Negative Effects of Antivirus Software

One of the most annoying problems that a computer user can have is the proliferation of viruses in the computer system. The effects of these viruses vary from simple modifications in the way you're using your computer like disabling certain functions and adding annoying pop-up windows while browsing the internet to more destructive effects such as disabling your operating system or removing important files. One of the most common, and arguably the best, ways to prevent computer virus infection is to install antivirus software protection. However, there are also some side effects that may occur if you have them in your system.

First and foremost, most of these antivirus software programs are running in the background which means that even if you're playing video games or watching movies, they protect your computer in real-time. With that functionality, they use up your computer's resources. They use a bit of your memory and in rare cases can even hog a huge chunk.

It can also affect the way you browse the internet since a lot of antivirus software are designed to protect you while surfing or downloading files. I'm not sure if you've experience it before but a couple of years ago, I had Norton Antivirus and it frequently used up my resources to the point that my computer froze lots of times. I haven't tried newer versions but it probably has been addressed.

With that said, anti-virus software can interfere in the resource management of your system. If you run an application that requires a significant amount of computer resource, there's a chance it might not run efficiently and may slow down or freeze at some point. Examples of these are 3D intensive video games, graphics application software such as a 3D modeling software or a video editing program.

This will become much more of a problem if you have an old computer. You'll most likely notice that everything slows down while an antivirus is running. It will limit your use of other programs that are highly dependent on computer resources.

There are also cases when it can interfere with your files. If you've been using antivirus software for quite some time now, you probably have experienced opening files that are reported by your antivirus software to have been infected but actually isn't. It's like your antivirus suspects that there is a virus and deletes or quarantines that file rendering it inaccessible. This will depend on your antivirus software though and some may or may not be as sensitive compared to the others.

With hundreds of thousands of viruses roaming around, there's a good chance that your antivirus software can't handle them all. You'd probably encounter a virus or spyware that your antivirus software can't handle finding yourself shelling out extra bucks to buy another software just to be able to clean the new virus. Tough luck if you encounter different viruses that need different antivirus software programs to remove. You'll be spending excessively.

Well, these are problems that I have personally experienced and it may or may not happen to you or you may have experienced other problems that resulted from the use of antivirus software. The most important thing is that you understand how your antivirus works. Make sure you have an idea how much computer resource it uses, how it detects virus and how it interacts with your files and make sure it does its job and does not interfere too much while using your computer. Don't just buy any antivirus software. Look around for feedback from those who've already used it and see if there are any problems that may arise from its use.