which is better EWIDO, BOCLean, CounterSpy, SpySweeper

[aacm]

I need to buy one of thoses..
What is your opinion the programs..
I using now CounterSpy.. however I willing to change..
anyway I need to renew in next week..
Thanks
AACM
:dry:

[SIR****TMG]

I have all these on my pc, they are all paid programs and there great. Ewido has the most up dates out of all of them.If you read each site about the program you'll learn alot. I use deep freeze and it keep everything out.

[the Tester]

All of these programs are quality programs.
For update frequency BoClean is very active also.

I prefer BoClean.

[WSFuser]

well id split them up. ewido or boclean for trojans and counterspy or spysweeper for ad/spyware.

ewido offers good detection and its realtime monitor isnt bad. boclean doesnt have a trial, so i dont know what its like other than it lacks a full on-demand scanner.

counterspy and spysweeper are good antispyware but their realtime components arent very light. id give em a run and see which runs better on your computer.

[ASpace]

-{ Quote: "I need to buy one of thoses..
What is your opinion the programs..
I using now CounterSpy.. however I willing to change..
anyway I need to renew in next week..
Thanks
AACM
:dry:" }-

I personally would buy and use Ewido . It is light on resourses and is good at detecting malware . I would also use free stand-alone antispyware applications such as Spybot S&D and Ad-Aware se Personal

;D

[ccsito]

The recent issue of PC World has another survey on antispyware programs. The test seems limited in scope and they gave high ratings to Spy Sweeper and Spyware Doctor. Ad-Aware and Spybot was at the bottom of the list.

http://msn.pcworld.com/article/id,126818-page,1-c,securitysoftware/article.html

[Tommy]

Hard to say which is better nor not. I personal use a-squared freeware (for on demand scanning only) in combination with Jeticov2, which acts also as a HIPS and intercepts com comunication from Trojans etc., plus RegProtect from DiamondCS and a AV. This combination saved my live several times.

[trjam]

Boclean and AV active, Ewido for inactice scanning. Spy Sweeper, whom I was their biggest supporter for a year, is no better than anything else that deletes your cookies. It says it has a rootkit detector, and it may, except it doesnt detect when others do. Yep, PC MAG, Consumer Reports, and Pc World, I will be running out for new subscribtions based on your totally unprofessional and reliable reviews. :thumbd:

Perferct setup
Antivir Security Suite or NOD32, forget AOLs new buddy.
Boclean
Ewido inactive or active, take your pick
You are set.

[aacm]

Thanks all for you comments..
Very fill of information .. I would buy Ewido, BOclean.. or may be I go for free Ewido for awile and buy BoClean now, because this program doesn't give you trial . you have to buy first.

[ccsito]

According to the website, you can try BO Clean for 30 days and if you don't like it, then request a refund.

http://www.nsclean.com/boclean.html

[LoneWolf]

Bought BOClean and i am keeping it.very nice.also have ewido paid but when my year is out with them i think ill keep ewido for on demand scanning.tried counter spy a few years ago.not impressed.had spysweeper for 3 years loved it up till version 5.heard too many bad things about for to long of a time didnt want to screw up my pc so i dumped it for boclean.glad i did.

[Suggers]

-{ Quote: "Boclean and AV active, Ewido for inactice scanning." }-

I'd second this (it's my setup too), you can use the free Ewido as on-demand. I think BOClean's got better heuristics than ewido, at least Ive noticed it has with Zlobs lately; detecting most new ones as "Zlob... Trojan Variant stopped". But ewido also catches stuff that BOClean misses. But if you use the setup above they'll complement each other.

Suggers

[btman]

-{ Quote: "forget AOLs new buddy." }-

That's the DUMBEST thing I've EVER heard. Kaspersky rulez.

[Mele20]

I'd get either BoClean or Kaspersky which could be AVS which is free and then you could have both BoClean and KAV. I don't think you need both but that would really protect you and forget the others.

