Anti-spyware software update - 'big boys'

We all know the 'usual suspects' for anti-spyware software (Spyware Blaster, Ad-Aware, Spybot, etc).

Anyway - check the real 'big-boy' list:

http://anti-spyware-review.toptenreviews.com/spy-sweeper-review.html


Spy Sweeper's name constantly keeps cropping up as the most potent anti-spyware software.

Get the free trial:

http://www.webroot.com/shoppingcart/tryme.php?bjpc=64011&vcode=DT02&WRSID=385a4b5f5ee40c08e64c35194bc8d312


I am running it now - it is already finding stuff.

Just remove P2P software from your computer and setup a hosts file, then sit back and relax as you're done with the whole problem.

What's a hosts file?

http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

Hey nice..

LOL at this one... Trojan Horse Found : trojan_backdoor_retro64 - Looks like Mike's loader has been up to naughty things.

Ps. I forgot to mention - be cautious of what they find. Some of the entries that Spy Sweeper found were false alarms.

I'd be interested to see what happens when later in the month people start installing the computer game Oblivion onto their computers. If the exe is called 'Oblivion.exe' - Spy Sweeper might burst its nappy and throw the toys of of the cot.

i don't use spyware any more, i think a firewall is enough. anyone else agree?

Absolutely not.

A firewall will prevent unrequested external connections from breaking through to your computer (or unauthorized programs on your system from talking to the internet), but it will do absolutely nothing to prevent IE from launching questionable ActiveX components while you're browsing. your firewall will just see that IE is downloading a file, but will do nothing to prevent that since IE is a 'allowed' to access the internet.

The spyware program can still install itself on your system, and gobble up resources. It may be crippled if it is not allowed to download additional components or send out information, but that doesn't keep it from running in the first place...

A firewall is better than not running one, but don't let it give you a false sense of security. You can still end up with a ton of programs running in the background that slow your computer's speed to a crawl, even if they may not be able to download the images to throw pop-up ads at you.

In order not to catch an STD you should use a 'sheeth'. If the partner is clean it's a waste of a £1 coin. The same applies to computer security, if you do dirty things then you should wear an anorak.

Is ad-aware any good?

It's decent, I run Ad-aware, Spy-bot, & Microsoft Anti-Spyware here, with Spy-bot being my app of choice for the matter.

Why on EARTH would you run 4 ad-tracking programs.. your PC must be crawling :S

@Matt: Unlike most anti-virus machines, the majority of spyware cleaners are not memory resident, they're just used to mop up the mess afterwards... So having several installed won't affect normal computer operation.

Really? I always thought they'd eat up the task-bar.

Cheers for the link Puki.

Yeh, just to clarify for people.

Running multiple anti-spyware/malware stuff is handy. The reason being I find that some applications spot things that others do not - so, I cannot state that there is one that is clearly better then the others.

It is all down to which one is updated first.

My advice to everyone is also to watch what new processes they create - this enables you to completley shut them down via Task Manager when you want to play games etc.

In fact, make it common practice to keep tabs on what is running as a process in Task Manager.

Also, I forgot to mention 'WinPatrol' in my first post - a handy little program to run.

"Becky Rose" is not wrong with her opinion - it is just some people will err on the side of caution and make sure they are protected.

The spyware detection programs all use slightly different methods and some are more effective in some areas than others. So it's a good idea to use more than one.

However be warned of using obscure company malware detection/removal tools, such as the infamous Spyware Nuker that, although it removes competitors' malware from a system, carried a hefty payload of it's own adware.

I just ran the Trial version of Spy Sweeper, and thankfully didnt find any problems. Currently, I use Trend Micro's Anti Spyware, run MS Malicious Software Removal thing once a month and run Lavaware's AdAware and Spybot S&D regularly. Together with HijackThis, Grisoft's AVG 7, Software Shelf's DLLShow and Sygate Firewall, I'm fairly confident in my security, though complacency is never a good thing!

I've regressed to only using MS Antispyware. It asks for permissions to install and run a fair bit of stuff as they try to install themselves, so I don't even really need to scan anymore. Still do though.

I owned webroot a few years ago. Then the big free boys came out and I cheaped out. Webroot found over 100 bad things, and parts of bad things! EMCO how could you have dissapointed me so???