Darth Groovy Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 Hey guys, after my dad's computer finally bit the big one, he had to have his hard drive replaced. The one thing that crashed his compy was spyware that the Circuit City people could NOT remove. I need to know what is the BEST spyware program available to the public. I don't care if it is free, or subcrition based....this question is basically for my dad. Price is no object....only protection. Thanks, Grooves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nalukai Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 i use adaware SE and spybot in conjunction which are both free and it picks up everything ..... even in the registries. maybe black ice??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TiE23 Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 I always thought Norton was the best, get that, and make sure it has Spyware protection, cause a new version just came out with it. TiE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coupes. Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 I also use both AdAware and Spybot S&D. It should be enough to keep a computer safe from spyware if updated and used on a regular basis. The bigger problem usually only appear if you computer has been infected by virii or spyware and wasn't treated adequately. In that case it's possible that neither AdAware nor Spybot would be able to remove the "tougher" ones. You might have to use software like Hijack this to remove them one by one. However, if you even encounter a spyware named CoolWebSearch you'll need a software called cwshredder to take care of it as it is probably one of the nastiest spyware. The software was made specifically to remove this spyware, this shows you how nasty it is Hope this helps a little... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joetheeskimo Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 1. Giant Microsoft AntiSpyware (Damn MS bought Giant) 2. Spybot: S&D Both are free. (First one kinda sucks to download though, because you have to scramble around with a flashlight to find the Window product key on your computer tower. ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Torque Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 I just got the new version of eTrust PestPatrol 2005 also in conjunction with eTrust EZ Antivirus. I used to use AdAware but I found that using eTrust programs are faster, more efficient, and are easier to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorden Darkblade Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 Adaware SE and Spybot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth333 Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 I do pretty much what coupes. said. I am also using WinPatrol. It alerts me whenever something wants to install on my computer plus it gives me detailed reports on what programs are running in my computer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukeskywalker1 Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 I use SpySweeper, and M$ anti-spyware. Microsofts spyware scanner is still in beta, so its free, untill... july 31 I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IG-64 Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 You mean anti-spyware program? I use spy sweeper, spybot S&D, and adaware, all of them together usually clean the comp pretty nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Torque Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 Originally posted by lukeskywalker1 Microsofts spyware scanner is still in beta, so its free, untill... july 31 I think. My dad's good friend and business client is the manager of the anti-virus department of Microsoft so we got the beta version a long time before it was released. I just haven't had to put it on my comp. And yes, its July 31st Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukeskywalker1 Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 Well, Microsofts picked up one spyware regestry option that I no other one had found before, so it was worth it, even if it is only temporary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[RAA]-=Chi3f=- Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 Like mentioned above; SBSAD and adaware, plus others I grabbed. Gotta watch out for non-recommended spyware progs, though. Some trial versions will make up files that aren't harmful (if anything) and ask you to buy the full version to remove it. Also, the best thing I've ever used is Foxfire. Foxfire - IE = no popups, spam, adware, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Torque Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 Originally posted by [RAA]-=Chi3f=- Foxfire - IE = no popups, spam, adware, etc. Do you mean Mozilla Firefox? If you do then the browser is pretty good. I dont really mind internet explorer because I have a program that eliminates pop-ups and detects unwanted viruses and trojans. I do use Firefox though because it is pretty easy to navigate in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edlib Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 My protection regimen: ALL the latest Windows and Office security updates. The Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer 2.0 ( http://www.majorgeeks.com/Microsoft_Baseline_Security_Analyzer_d4105.html ) should tell you what you need if you don't have it. Spybot Search & Destroy Microsoft Anti-Spyware SpywareBlaster WinPatrol (Enable Real-Time Protection on at least one, if not all of the above) Ad-Aware Noton Anti-Virus Zone Alarm (plus a hardware firewall built into my router) Firefox (or, if you have to use IE, then get WebWasher) Also, go to the http://www.grc.com/default.htm website to download and run all the various protection applets he has there. That should be a good start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toms Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 I vote for claria as best spyware... it must be. MS just downgraded it's threat rating in MS anti-spyware... not at all related to the rumours they are about to buy them. apparently. I think its all been covered. I use Ad-aware, Spybot S&D every so often. Also spywareblaster. AVG for antivirus and kerio personal firewall 2.15 (not the new version) for firewall. HijackThis and cwsshredder are well recommended for specific problems. Firefox unfortunately is no longer as secure as it was (due to its increased popularity making