Avast + Windows Defender ?

[Pindakaas]

Is it possible to run those two alongside ?

and is it more safe together , or can avast do it alone ?

2 security programs not very wise is it ?

[CraigB]

Yes you can run the two together but defender isnt very good so MBAM Pro is what most people here run with avast but by all means if you dont wish to pay for the pro use defender in realtime and install MBAM free to run a weekly scan with.

[Pindakaas]

I use Avast and Online Armor , so i think im alright without windows defender lol

[YoKenny]

Windows Defender works well with avast!

[Coccinelle]

But is better to turn it Off on install Avast.

[YoKenny]

But is better to turn it Off on install Avast.

I had no problem with Windows Defender On when installing avast!.

[Asyn]

But is better to turn it Off on install Avast.

I had no problem with Windows Defender On when installing avast!.

You're right, Kenny. There are no problems.
Still, WD is quite useless together with avast.
asyn

[YoKenny]

But is better to turn it Off on install Avast.

I had no problem with Windows Defender On when installing avast!.

You're right, Kenny. There are no problems.
Still, WD is quite useless together with avast.
asyn

On XP that's true however you are on XP and do not know how Windows Defender works! 

[Para-Noid]

For what its worth, I use both WD and avast w/o any trouble. I think with AIS the firewall is better than WD.

[MAG]

For what its worth, I use both WD and avast w/o any trouble. I think with AIS the firewall is better than WD.

Windows Defender isn't a firewall, it's antispyware.

[Para-Noid]

For what its worth, I use both WD and avast w/o any trouble. I think with AIS the firewall is better than WD.

Windows Defender isn't a firewall, it's antispyware.

Whoops...my bad. Try this...I have both the firewall in vista and AIS.

[justinlee]

My advice would be to uninstall Defender and install MBAM. It's much better! I found regardless of what threats you have on your pc Defender will always just give a clean scan result. Waste of time.

[norel]

Since Avast's improvements to the Behavior Shield I've found Defender to be less critical, but I still use it as part of a layered defense. It hasn't interfered with Avast on Vista, and it's pretty good at spotting those pesky programs that want to secretly add stuff to startup.

[scythe944]

I've installed Windows Defender alongside of Avast 4.8 via Group Policy at one of my smaller client locations.

My observations are as follows:

It slows older (especially Win XP) machines down a bit, by using precious resources such as RAM and CPU cycles.  It hasn't found anything bad except for VNC and other remote access technologies.

So for now, it seems pretty useless to use them side by side in Windows XP environments, but Win Vista/7 machines might see some obvious gain from using them both.  I only say that because any machine that can run Vista or 7 usually has enough horsepower to not be effected by the extra memory or CPU cycles that WD tends to steal away from it.

If you have older machines, I'd say to just leave Avast alone and keep WD away from it.

I'm thinking about removing WD from Group policy shortly.

Edit: Oh, and I currently believe that so far, WD hasn't found anything worth removing, so Avast is more than enough protection.  Why waste CPU and memory when something else can find the same thing?

[YoKenny]

It slows older (especially Win XP) machines down a bit, by using precious resources such as RAM and CPU cycles.  It hasn't found anything bad except for VNC and other remote access technologies.

So for now, it seems pretty useless to use them side by side in Windows XP environments, but Win Vista/7 machines might see some obvious gain from using them both.  I only say that because any machine that can run Vista or 7 usually has enough horsepower to not be effected by the extra memory or CPU cycles that WD tends to steal away from it.

If you have older machines, I'd say to just leave Avast alone and keep WD away from it.

I'm thinking about removing WD from Group policy shortly.

Edit: Oh, and I currently believe that so far, WD hasn't found anything worth removing, so Avast is more than enough protection.  Why waste CPU and memory when something else can find the same thing?

WD is not necesary on XP systems!
WD on Vista and Windows 7 systems does offer an additional layer of protection.