I have recently had a call for service to a computer that was suspected of virus and spyware infection.  I asked what was happening and I got the standard slow performance, can’t access certain things, email does not work.  So before I even got there I had thought the same this computer will need a cleanup.

What I found was a problem that is becoming more and more common, redundant software.  People are installing numerous antivirus and spyware programs thinking they are doing some good and protecting their computers when in reality they are making it easier for infections and they are causing their own problems by having these programs fight one another and in turn block proper computer functions.

When you have two antivirus programs running both want to do their job and keep your computer safe, so they both take action to quarantine a problem but they then start to clash and begin blocking one another thinking they are infections.  So while you think you are getting double the protection you’re not only letting the things you want to keep out in, your slowing down your computer by trapping this software in a continuous cycle of fighting one another.

So my tip of the week is to pick 1 piece of software whether it be AVG ( my personal favorite ), Norton, Symantec whatever it may be, and stick to it.  When upgrade time comes around and you want something new make sure you uninstall the old one before putting a second program on.  Either that or keep your old software up to date, out of date software is nearly as bad as no software at all.

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