Can I Have 2 AVs Installed?

I am wondering whether it's ok to have two anti-virus products installed at the same time. I'm currently running Eset Smart Security and I would like to keep this as my real-time protection. However, I was thinking of installing a second product as an on-demand scanner (just the same as I use MBAM and SAS for spyware scans). Is it ok to do this or will it create a host of problems?

 

mr_yoda,

I can only speak from my own experience.
I have had both ESS and A_SQUARED full version running in tandem for months now, on two XP SP3 machines, without a hiccup.
If there is any downside to this arrangement, I'm blissfully unaware of it.

J.

 

I was thinking of putting Avira free on. I know that ESS works well with SAS i've just not heard about other Avs.

 

Any secondary AV that can be installed with the real time scanner disabled should work.

There are also several no-install AVs available that many members here use for a second opinion along with there installed AV. Dr.Web Cureit, Ewido Micro, and AVZ4 come to mind.

Side note. Programs such as A Squared, SAS, and MBAM are considered anti-malware, not really AVs. You should experience few or no problems running them along with an AV in real time.

Your mileage, system interaction may vary.

 

Thanks ThunderZ, i'll look into it a bit more. I quite happy with Eset SS it's just that with different products finding different things i'd quite like to do a scan with something else, maybe once a month. I'll have a look into the the things you've mentioned and do a little bit more digging around.

 

Dr.Web Cureit

Ewido Micro

Can not find the link for AVZ right now. Perhaps someone else will provide it.

 

You can still find the Ewido download here. I heard it does not have the update issues AVG AntiSpyware sometimes has-
http://www.filehippo.com/download_avg_antispyware/

 

http://z-oleg.com/avz4.zip
Make sure you 'Unblock' the archive before extraction.

 

Excellent idea, imo. I run Avira AntiVir Personal as on-demand scanner. Just do not install the Guard. You should uncheck the Scheduled daily update within the program and check the option for start up for the tray icon not to appear. I set the scheduler service to manual. Then I put a shortcut to preupd.exe from the Avira installation directory on my desktop. http://forum.avira.com/wbb/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=74097