[QBgreen]

-{ Quote: "I need to buy one of thoses..
What is your opinion the programs..
I using now CounterSpy.. however I willing to change..
anyway I need to renew in next week..
Thanks
AACM
:dry:" }-

From my experience, BOClean has been consistent with quality in both performance and support. If I were starting fresh looking for an AT or anti-malware program, I'd buy BOClean for on-access protection, then I would download both ewido and a-squared (both free versions) as backup/on-demand anti-malware programs as well as the free version of SUPERAntiSpyware. It may look like overkill, but you'll be very well served by these programs :thumb: .

[trjam]

Actually you answered your question with the question. Ewido for backup and Boclean active are 2 great products.

[ErikAlbert]

Afaik BOClean is not a scanner, like Ewido, CounterSpy, etc ...

[trjam]

I agree, my point is use both.

[Tommy]

Sorry to jump so late into this thread.
What about A-Squared and Lavasoft? They allways seam to be to be forgotten in this kind of threads.

[trjam]

A-squared is also good, Lavasoft has a lot of FPs in their last release. Like I said, Boclean with Ewido. At least for now while Ewido has decent support and is free. If not go with Counter Spy.

[mercurie]

I have never felt the need to use anything but BoClean. So I really can not comment of the others. :-X I just do not know why I would need to switch or try anything else. Must be just me. :-\

[farmerlee]

I'd have to say spysweeper is the best for overall security but its too heavy on the resources for my likeing. My pick would be ewido, it has great detection, its light and the support is good as well.

[The Hammer]

-{ Quote: "I'd have to say spysweeper is the best for overall security but its too heavy on the resources for my likeing. My pick would be ewido, it has great detection, its light and the support is good as well." }-I have licences for both BOClean and Ewido. I am currently running Ewido as I like to run on demand scans of my system, but would say that BOClean is much lighter. I said lighter not necessarily better and support was excellent. I lack the expertise to say which of those two is better. I have no experience with Spysweeper.

[Longboard]

Heh
@Mercurie
-{ Quote: "I have never felt the need to use anything but BoClean. So I really can not comment of the others. I just do not know why I would need to switch or try anything else. Must be just me. " }-
Not just you
8)

Although just for fun ( ? I need to get out more )
I will give a scanner a run now and then or one of the new ones just to check the FPs

Regards

[tonyghaz]

i used ewido and spysweeper but spysweeper is much better.

[mrgigabyte]

boclean and nod32 have not had anything spyware since and i do scan with spywaredoctor :thumb:

[aacm]

Well thanks for your responses.. one more question anybody knows this program call SUPERSPYware, I hear is good and strong.
Thanks
AACM:shifty:

[muf]

I trust you mean SuperAntispyware. http://www.superantispyware.com/

I use it and also SuperAdblocker from the same company. SuperAntispyware is a very nice application. Easy to set up, easy to use and runs very light. The scanner is not the fastest, but it is one of the most thorough. I've noticed in the last two months it is updated pretty much every day or two. http://www.superantispyware.com/definitionupdatehistory.html It's also not very prone to false positives which is very welcome. I used to use PestPatrol and it gave out loads of FP's. You needed to be either Tech savvy or good at Googling to use PestPatrol. lol. Not so with SuperAntispyware. It's easy to use and the lack of FP's mean you are not spending nearly two hours after every scan trying to discypher it's results. Try it. I'm sure you'll like it.

muf

[mercurie]

Way back long long ago....;D After doing much research. I narrowed my Av supplement to Pest Patrol and BOClean. It was a tough decision for me at the time as it is still the case I only have so much money for PC security.

I finally picked BOClean. I do not always make the right choices, but I certainly did that time. ;)

[Seishin]

-{ Quote: "I need to buy one of thoses..
What is your opinion the programs..
I using now CounterSpy.. however I willing to change..
anyway I need to renew in next week..
Thanks
AACM
:dry:" }-

Superantispyware.

:)

[aacm]

Yes I mean Superantispyware. Yes I downloaded and It is absulety great.
Of course it took 45 minutes to go throught my HD. However is great light and easy to set up.

Mercurie... I try BOClean and it gave me a lot of trouble. I am a IT and I try everything. My system hangs and contact support and couldn't let it run properly. Don't get me wrong... the program looks good and I hear a lot of good things about it.. however in my case was different.. so that is why I was looking into other softwares.. OK :) Thanks

[mercurie]

-{ Quote: "Yes I mean Superantispyware. Yes I downloaded and It is absulety great.
Of course it took 45 minutes to go throught my HD. However is great light and easy to set up.

