BleepingComputer.com: Bitdefender free 2009 + other antivirus ?

Hi,

I have already installed avast! anti-virus 5.0.

For extra protection, I have installed Bitdefender 2009 free which is just an on demand scanner (no real-time or on-access scanning). It offers free automatic updates and allows scheduled scanning. It also shows an icon in the system tray.

I was thinking that by doing this I would have the benefit of scanning with 2 different antivirus engines. But does Bitdefender antivirus 2009 free interfere with other antivirus software installed? Although Bitdefender 2009 free is just an on demand scanner, yet I see its many processes running all the time.

Thanks

Even when one of them is disabled for use as a stand-alone scanner, it can affect the other and cause conflicts. Anti-virus software components insert themselves into the operating systems core and using more than one can cause instability, crash your computer, slow performance and waste system resources. When the stand-alone is actively running in the background while connected to the Internet, they both may try to update their definition databases at the same time. As the programs compete for resources required to download the necessary files this often can result in sluggish system performance or unresponsive behavior.

When the stand-alone is running, the primary anti-virus may interpret the activity as suspicious behavior or vice-a-versa and there is a greater chance of them alerting you to a false positive. If one finds a virus or a suspicious file and then the other also finds the same, both programs will be competing over exclusive rights on dealing with that virus or suspicious file. Each anti-virus may attempt to remove the offending file and quarantine it at the same time resulting in a resource management issue as to which program gets permission to act first. If one anit-virus finds and quarantines the file before the other one does, then you encounter the problem of both wanting to scan each other's zipped or archived files and each reporting the other's quarantined contents. This can lead to a repetitive cycle of endless alerts that continually warn you that a virus has been found when that is not the case.

Thank you quietman7 You are right. I noticed my system go slightly slow at boot time. I have removed Bitdefender following your advice

Nice one, guys! Sounds like something I'd do by accident!