Anti Spyware Recommedations

[buttsie]

Originally Posted by jose matos

Buttsie , if you had been using Sandboxie at the time you got infected, you ll
be ok now because when you delete the sandbox after surfing that nasty
would have been gone, never making any permanent changes to your system.
So get your machine clean and try sandboxie.
Jose

At the time i totally forgot the sandbox through old entrenched bad habits returning and went straight online via the browser instead of run sandboxed - run web browser/run any program for a different browser....you get what you deserve I guess when your brains in neutral like mine was...lol

Anyone thinking of using sandboxie should probably read the link below as it does have some things that might be an issue and there are other alternatives that might better suit depending on how you use your computer.

Best Free Browser Protection Utility
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best...on-utility.htm

[Billiwog]

Originally Posted by the real McCoy

I don't have any antispyware programs. I have a turned off antivirus program somewhere and I update the virus definitions each Christmas. Ho, ho /trm

I don't care much for the Win/Mac wars, and don't mean to single you out, the real McCoy, but if Mac users want to be a part of the internet community they should be considerate of the rest of the community:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Mallon

http://www.itwire.com/content/view/3864/0/

Originally Posted by buttsie

I'd recommend using the program Hijack This...just heed the warnings...never actually use it to remove things without posting for help on the spyware forums.

I agree that HijackThis should be used with caution, but anyone can safely generate a log file with it and run the log through a site such as the following to get a quick automatic analysis (follow up with expert consultation if anything is found and you are unsure of HijackThis usage):
HijackThis.de Security.


I'll add WinPatrol to the 'recommended' list (free, but a paid upgrade is available). It "takes a snapshot of your critical system resources, then alerts you to any changes that occur without your knowledge." Similar to Spybot S&D's teatimer, but many regard WinPatrol as lighter on system resources.
WinPatrol download link.

[Sharu]

Before it goes too deep in ot, I don t care bout this win/mac thing, like I don t care, if someone prefers fish or meat, rock or classic, farting in his livingroom or toilett.
All I wanted to say, is, that a lot of mac users think they are save, but your post showed the reality.

[the real McCoy]

Alright, apologies to those offended by my previous post. I made a small change to it.

Originally Posted by Billiwog

I don't care much for the Win/Mac wars, and don't mean to single you out, the real McCoy, but if Mac users want to be a part of the internet community they should be considerate of the rest of the community:

I don't care much for the MAC vs Microsoft war either. I believe people should use the platform that best suits their needs. My needs are probably modest, I surf and mainly downloads/uploads images. I write one or maybe 2 email's a week. I am lazy and want a carefree Operating System (OS). For this I use Unix/Linux.

I simply wanted to point out that there are alternatives, which will save users much grief and time. Not at once, but in the long run.

Thanks for the links, read them both, and think I see your point. Maybe I should be called 'Mary McCoy' from now.
I chose not to comment further on how malware is spread, because this post is already long enough and that subject is slightly off topic.

Occasionally friends or colleagues ask me for help with their Microsoft systems. When I hunt down malware on these various Microsoft platforms I use Cook-book-style-recipes. This usually means running programs in certain order to obtain a clean computer.

Sites that I found generally helpful:
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/forumdisplay.php
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/

There are a number of good programs already mentioned in this thread.
I have used/recommend:
Spybot Search and Destroy
Ad-Aware
Super Anti-Spyware
Malwarebytes

(I also agree that HijackThis should be used with caution.)

Yes, these programs can be used standalone, but I prefer to follow the
Cook-book.

However the first step is always to make backups/copies of the stuff that you cannot live without. Here is a link how to backup your email's.
http://www.pchell.com/support/backupoe.shtml

Cheers,
/trm

[Billiwog]

Originally Posted by the real McCoy

I don't care much for the MAC vs Microsoft war either.

What a good-natured response, trm. I'm glad, because in that flame war I'd have at least one disadvantage:

I don't like Micro$oft...

so I'm not motivated to defend them too much. I use WinXP because it runs the software that I need, and expect to be dual booting with Linux within the next year and keeping Windows mostly offline.

I'll 'second' the sites that you mentioned. MajorGeeks is my first stop when I get online, and their Malware Removal Guide is quite popular.

Originally Posted by the real McCoy

Humour does not transfer well over the Internet.

Too true. I'm always concerned that I've gone too far, especially when dealing with Senior Members!

Back on topic:

Javacool's SpywareBlaster is free and definitely worth using. It's not a scanner; in part, it blocks known 'bad sites'. "There is no running process - and no CPU and memory usage either. All you have to do is remember to update SpywareBlaster once a week, and enable the latest protection."

[dohupa]

Originally Posted by Oswald

What spyware would you recommend? I've read that Spyware Search & Destroy does have some problems and Spy Blaster in unreliable. I did have Webroot Sypsweeper but it's heavy on resources and made my computer run very slowly.

No need for a separate product; if you choose a decent Security suite - you'll be pretty much covered for spyware too.

I know it sounds vague, but it's the truth.

[buttsie]

Originally Posted by dohupa

No need for a separate product; if you choose a decent Security suite - you'll be pretty much covered for spyware too.

I know it sounds vague, but it's the truth.

Its the best way to minmise conflicts between software on your computer

Nothing wrong with trying their suites for a free month
http://www.kasperskyanz.com.au/trials

Doing a seperate online scanner run once a month as a back-up is a smart thing

As is running something like hostsman to keep you off the known bad sites like very few other programs ie spybot,spyblaster,ie-spyad do

Just be aware there are a lot of sites with good material that you wont be able to access if you use this program mainly because not everyone out there is sharing because they have your best interests at heart

http://freewarewiki.com/HostsMan

[Oswald]

Originally Posted by Oswald

I'm giving this a go, so far so good.

http://download.cnet.com/SuperAntiSp...-10523889.html

I've had to uninstall this. It was a resource hog and was making my system run very slowly - especially on this site.

Also, I think there was a conflict between it and my Firefox browser. I've had to unistall and then reinstall Firefox. Everything seems to be working better now after this.

[blatt]

Excellent thread Im a total techno-lameo and dont really know more than how to turn a pc on and off etc.But many thanks to everyone who took the trouble to write and give links. Me i just use bit defender total security . Which im sure means i have all the protection of a wet plaster right Used to use spy doctor with anti virus but after a bit of hassle with their online people i got the hump and canceled. Couldn't go with norton since everyone i spoke to about it made the sign of the cross and warned me off. Looked at the reviews and bd seemed to be a good all rounder. Had it five months now and no problems so far .At least none that my security has discovered anyway. Does seem to update an awful lot which slows my computor way down though so i have turned the automatic update off. Apart from that so far so so

[sirrick]

I use ADVAST. It updates daily