Raymond Chen, a veteran Microsoft employee with over 30 years of tenure, has advised Windows 11 users against installing multiple antivirus programs simultaneously. The recommendation follows his investigation into a system failure on a Windows 11 Enterprise machine, where two security tools conflicted with each other.
Chen compared running multiple antivirus solutions to hiring two separate security firms to patrol the same building. Since these programs are not designed to recognize each other, they often misidentify the other as a potential intruder. This conflict can lead to system instability and performance degradation.
The expert noted that adding software to a whitelist does not resolve these conflicts, as the tools monitor all active processes. Furthermore, third-party antivirus software often utilizes unsupported techniques, such as detouring system functions, which can cause applications to freeze or crash entirely.
