So I guess that there is probably not much of a difference making no
application any more efficient than any other and a combo can't hurt.
Wouldn't the real bottom line be the prevention of any file to phone home
and to illuminate any tracking cookies? Put this way it doesn't seem that
complicated. Shouldn't a scan be done while surfing? If I have spyware or
tracking software installed at first then my system is already compromised
until it is removed. Once a week is not enough if I understand this
correctly?
Thanks for any comments.
Combos are a good idea when trying to protect against intrusions that
evolve so quickly. There is a time lapse between discovery, updating to add
protection and then distributing that update to users. One week software
package A gets the fix delivered a few days before package B. The next
week, package B is ahead of the game. For this reason, some folks use
multiple antivirus programs. Running auto-protect from one. Then unloading
the program and manually running a scan with another.
The flip side of this is being too paranoid - running too many programs and
managing them in a way that they fight each other or cause errors on the
system. This can be frustrating, not effective and could endanger your
system. How many programs should be used and how often? One needs to find
their own comfort zone.
Consistency is another important factor. For example: I always update my
programs and scan my systems on Saturday mornings. I also manually scan
downloaded files before opening or running them. I'm never online without a
firewall in place. Even if I don't perform an additional scan in between, I
know that this "Saturday checkup" will occur.
You asked whether you should scan while browsing. You could but it's not
terribly convenient. If you do it an hour later or a few days later or at
least once a week, that will work too. However, if you have reason to
suspect that "something" happened during your computing or browsing session
- don't hesitate to scan the system immediately.