 
Digital
As-Salamu Alaykum
Premium
join:2000-07-24
Mentor, OH | More than one wrench? I guess this goes to show why you have more than one tool in your toolbox.
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Read my blog. | |
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swiftymc
join:2004-02-15
Mansfield Center, CT | Top 2 I would deffinately say Ad-aware and Spyboy Search & Destroy are the top 2 anti-spyware programs.
Never had a severe problem since started using them a while back | |
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heels_fan
1.20.09 The start of Socialism
Premium
join:2003-02-07
Columbia, TN
| not so fast some of those peices of spyware that he has listed as not being cleaned by SPybot and Ad-Aware, I know for a fact are been detected and cleaned.
I use Spybot and Ad-Aware on a daily basis, sometimes 3 and for times a day.
IMHO, SPybot and Ad-Aware are the best 2 anti-spyware programs out there and there free. You wont find any novice PC user going to spend money on anti-spyware software.
does this guy work for Giant Spyware?
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I have neither the time nor inclination to explain myself to a man that rises and sleeps under the blanket of protection that I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it! | |
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join:2002-12-15
Everett, MA
clubs:
 ·Comcast
·Comcast Formerly ..
| Re: not so fast hmm shows a re director. did he hack into the system and put his picture there ?
It's all a conspiracy I tell ya, all a damn conspiracy. Ok I gotta go back into my shelter the guys in the black suits are coming.
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"It's always funny until someone gets hurt......and then it's absolutely friggin' hysterical!" | |
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| DannyZ
Gentoo Fanboy
Premium
join:2003-01-29
Erie, PA | said by heels_fan  :
does this guy work for Giant Spyware?
rofl | |
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Tsume
join:2004-02-23
Johnson City, TN
 ·ViaTalk
·Comcast
·Cox HSI
| some of those peices of spyware that he has listed as not being cleaned by SPybot and Ad-Aware, I know for a fact are been detected and cleaned.
I use Spybot and Ad-Aware on a daily basis, sometimes 3 and for times a day.
IMHO, SPybot and Ad-Aware are the best 2 anti-spyware programs out there and there free. You wont find any novice PC user going to spend money on anti-spyware software.
does this guy work for Giant Spyware? TopMoxie I know for a fact SpyBot S&D cleans, maybe he has a very different variant?
However, there is no reason to accuse him of working for Giant Spyware... I just installed the program and got it to do a full scan. It found two false positives, and no spyware. The reason for this is because I already do daily full system scans with Spybot S&D 1.3.1b, AdAwareSE, and PestPatrol. I can say that out of any spyware protection program I have used, I like Giant's interface the best. As for false positives, pestpatrol generates a ton more (20+) before I tell it to exclude the files, when I do a thorough scan.
In short, this test is an awesome reference chart with some scientific (?) errors. Props to the security forum dude who made this. | |
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Taranis
join:2001-12-06
Mount Vernon, WA
1 edit | Surprising... I'm very surprised Spybot S&D only got 40 of 134. Raised eyebrows here for how well these scanners actually work, especially the paid-for ones...
Regardless, there's no way I'm paying for an anti-spyware app unless there's 99.5% protection and/or removal rate, at the very least (and that seems unlikely now or in the future based on the inherent nature of the internet). None of those apps even come close, in contrast to their marketing claims.
Very informative article overall, but I think it's best highlight is for people not to believe the marketing hype by these companies - they're as bad, or worse, than the scumware (*gator*) companies themselves. | |
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CKY
Fuhrer
join:2002-12-12 | GIANT AntiSpyware I use GIANT AntiSpyware, and I like it a lot. I'm not surprised that it came out on top. | |
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ltwombat
join:2002-06-06
Mcallen, TX | Gator? No way How did Gator make the list? They're not spyware, just ask them...they'll tell you!!
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DW 2 Way, Version 4.2.1.10, Service Pack A3, Sat Mex 5 1250 | |
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SlickEnW
Premium
join:2003-01-21
Seattle, WA
clubs:
·Comcast
| agreed yes, all BBR members should know that you should never have to pay for spyware cleaners, unfortunatly, not everyone knows about these progs, and end up paying 30 bux for the latest version of Spysweeper :P or some other crappy prog that dosn't clean anything | |
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nick s
join:2003-11-28
Marietta, GA | File types He incorrectly labels dll files as only "files", while exe files are labeled as "files in memory." Obviously, dlls are loaded into the memory as well. | |
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FckEmBigTime
| The Bad Guys have the upper hand !!! What you should take away from this security software review is that the bad guys have the upper hand. I use three security software programs two of which I bought, and they still don't catch all the crap. In fact even with multiple security apps at best you *might* get 50-60% of the SPYWARE downloaded on your PC !