Mercurie... I try BOClean and it gave me a lot of trouble. I am a IT and I try everything. My system hangs and contact support and couldn't let it run properly. Don't get me wrong... the program looks good and I hear a lot of good things about it.. however in my case was different.. so that is why I was looking into other softwares.. OK :) Thanks" }-I understand if BOClean gave you trouble why you would not want it. I do not have enough knowledge of the rest to offer any help then. Well a little on EWIDO but can not offer a comparison with so little knowlege of the others. :(

[Londonbeat]

I use BOClean on an old Win 98 and an XP SP2, runs like a dream on both and has protected me many more times than my AV. :) I also use ewido/AVG on-demand, which is an excellent product for free.

[aacm]

;;;;;

[aacm]

-{ Quote: "I understand if BOClean gave you trouble why you would not want it. I do not have enough knowledge of the rest to offer any help then. Well a little on EWIDO but can not offer a comparison with so little knowlege of the others. :(" }-

No I didn't said I didn't want it
is just I can't running properly. I will love to have some expirence with it. May be some day I have the time and working with it. I will try again..
thanks..

[budfox]

AFter running DFK threat simulator...This is easy. AVG killed spydoctor, spy sweaper, and counterspy.

Dont waste your $$ on the others.

[muf]

-{ Quote: "AFter running DFK threat simulator...This is easy. AVG killed spydoctor, spy sweaper, and counterspy.

Dont waste your $$ on the others." }-


Try throwing 50,000 samples of malware at all of them and see what the results are. Judging any application on how it does against 1 or 2 samples is ridiculous. And I do mean RIDICULOUS!!!

muf

[dja2k]

Buy BOClean! and.... Why spend money when Spyware Terminator is more than enough to run active or inactive than paying for CounterSpy or Spysweeper for Spy-ware\Ad-ware. Also you don't need to install AVG Antispyware, when you can use Ewido Micro-scanner.

dja2k

[btman]

-{ Quote: "Way back long long ago....;D After doing much research. I narrowed my Av supplement to Pest Patrol and BOClean. It was a tough decision for me at the time as it is still the case I only have so much money for PC security.

I finally picked BOClean. I do not always make the right choices, but I certainly did that time. ;)" }-

AV suppliment?? BOclean is an anti-trojan I had thought. In your signature it says your av is antivir.

[budfox]

Muffy,

I will tell you what is ridiculous, the fact that Spysweeper and Spy Doc didn't catch DFK and was completely defeated by it.

Your thought process is narrow minded at best. I am sure that you are one of the ones in the PCmag camp who believe everything that they read, eventhough the writtings are based on advertising dollars.

If you want to believe the writtings then all of these are about the same...except for the fact that only one passed DFK.

BTW...have you thrown 50k samples at all of these to come to your strong opinion?

[muf]

-{ Quote: "Muffy,

I will tell you what is ridiculous, the fact that Spysweeper and Spy Doc didn't catch DFK and was completely defeated by it.

Your thought process is narrow minded at best. I am sure that you are one of the ones in the PCmag camp who believe everything that they read, eventhough the writtings are based on advertising dollars.

If you want to believe the writtings then all of these are about the same...except for the fact that only one passed DFK.

BTW...have you thrown 50k samples at all of these to come to your strong opinion?" }-

1. No, I don't take much notice of magazine reviews. Only as guide to what application's are available. I trial apps myself, on my system and form my own opinion.

2. I don't form an opinion on an application based on the fact it doesn't protect against a single threat. In fact I don't form an opinion on any application based on anything less than an extensive test that incorporates either a large number of current prevelant threats or a large collection of current and past threats i.e where I get the 50,000 figure from.

