Regularly, we receive questions at P3C Technologies that we know could help the broader audience and we choose to publish these questions in our mailbag!  This one comes from a co-worker of mine that likes to talk shop on technical support questions.

Should I run more than one security suite on my computer?

The simple answer is “No”… but let me get into why you might run more than one piece of security software in a bit.

What you should not do and why:

You should NOT run multiple anti-virus, firewall, or anti-spyware / anti-malware products: Doing this prevents your computer from operating efficiently.  Multiple anti-virus products will slow your computer to a crawl, and multiple firewalls will just give you a headache when you try to configure them to allow your computer to do something on the Internet.

What does this mean?

It means that if you are running multiple or all of the software suites listed below on your computer at the same time, you should reconsider your security strategy for your computer.  Contact us if you need help.

  • Norton Antivirus / Norton 360 / Norton Internet Security
  • McAfee
  • Trend-Micro PC Chillin’
  • AVG Free / AVG
  • Microsoft Security Essentials
  • Other overall security suites that contain ant-ivirus / anti-malware / firewall combined

So what is ok for me to do?

P3C Technologies suggests a combined security strategy at a reasonable price to you (free products that do not overburden your computer).  We recommend you run an  anti-virus product, firewall (the one built-into Windows is ok), as well as an anti-malware product.  See P3C Recommends for the software and services we recommend.  And remember, contact us to setup an appointment if you are unsure about the security strategy for your computer.  This is an important step to make sure you are being smart about the use of your computer on the Internet.