too many antivirus?

Wormey

I have been advised that avast free and windows essentials are compatible enough - but I also seem to have spybot teatimer resident - i only want to use spybot as an ad hoc spyware checker, do i need to get rid of resident for this, or should this be compatible with the programs listed above?

Wormey

microsoft security essentials, not windows essential apologies

Great Scott

From my personal experience, they are compatible. But they mostly overlap. Since you have Spybot, I'd think you would only need a single virus scanner. MSSE and Avast are largely comparable for effectiveness, so I'd pick one and go with that. If your PC is somewhat slow I'd recommend MSSE as it's less resource intensive than Avast.

TychoCelchuuu

MSE alone is your best bet.

TL DR

MSE is sufficient, and I recommend MalwareBytes over SpyBot.

Nosf

Get MSSE and run MalwareBytes if you suspect some shenanigans. Two antivirus apps just squabble and it's a hassle.

Tofystedeth

Yeah, definitely do not run two passive AVs at a time. MSE alone, and then I would agree with running MBAM when you need it over Spybot. Spybot gave me no end of trouble at my last job.