You found one threat that bypasses a couple of apps. Based on that you formed an opinion that they are rubbish. Fine, each to their own. So when your new favourite gets found wanting in a future test(and it will. As will SD and SS, and most likely a lot of other apps.) you'll jump ship will you? Look for something that passes that one specific test and start using that? You are entitled to that choice. I just think it's ridiculous. But hey, you think i'm ridiculous. Sticks and stones...

muf

[pugmug]

I was thinking this DFK program was more than just a few samples of bad stuff to put your computer security to the test. Am I wrong about this? http://www.morgud.com/interests/security/dfk-threat-simulator-v2.asp Anyway either I am that bad or my computer security is that good as I downloaded and opened DFK and could not get it to run even using their password. Oh well,lol.

[mercurie]

-{ Quote: "AV suppliment?? BOclean is an anti-trojan I had thought. In your signature it says your av is antivir." }-Yes, that is correct AV supplement.

BOClean is designed to let AV get the first sniff at a potential nasty. If it passes. BOClean takes a look. If it is on BOCleans list of nasties then it will take action.

Now a days AVs are getting better at catching trojans. But I would not rely just on AV for trojan and other such malware protections that AV looks the other way on.

....therefore it is supplemental protection to your AV. BOClean is not designed to replace AV. See now my meaning? ;)

[budfox]

Muffy..Final.

I dont need to jump ship due to the fact that I have SpyDoc, AVK, Spysweeper, Counterspy as well as I run a Fortigate 60 hardware firewall/ AV/ IPS box.

I jump ship only due to changing security needs. Right now exploits are coming via ZeroDay browser flaws, so I am primarily using a sandboxed system and dropmyrights. I also disable windows encryption so that a virus cannot encrypt itself and hide, and I block access to the Admin account from the network. I just use a scanner for piece of mind (AVK/Counterspy v2Beta).

I have no clue as to why you are against AVK, but for me when Spydoc and Spyweeper totally fail a CURRENT exploit, I have no need for them until they improve. I wont even use them as a on demand scanner.

Go ahead and run whatever you like....dont really care. I am sure there will be a zero day with your name on it...soon. The only knowledge that I have heard out of you is that I am crazy and that you need (50k old samples) to validate a piece of security software. How about you impress me and this forum with something other then that. What protection you running Muffy? Are you NAT routed? Have scripting blocked? Admin account blocked from the remote side? Is your system hardened beyond the stock XP settings? I wait with baited breath.

Bis Spater.

[muf]

-{ Quote: "I am sure there will be a zero day with your name on it...soon. " }-

Nice of you to be thinking about me :P


-{ Quote: "The only knowledge that I have heard out of you is that I am crazy" }-

I never said you were crazy. I said that to judge a product based on it's performance against 1 threat was ridiculous. And I stand by that.


-{ Quote: "you need (50k old samples) to validate a piece of security software." }-

No, I said a large number of current threats and past threats. I never said 50k old samples.


-{ Quote: "What protection you running Muffy? Are you NAT routed? Have scripting blocked? Admin account blocked from the remote side? Is your system hardened beyond the stock XP settings? I wait with baited breath." }-

Ok, I'm not one to keep you holding your "baited breath". ;D
NAT = No
Scripting blocked = Yes
Admin account blocked from the remote side = No
system hardened beyond the stock XP settings = Yes

I have disabled all unneccessary services. Dcom, Messenger, UPNP, that sort of stuff. And my setup is no secret as it's on display in the "What is your security setup these days" thread. I use KIS6, BOClean, Regrun Platinum, Prevx1 Pro mode, CyberHawk, Socketshield, CookiePal and Ad Muncher.

Your last post had some comments that I feel show you certainly know your stuff. I don't intend to offend and if I did then I am sorry about that. But I stand by my belief that judging products on performance against one threat is not fair. There are lots of threats out there and they are ever evolving. Certainly the malware writers will create something that will circumvent security application's. It's how the security vendors react to this that matters. Do they sit there and say "Oh well we don't protect against that" or do they upgrade their software to deal with it. I've used security apps for years and never once dropped them because they failed one test. I give them time to deal with it and if they don't then I change. I have to have some faith at least, don't I?

All the best,
muf

p.s And I presume it's me you are referring to as Muffy is closest to my name. You see muf stands for Manchester United Fan(sorry to all you ManUtd haters out there!), so i'm not sure what the other 'F' and 'Y' denotes. Oh and that's not an invitation to make up something! :P

[budfox]

Then muffy it isnt. Im in the US so im clueless to the football reference. Did have fun watching the world cup though.

