in detection and removal of more threats when scanning your system for malware.

No single product is 100% foolproof and can detect and remove all threats at any given time. The security community is in a constant state of change as new infections appear. Each vendor has its own definition of what constitutes malware and scanning your computer using different criteria will yield different results. The fact that each program has its own definition files means that some malware may be picked up by one that could be missed by another. Thus, a multi-layered defense using several anti-spyware products (including an effective firewall) to supplement your anti-virus combined with common sense and safe surfing habits provides the most complete protection.

However, you can over do it with resource heavy programs that will slow down you system performance. Sometimes you just have to experiment to get the right combo for your particular system as there is no universal solution that works for everyone.

Thank you all for your input! I appreciate the help. I am going to look around the site here for suggestions on what others use to keep computers protected. I see there is a lot of information, so I will make sure to look around and see what has been posted.