No security software is going to be able to keep up with the SPAM hackers. Until there is a secure O/S and hackers are publicly executed for their crimes, this sh*t will continue because it's Big business ! LOTS of money changes hands when a hacker writes SPAMWARE/Malware/Spyware to infect millions of PCs daily. Death is too good for these SCUMBAG Hackers, but a really painful death would be a nice start to eliminating these SCUMBAGS from the face of the Earth! | |
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staticx57
join:2002-01-24
Toms River, NJ
clubs:
| Re: The Bad Guys have the upper hand !!!
yes |
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insomniac84
join:2002-01-03
Schererville, IN | Doesn't seem right I and many others have use spybot and adware to remove all spyware. The only explanation I could think up is that whoever did this testing doesn't know what they are doing or is one sided. Possibly in the pockets of some company. | |
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unojack
@verizon.net
| Re: Doesn't seem right said by insomniac84:
The only explanation I could think up is that whoever did this testing doesn't know what they are doing or is one sided. Possibly in the pockets of some company.
LOL you're kidding right? | |
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antiphishing
Phishing Scam Terminator
Premium
join:2004-06-09
Wilkes Barre, PA
| Anti-Spyware Apps I use a combination of Emsisoft's A Squared anti-trojan software, Ad-Aware, Spybot Search and Destroy along with Mcafee virus scan. I never have any problems with spyware when using these programs with Mozilla Firefox
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Dslreports.com Forum No-Spin zone starts here.
»www.antihotmail.com
spammers_are_scumbags@antihotmail.com | |
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rnikischer
join:2002-12-28
Ottawa, IL
·magicjack.com
·Vonage
| He's Right! Good Job!! I have been using spybot and spywareblaster for well over a year now and I like them both very much. After reading his post yesterday I downloaded GIANT and tried it out. It did in fact find several problems including 1 browser hijacker and 3 keyloggers as well as several spyware cookies that the other 2 programs missed.
While I have no intentions of dumping my anti-spyware programs in favor of GIANT. I do plan on supplementing them with the new program.
Thanks for the hard work you put into this and for sharing it with all of us. KUDOS!! | |
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cork1958
Cork
join:2000-02-26
Fruitport, MI
 ·Verizon Online DSL
·Charter Pipeline
| It's rediculous! I realize that no spyware program is going to catch 100% of the stuff 100% of the time, but this is rediculous to have to have 4 or more programs installed to do what you want. As it is, I have Spybot 1.3tx, Adaware, and Pest Patrol. Also have Spywareblaster running. A person can spend more time scanning for crap than they do on the net now a days because of all the scumware out there.
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Let's make Bush/Cheney unemployed in '04! | |
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jmargel
join:2001-03-07
Northumberland, PA
| Spyware.. You people say your Anti Spyware program catches it all. How do you really know!!?? Most of this stuff works in the background, and majority of people don't even know they have any problems. Most complaints I get are 'My computer is running slow, etc..' That's when I do a check and have found on one system over 800 spyware program/files on his system (not including cookies). Thing is, you only need one piece of spyware on your system (keylogger, etc..) to cause major problems.
Don't go around saying 'Oh, my system is clean' when you truly don't have any proof of it. Run all the scanners in the world, but I can almost assure you, you are infected as long as you are connected to the internet. | |
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| jester121
join:2003-08-09
Lake Zurich, IL
 ·surpasshosting
·ViaTalk
| Re: Spyware.. said by jmargel :
Don't go around saying 'Oh, my system is clean' when you truly don't have any proof of it. Run all the scanners in the world, but I can almost assure you, you are infected as long as you are connected to the internet.
That's a bit drastic, don't you think? If you're running a quality software firewall with egress filtering you should be immediately notified if any newly installed software attempts to phone home to the mother ship. That, combined with properly configured browser security settings, is enough to keep a PC clean.
There's enough FUD out there without fanning the flames... | |
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FROSTY
Premium,MVM
join:2000-08-10
Pinson, AL
clubs:
| I still think SpySweeper is the best Eric's efforts are noteworthy and appreciated, yet I have to disagree with his test results. Show me a PC infested with over 100 distinct spyware programs, and I'll prove Spy Sweeper is the best.