[budfox]

Just to let you guys know i have been running coutnerspy v2 beta. It is now my new favorite. When running in paranoid mode, CS even has process control!
Its like Appdefend with the addition of Antispyware!

I think that CS will be tough to beat when it goes gold.

[illukka]

-{ Quote: " You see muf stands for Manchester United Fan(sorry to all you ManUtd haters out there!), so i'm not sure what the other 'F' and 'Y' denotes. Oh and that's not an invitation to make up something! :P" }-

at first i felt tempted...

[twl845]

As you know, ewido has been bought out by AVG. The only difference I see is the colors in the layout and ewido replaced with AVG. Ewido took some shots from PC magazine just before the take over, and some people bad mouthed the software. I think it's a good anti spyware app. I also have SS, Ad-Aware and SpywareBlaster. I downloaded it one day right after I had done a scan with SS who said Congratulations you have no spyware. I did a scan with the ewido, and came out with 15 pieces of malware and data miners. I paid for it, and I use it as my running spyware app because it gives you more definition updates, and is light on the resources. Spysweeper does the job, but it's slow to access, and eats resources. I keep it because I have another year left on it, and I use it to look for spyware that one of the others might miss. :)

[coldplay]

-{ Quote: "As you know, ewido has been bought out by AVG. The only difference I see is the colors in the layout and ewido replaced with AVG. Ewido took some shots from PC magazine just before the take over, and some people bad mouthed the software. I think it's a good anti spyware app. I also have SS, Ad-Aware and SpywareBlaster. I downloaded it one day right after I had done a scan with SS who said Congratulations you have no spyware. I did a scan with the ewido, and came out with 15 pieces of malware and data miners. I paid for it, and I use it as my running spyware app because it gives you more definition updates, and is light on the resources. Spysweeper does the job, but it's slow to access, and eats resources. I keep it because I have another year left on it, and I use it to look for spyware that one of the others might miss. :)" }-

I had opposite experience concerning to AVG AS and Spy Sweeper :); SS does the job for me.

[Michae]

EWIDO good!

[[DSLR]poppster]

On the pc's that I fix/repair I always use CounterSpy. It's a fantastic program, and then I use Adaware Se to see if there is anything left behind.


BTW, Ewido is a good program now, especially since AVG bought the rights to it.

[acr1965]

-{ Quote: "I need to buy one of thoses..
What is your opinion the programs..
I using now CounterSpy.. however I willing to change..
anyway I need to renew in next week..
Thanks
AACM
:dry:" }-

It would be hard not to renew CounterSpy for $9.99 per year even if you use it as a #2 scanner. But of the four, if I was buying new, I would go with AVG (Ewido). I just don't like the SpySweeper with its newest version.

[Triple Helix]

-{ Quote: "It would be hard not to renew CounterSpy for $9.99 per year even if you use it as a #2 scanner. But of the four, if I was buying new, I would go with AVG (Ewido). I just don't like the SpySweeper with its newest version." }-

I agree with you I don't like the new Version of SpySweeper :thumbd:

TH

[tazdevl]

-{ Quote: "I agree with you I don't like the new Version of SpySweeper :thumbd:

TH" }-

Ditto and their support sucks.

[twl845]

I too have to agree that Spysweeper isn't as good as advertized. I have been asked to buy Spyware Doctor and would ask if anyone can give an opinion from experience.

[lucas1985]

I don´t think that realtime AS prevention is the way to go and the free on-demand scanners are very very good(Ewido/AVG, SAS, A-Squared).
If I have to praise any "big" AS vendor, my vote goes for CounterSpy.

EDIT: meaning of the post

[twl845]

Thanks for the info. I'm running AVG 7.5 in the background. It updates its definitions a few times a day, and access' smartly. I am looking for an on demand scanner, and will check out you recommendation of Counterspy. As I said, I now have Spysweeper which I use for on demand scanning. It takes forever to load, and I have broadband. Now they're trying to get us to use their AV too, which is in the app. All you have to do is click it to get it. That won't happen.