questions about antispyware apps

[BobLewiston]

I have some questions about antispyware apps:

1. I know you're not supposed to run 2 antivirus apps at once, but that you CAN run 2 scanner-only antispyware apps at once. But should you not run 2 real-time-protection antispyware apps at once?

2. Other than the fact that spyware "spies", just what is the difference between a virus and a spyware app? In other words, why can you run one antivirus app at the same time as a real-time-protection antispyware app?

3. Do all antispyware that offer real-time protection constantly run in the background to prevent the installation of malware, whenever an attempt is made to open a file or launch an application? Do they all also offer manual and/or scheduled system scans?

4. Does Comodo AntiVirus + Firewall include antispyware functionality?

5. Does Spyware Terminator include antivirus functionality?

[RedSon]

You need to stop thinking so generally. You can run two A/V and A/S realtime protection software at once if you want. The problem is that the resources they use are vast and can really bog down your machine. Nothing catastrophic is going to happen if you run two at the same time. Except you should only need one A/V and one A/S app, but if you want more it's not going to damage your system.

There is no difference between a virus and spyware. They fall under a category of malware which is malicious-software. A virus can "spy" on your machine and spyware can propagate like a virus. It all depends on how the piece of software is written. Also keep in mind that malware/spyware/viruses are not different or more special than Word or Office or firefox. They are all bits of software, it's just that the authors of malware decided to make their software do bad things to your machine. The lack of difference is highlighted by the fact that some A/V programs will search and find spyware/malware on your machine.

Any piece of software that provides full-time real-time scanning or any real-time anything to the user is running in the background. The corollary is that it may be running in the foreground, not the background, but running in the foreground usually means that a window is open and you are interacting with the software. Most A/V & A/S programs offer manual or scheduled scan but you will need to check the features of your chosen program.

As for the features of Comodo and Spyware Terminator you will need to look that up yourself on those companies websites.

[BobLewiston]

Running two A/V apps simultaneously doesn't cause a conflict? I'm surprised to hear that; I've seen it written all over the net.

[RedSon]

Well it does because they battle for resources, and they can lock eachother out of files.

I've run Microsoft Security Essentials and Norton A/V simultaneously before (only for a few minutes before one got uninstalled) but it's not as if the computer crashed.

The point is you don't want two applications who are doing the same thing to conflict with eachother for something as important as virus scanning.

So yes, the common wisdom is don't do it.

[AmberJain]

Another reason why experts recommend not to run two or more anti-viruses at the same time is because very frequently it happens that one of AV flags virus database of another one as malicious. This can be confusing and irritating most of times.
I would rather recommend that you install one antivirus on your XP installation and keep a copy of ClamWin Portable in some folder (of preferably some USB drive).

[karen]

thanks

You need to stop thinking so generally. You can run two A/V and A/S realtime protection software at once if you want. The problem is that the resources they use are vast and can really bog down your machine. Nothing catastrophic is going to happen if you run two at the same time. Except you should only need one A/V and one A/S app, but if you want more it's not going to damage your system.

There is no difference between a virus and spyware. They fall under a category of malware which is malicious-software. A virus can "spy" on your machine and spyware can propagate like a virus. It all depends on how the piece of software is written. Also keep in mind that malware/spyware/viruses are not different or more special than Word or Office or firefox. They are all bits of software, it's just that the authors of malware decided to make their software do bad things to your machine. The lack of difference is highlighted by the fact that some A/V programs will search and find spyware/malware on your machine.

Any piece of software that provides full-time real-time scanning or any real-time anything to the user is running in the background. The corollary is that it may be running in the foreground, not the background, but running in the foreground usually means that a window is open and you are interacting with the software. Most A/V & A/S programs offer manual or scheduled scan but you will need to check the features of your chosen program.

As for the features of Comodo and Spyware Terminator you will need to look that up yourself on those companies websites.

just want to say thanks for an answer than a non tech person can "almost" understand :)