An antivirus software is a tool to prevent and save the PC from unwanted cyber attacks. Some PC users believe that installing more than one antivirus software program designed by different producers on to their systems will enhance the protection of their PC as well as safeguard the data held by the system from several cyber threats out there. These are those users that strongly believe in the proverb that ‘four eyes see more than two’.

When several antivirus software programs are functioning on a single system, it may result in a disruption between the resources of the system. Every antivirus software program that is installed on to the system tries to gain control over several operations such as writing files, network connection establishment, etc., thus resulting into a dysfunction with the Windows operations that get in their way. The consequences of such dysfunctionality may be different. Sometimes it may even result in slowing down the performance of the system, thus rendering it completely inoperable and even affecting the functioning of the antivirus software programs of the system; which, in the end, is not a good scenario.

Many a time, when the users complain that the systems are performing slower, they generally happen to blame a particular product. However, when a thorough examination is conducted, it is concluded that majority of these users have installed several antivirus software programs on to the system which clash with each other’s functionality. Therefore, users are advised to let go of the antivirus software programs and keep only the one whose legitimate license the user has paid for.

When one antivirus software program is installed on to a system, the antivirus software program will require to use all the resources of the system so as to carry out its task of system protection efficiently. The antivirus software program will keep a check on all the potential means of entry for a virus into the system. An antivirus program will conduct real-time scanning at fixed durations to protect the system from malware or any other viruses. While scanning, the antivirus software program will monitor and check the activities that are being conducted on a particular file so as to determine whether these activities are being carried out by a potential virus. This task can be conducted easily without any obstruction when just a single antivirus is installed on to the system to provide it protection from several cyber threats. However, when there is more than one antivirus software program installed on to the system, the real-time scanning of each potential entry point consumes a lot of memory. As a result, the user of the system will be left with a system that has got reduced memory due to continuous scanning which will eventually deteriorate the performance of the system.

It’s not just the performance of the system that is compromised, it is also the functioning of the multiple antivirus software programs installed on the system. Each clash with the other functions of different software in the course of protecting the system.

The main function of an antivirus software program installed into a system is to protect the system from the virus. It may sound good on paper and it might seem that having two or more antivirus software programs installed into the system will provide extra protection. But the truth is, it may affect the functionality of the system.