more than one virus scanner

They could drag down your System Resources making it more difficult to keeping open several applications at one time. Also with both running at the same time you are probably slowing down certain response times like opening a application or a file into an application. Generally speaking Norton consistently grades out with very high marks in catching virus's. Personally I think you only need to just run one of them. I don't think there is any real benifit by running both.



The Crazy One

I don't have any virus scanning running in the background on mine.  I have an ISP that has a virus scanner on the email server and I run regular scans at http://housecall.antivirus.com so I have everything covered.  That way I get virus coverage and the fastest running system possible.

Like CrazyOne said, there isn't really any point in running two anti-virus programs, Norton should be pleanty.  Also, having the two running at the same time can cause conflicts between the two, you would probabbly be better off just running one.

I would favour Norton although I haven't heard of the other one. Which one detected the virus ?
Agree running 2 can slow things down a bit and possibly cause conflicts between the 2.

I, for one, believe that running multiple scanners is a good idea, if you are willing to trade some performance for the added security. IMHO, having a "second opinion" on any possible virus source sure as heck beats your single scanner from not detecting it and getting infected.

Since there are 1000s, if not more, of viruses created monthly, the chances are that the virus definition lists for each product will vary a certain degree. For example, Norton may be able to detect viruses A-P, given their new deifintions; and Avast32 may be able to detect M-Z. If you are running only Notron, viruses Q-Z would go undetected. Conversely, if you were running only Avast32, viruses A-L would go undetected. True, you will have "double protection" for M-P, but it may be worth your while.

Of course, this is only an example, and the degree to which the new definitions overlap will most likely vary by different proportions at different times.

This type of question will receive a lot of pro and cons, however, running certain virus programs will bog your system down and I am not a fan of Norton's because it is a resource hog. I recommend running something otherwise you are playing with fire, and it should be in the top 10. I recommend Inoculanit 4.5 or 6.0 or FPROT (Commandsystems software). This question is going to lend itself to user preference and one cannot argue that, if your happy and it works for you then go for it. The key is having a anti-virus program that updates it signature files often to provide you latest coverage. :>) Dave

Given a choice between the two, I would tend to go with Norton as Avast32 does not give an indication of keeping up with its virus definitions if you subscribe to the methodology at http://www.virusbtn.com/100/vb100sum.html

Although Norton scores well in detection, I personally dislike it for other reasons. At this time, Nod32 has the reputation with the security crowd as being the all around 'best' AV : http://www.nod32.com/home/home.htm

You can see some of the lesser known AV's compared at http://wilders.org, but I didn't see Avast32 there.

oops, the URL got mangled a bit for http://wilders.org 

Another good anti-virus program is McAfee VirusScan
http://mcafeestore.beyond.com/Product/0,1057,3-18-SN107852,00.html?

Well what started me on the two was my Norton is an old one although I've updated it regularly. So I figured I'd download a free vs for added security.  I have a new version of McAfee but after installing it several of my games wouldn't install properly (they'd seek the A: drive continuously after the install until I rebooted) so i dumped the McAfee.  My resource are 89% with both running at boot up, and memory usually around 93 of 128 (freeRam xp).

The odd thing is the virus detection box popped up, and before I could read it, it was gone.  And I couldn't find a log for it.  So I'm not sure which one caught it.

Its user preference as I indicated, however, I am not a fan of McAfee either. See this: http://www.radsoft.net/resources/software/reviews/blacklist.html
Dave