Would it be safe to run avast free and Norton 360 side by side if I didn’t install any of the shields for avast? I only want avast to be a secondary line of defense. I dont want to uninstall Norton as you tell me to do. I just want it for scans. As Norton doesn’t allow scans of individual files, avast would be handy. I don’t think it would interfere or crash as you say and everyone else says, because there wouldn’t be anything running at the same time as in shields. However I could be wrong, but I am here asking.
Short answer is no.
A resident AV even if you disable shields still has the underlying drivers running.
Under normal circumstances running a 2nd resident AV with avast is a no, no, as they are likely to conflict as they try to do the same job.
When that 2nd AV is Norton, I would say it is even worse.
+1000% Absolutely Agree ???
As Norton doesn't allow scans of individual files, avast would be handy.hmm are you sure?.......well why not upload and test file(s) at www.virustotal.com then they are tested with 40+ malware scanners ;)
See http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/260844/two-anti-virus/#entry1441638
To be perfectly honest avast outperforms Norton in every test I’ve ever seen. 8)