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General discussion

AVG 8.5 FREE Conflicting anti-virus programs

by swellmela Jul 27, 2009 3:20AM PDT

This senior Newbie started downloading the AVG 8.5 from Cnet to my PC running winXP and suddenly a window opened that said basically, conflicting antivirus software is running on my computer that would cause problems with my computer if I contiue, it said to delete the other programs.
I quit the installation ommediately.
I have Adware, Spybot, bit defender, and Super Anti Spyware on my computer. Does this mean that I cannot use AVG Anti-Virus 8.5, unless I delete these other programs from my computer??? Sounds weird. thx for any help. Swellmel

Discussion is locked

3 Posts
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Bit-Defender Is An Antivirus..
by Grif Thomas Forum moderator Jul 27, 2009 3:52AM PDT

Yes, running a single antivirus is generally preferable and many antivirus programs will fail to install if another antivirus is on the machine.. Besides, since two "realtime" antivirus programs can frequently conflict with each other, it's not a real good idea to have two installed.. If you're wanting to use AVG, you'll need to remove Bit-Defender at least.

So, try uninstalling Bit-Defender first.. It should allow AVG to install..

The other items, Ad-Aware, Spybot, and SuperAntispyware are antispyware programs and don't run "realtime". Still, Spybot and Ad-Aware have been causing a few problems with program conflicts lately.

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Spybot
by special_ed1 Jul 29, 2009 1:35AM PDT

If you installed Spybot S & D with Tea Time protection, then it will be runnning in real time in the background. IMHO Avira personal antivirus is a leaner and more efficient free alternative to AVG which I found somewhat cumbersome

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AV -ANTI SPYWARE software
by Phil Crase Jul 29, 2009 11:43PM PDT

Sounds as if you have several conflicts going and you may have some more in future. Get rid of the prior loads of Spybot/Bit defender and any other freebies you have loaded. You WILL get by, for a while with the AVG free download, until spyware (and other items) start getting to you, then the dance may start again. I deal with this sort of thing on a daily basis and I do like the AVG SUITE,for general use but it is NOT free, it does however include anti spyware, which is quite important. It is better, in my opinion, to bite the bullet and purchase the software on disk so that IF there is an issue you can reinstall without the gnashing of teeth and yanking of hair, I see it every day and the cost of resurrecting a badly contaminated system is generally way more than just buying some functional software.

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