I know from first hand experience SpySweeper detects and removes more spyware than SpyBot and Adware Pro combined. I've witnessed it too many times since March of this year. Many times Spybot and Adware will report the PC is clean, when Spysweeper detects at least 10 more spyware programs on the HDD or in the registry. Plus, Spysweepers UI is easy to use, and it's active shields are 10x better and easier to work with than Adware's. Sure it's a pay program, but it's worth it to me. To add to which, Webroot issued definition updates since yesterday which detects 33932 (previously some odd 31100) spyware traces, basically 2x the number Spybot detects (last time I checked). Eric should run his tests again. To each his own. 
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"When you set yourself on fire and aim for the sky, you hope to leave behind some sparks of heat and light ... Like a vapor trail." - Neil Peart 2002 | |
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Tech-2005
@pacbell.n
| Re: I still think SpySweeper is the best I would mostly have to agree with Frosty about SpySweeper since I also run SpySweeper along with Spybot, Ad-Aware SE, and Spywareblaster. This is an excellent combination of free and paid programs and I do like SpySweeper very much as it seems to be great at detecting all kinds of threats since it blocks tracking cookies, browser hijacking, and it has good real time spyware memory scanning.
If you were going to run a single program for Antispyware I might recommend SpySweeper. But if you don't mind dropping another thirty dollars I also highly recommend adding McAfee Antispyware 2005 to the mix since I have found it have some of the very best heuristics scanning and it can often detect especially evasive and dangerous keyloggers and other spyware that all of the other programs including SpySweeper completely fail to detect. | |
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Tech-2005
@pacbell.n
| Re: I still think SpySweeper is the best Regarding Spy Sweeper being a memory hog: It does seem as though Webroot is suffering from mild "NAV syndrome" regarding memory and system resource usage. However, I would still trust using Spy Sweeper and NAV 2003 (or another more efficient AV program) in combination rather than running the stand alone version of NAV 2004 or 2005 with their questionable and mostly ineffective spyware detection schemes.
I noticed more of the memory hungry "NAV syndrome" in version 3.x of Spy Sweeper vs. version 2.6 . That is why on slower systems or ones with CPUs running under 1.5 Ghz or with only than 512MB RAM or less I tend to prefer to run McAfee Antispyware 2005 as a "real time" spyware scanner and I disable Spy Sweeper's real time memory scanning. I enable Sweeper's other real time protections like anti-hijack for the browser, tracking cookie blocking, etc. which are the areas that McAfee AS is lacking. I simply schedule weekly full system scans with Spy Sweeper so that its definitions do their detection work.
I actually have run both McAfee and Spy Sweeper's real time memory scanning at the same time but if you run any other memory intensive programs in the background it can promote random system instabilities and therefore I would only recommend this for much faster machines above 2.4 Ghz and with at least 1GB RAM. | |
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ImaGuest
@verizon.ne
| Spybot has been downhill AdAware was the company to beat before Spybot, but Spybot quickly converted me.
After using it almost exclusively (along with hijackthis and various registry/startup editors) I tried a new version of AdAware, and found it to be more thorough than Spybot.
Spysweeper, in my limited experience, also seemed a tad more thorough.
I've been hearing this from many other sources, too. Spybot seems to have slipped rather far. | |
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Tech-2005
@pacbell.n
| Re: Spybot has been downhill I don't think it is a case where Spybot has gone downhill as much as it is that spyware/adware/malware is more prevalent, has become more dangerous, and is more out of control in the past year.
Spybot is still an excellent freeware program for detecting and protecting against spyware threats. Spybot very customizable and is good at alerting the user of potential security weaknesses in your system. While a year ago Spybot or the Spybot and Ad-Aware combination might have been ok for protecting against spyware the truth is that this solution no longer good enough. At the very least you should be running Spybot along with Spywareblaster and another program that provides very good real-time memory scanning such as SpySweeper, McAfee AS, the full version of Ad-Aware, etc. For those who know very little about antispyware and don't have the patience manually scan and update the free programs like Spybot then Spy Sweeper is by far the easiest and most effective single program to use. I also highly recommend the latest Ad-Aware SE (paid version) with real time scanning.
You should also run a decent software firewall like ZoneAlarm Pro 4.5x or 5.1x which has privacy controls that allow you to block mobile code (like active x) from running as you view various web sites. ZAP also allows you to specifically customize your firewall to allow any combination of mobile code, cookies, ads, etc. from trusted sites so that you do not have to give up your browser's full functionality for web sites you frequently visit.
If you don't want to pay for or use ZAP then you could also try tinkering with your Windows XP SP2 firewall and IE 6 internet settings to achieve similar privacy control protection but in the long run using ZAP is easier and more effective. | |
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Ranking Anti-Spyware Apps
Re: I still think SpySweeper is the best