Is it OK to use more than one antivirus?

Only computer users know the word "virus". In this case, a "virus" is essentially a malicious computer program that enters a user's computer without their knowledge and causes damage. As computers have become more modern and powerful over time, so have viruses.

Antivirus software is designed to protect against this malware. Antivirus is also a type of program that contains instructions about viruses. As a result, antiviruses find and disable viruses - at least they try to.

Microsoft's Windows operating system is one of the most vulnerable platforms for virus attacks due to the large number of users. Microsoft has developed its own antivirus and security tool "Windows Security Essentials" for its Windows operating system. Although it doesn't work very well, they provide an antivirus called Windows Defender by default for Windows 10. It is quite modern and efficient. In addition, various companies have come up with free and paid antivirus for Windows PC.

Is it good or bad to use multiple antiviruses?

Because antivirus programs protect against malware (malicious software) or viruses, many new computer users think that using more than one antivirus can provide 100% computer protection. But that's not the case. In many cases, it can backfire.

If you are using genuine Windows, Windows Defender will protect you well. By regularly updating the virus definitions in Windows Defender, you can keep your computer completely safe. Since the default Windows antivirus is currently strong enough, many experts believe that there is no need to use one or more third-party antiviruses.

If you use more than one antivirus, you may face the following problems.

They may think of each other as 'viruses'

Antivirus monitors your computer, so they constantly monitor your system information. Because these antivirus programs work to detect and destroy viruses, they can make each other behave like viruses.

In this case, one of your antiviruses may consider the other antivirus to be a "virus" and attack each other. As a result, you will receive repeated notifications and disrupt the normal operation of your computer. Sometimes it can cause the computer to hang badly, which is very embarrassing.

It can mess with the virus unnecessarily

Let's say you use two antivirus applications. Another problem that can arise in this case is that if a virus enters the PC, both antiviruses will detect it. Well, so far so good! But the concern is that if one antivirus disables this virus first, the other antivirus won't recognize it immediately. It will assume that the previously detected virus is still there and display a warning.

2^nd anti-virus program fails even to scan it again and remove the virus because it can't find any trace of the virus that just arrived in its database and can't do anything about it! This can also create an unstable situation on the PC.

It will slow down your computer's performance

If nothing else, since antivirus programs run constantly, they will at least take up quite a bit of your PC's RAM. It also increases CPU usage. As a result, your computer will seem slower than usual. In addition, the laptop drains quickly.

What to do for Windows 10 users

Windows 10 is Microsoft's most advanced operating system yet, which includes powerful anti-virus features. As I mentioned before, updating Windows Defender regularly will keep you safe without installing additional (even premium) antivirus programs.

But it cannot be denied that there are many paid third-party antiviruses that offer more features than Windows Defender.

So if you want to use any other antivirus software alongside Windows Defender, you need to disable some features of Windows Defender. However, Windows automatically disables Windows Defender/Windows Security when the 2nd antivirus is activated. That way it won't conflict with your 2nd antivirus.

Simply put, using more than one antivirus program at the same time is not recommended. Microsoft itself does not support the use of more than one antivirus program at the same time. Various anti-virus companies like Kaspersky, Symantec have also expressed a negative opinion on using multiple anti-viruses at the same time.

Therefore, you should not use more than one antivirus software at the same time.