it a target) but its still pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrotoy7 Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 Grooves, spyware can crash your system, but it cant destroy a HDD man, c'mon ! If the HDD was broke, then it was broke... *stabs Circuit City bumpkins* anyways, these are musts to keep your Old Mans compy clean..... note, alot of the JUNK out there comes from "questionable sites", so where has your old man been surfin exactly !!! eg. If he was just checkin CNN.com and writing emails the likelihood of him snaring nasty trojan/hijackers drops *dramatically* this is what you will need : *Good AV proggie, and active definitions subscription. Mcafee or Norton Internet Security..cant go wrong with either. Nb. as exciting and trendy as firefox is, neither major internet security proggie integrates well with it Hopefully they'll fix that next year *ad aware - personal SE is free and updates definitions free *spybot Search and Destroy - also free and updates definitions free. and please DONT forget, as so many people seem to... a REGISTRY SCANNER ! TweakNow registry cleaner is a good free one. If you want a nice pay one, then Registry Mechanic is your best bet, awesome deep scan mode which pulls up crud you thought you got rid of ages ago. I'd also teach the old man how to do regular 'disk cleanups' and defrags did I hear someone mention MS AntiSpyware.... you're jokin right it finds hits that arent there to make you feel its freakin useful... It did it on a HDD I had that was one hour old and had just been installed.... laughed my damn backside off... *stabs MS* @Edlib, thats alot of security measures you seem to have goin, whatcha got on your HDD ?? Plans for a time machine or somethin !!!! mtfbwya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toms Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 I've never had any luck with registry cleaners, and i've tried several of them over the years. They never seemed to improve anything, and often seemed to make things worse. Maybe i've just had bad luck with them though.. PS/ the BEST way to stop spyware is to disable ActiveX in IE, and if possible disable javascript and flash as well. Or get javascript/flash authoriser extensions for firefox. This might be too annoying and stop you using some sites though. That and reading EULAs, but that is even more annoying... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Sitherino Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 Originally posted by lukeskywalker1 Well, Microsofts picked up one spyware regestry option that I no other one had found before, so it was worth it, even if it is only temporary. Because it put it there. MS Anti-Spyware = bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edlib Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 Originally posted by Astrotoy7 @Edlib, thats alot of security measures you seem to have goin, whatcha got on your HDD ?? Plans for a time machine or somethin !!!! No, nothing so dramatic. I do have a few files of music CDs I've recorded and/or mastered, plus the artwork that I designed to go with them, and my backup habits are a bit spotty at best, so I tend to go a bit overboard. I keep Spybot running in the background, and then do periodic checks with the others for confirmation/ second opinion. I usually come up clean these days. I've never had a crippling virus infection or a spyware infestation, and I just want to keep it that way. But I often get called on to fix the PCs of clueless co-workers and thier families, and I always burn a CD with the install files of all those programs I listed before on it before I go in (with the exception of AVG anti-virus instead of Norton.) I tend to slather on the security stuff much heavier on someone known to already had a problem that I've had to come in and salvage than I would for myself or someone I trusted. The MS Anti-Spyware is just another tool. I don't put any more or less trust in it than I do any of the others. I always double check any file any of them tell me to delete before diving in. (Actually, I'm not even sure it has ever found anything on my system...) I don't remember it getting so villified before Microsoft offered it, when it was Giant. Besides, even Spybot has false positives... a lot of them in my experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toms Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 I haven't tried MS-antispyware... but from the screenshots it seems they have made a better user interface that will work well for newbies... and if they include it as a standard upgrade (or in the next version of ie) then it will at least give SOME protection to a lot of people who otherwise would have none. The main flaw in oth this and ad-aware seems to be how it judges teh level of threat. Ad-aware seems to imply that most levels ofd threat are similar (at least until recent versions) so people would think they had 2000 spyware programmes on their pc, when infact they had 3 malicious programmes (serious) and 1997 ad-tracking cookies (not really much of an issue). they seem to have treid to fix this a bit in recent versions. MS-antispyware seems to be iffy in the other way. Ift finds a few false positives (usually p2p/open source related) and treats certain threats as non-serious that others would consider moreso. (see claria). For newbies its better than nothing though. But if, as usual with MS bundled versions of stuff, it becomes standard in most web browsers then its going to become the standard for everyone to break (like IE has become), so its probably still worth keeping the others around for the same reason its worth having firefox instead of IE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevanA4 Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 Hey guys, after my dad's computer finally bit the big one, he had to have his hard drive replaced. The one thing that crashed his compy was spyware that the Circuit City people could NOT remove. I need to know what is the BEST spyware program available to the public. I don't care if it is free, or subcrition based....this question is basically for my dad. Price is no object....only protection. Thanks, Grooves best spyware removal program is switching to Firefox other wise use multipule different ones since they all work in different ways at work we use ad-aware se Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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