btman
August 24th, 2007, 04:46 AM
There's the heavy hitters:
Counterspy, Spyware Doctor ( + Threatfire), Spyware Terminator
All are a little more complicated, (VIPRE, Behavior blocking in threat fire and HIPS in ST) and try new things. But are a little (Sometimes really) resource heavy. I usually keep one on my computer. All have a few more issues than the other groups... Counterspy crashes on my computer, Spyware Doctor has the occasional BSOD and False Detections and Spyware Terminator's scan freezes and is god awfully slow and HIPS becomes annoying at times. Detection rate wise, I can't really comment as I don't have them on my system for long periods of time.. Spyware Terminator is probably on the lower end though (But I know that it's being fixed).
Then there's the Mid-Carders. They're called that because they aren't too heavy, aren't too light, and don't have too many issues. They also have daily updates.
AVG Anti-Spyware, A-Squared Free, SUPER.
These ones are most commonly known (Excluding spybot and adaware), and have excellent detection/removal rates. I always have these 3 on my system at all times. I have these ones listed in terms of detection (From my personal experience) though SUPER's always improving and has less false positives than A-Squared (Except SUPER refuses to remove Bearshare from the database ><). They all are easy to use and don't put in too much fancy stuff yet.
And we also have The "Light" Scanners:
Adaware, SpyBot, Arovax Anti-Spyware
All aren't too technical, have lower end detection rates and have other little issues. I have none of these on my system because, Adaware is kind of heavy but the scan is fast (And has that annoying file that doesn't go away) and I have update issues at times. Spybot, is trying out new stuff.. One time I scanned and got like 4 false positives with the beta... A few weeks later I update and scan and it finds nothing. Which is good, but I'll wait till V 1.5 Final before I give any real verdicts. And Arovax Anti-Spyware, has some false positive issues but I'm waiting to install it again in future versions when this and its real-time partner Arovax Shield become a mean anti-malware duo that may make it up there and play with the big boys. All of these scans are fast, but all of these scanners need their detection rates boosted.
Anti-Malwares left out:
Spy Sweeper, never tried it... Out of every 10 comments I've read about this program around 8 of them are bad.
Windows Defender: This programs going no-where fast. No new versions, barely any definition updates...
Trend Micro Anti-Spyware: It's going no where fast either, though some people and tests show it has "Amazing" detection rates. I think more people would use it if it did. They're more focused on improving their anti-virus anyway because it does need to play catchup. I feel this anti-spyware is kind of like Nortons and BitDefenders "Tune Up" utilities. Though the main reason you'd need a tune-up is because their software is so heavy in the first place. BD's registry cleaner won't be top notch any time soon. And neither will this anti-spyware.
Any other ones please inform me if I left them out (If they're slightly important (So no McAfee Anti-spyware) and don't use another companies anti-spywares engine.) I didn't include Anti-Spywares/Anti-Malwares that don't scan. I only included Threat-Fire because it's an anti-malware, and Spyware Doctor is an anti-malware... And they're made by the same company and will probably be put in an Anti-Malware bundle or something eventually.
This is all IMO.
Counterspy, Spyware Doctor ( + Threatfire), Spyware Terminator
All are a little more complicated, (VIPRE, Behavior blocking in threat fire and HIPS in ST) and try new things. But are a little (Sometimes really) resource heavy. I usually keep one on my computer. All have a few more issues than the other groups... Counterspy crashes on my computer, Spyware Doctor has the occasional BSOD and False Detections and Spyware Terminator's scan freezes and is god awfully slow and HIPS becomes annoying at times. Detection rate wise, I can't really comment as I don't have them on my system for long periods of time.. Spyware Terminator is probably on the lower end though (But I know that it's being fixed).
Then there's the Mid-Carders. They're called that because they aren't too heavy, aren't too light, and don't have too many issues. They also have daily updates.
AVG Anti-Spyware, A-Squared Free, SUPER.
These ones are most commonly known (Excluding spybot and adaware), and have excellent detection/removal rates. I always have these 3 on my system at all times. I have these ones listed in terms of detection (From my personal experience) though SUPER's always improving and has less false positives than A-Squared (Except SUPER refuses to remove Bearshare from the database ><). They all are easy to use and don't put in too much fancy stuff yet.
And we also have The "Light" Scanners:
Adaware, SpyBot, Arovax Anti-Spyware
All aren't too technical, have lower end detection rates and have other little issues. I have none of these on my system because, Adaware is kind of heavy but the scan is fast (And has that annoying file that doesn't go away) and I have update issues at times. Spybot, is trying out new stuff.. One time I scanned and got like 4 false positives with the beta... A few weeks later I update and scan and it finds nothing. Which is good, but I'll wait till V 1.5 Final before I give any real verdicts. And Arovax Anti-Spyware, has some false positive issues but I'm waiting to install it again in future versions when this and its real-time partner Arovax Shield become a mean anti-malware duo that may make it up there and play with the big boys. All of these scans are fast, but all of these scanners need their detection rates boosted.
Anti-Malwares left out:
Spy Sweeper, never tried it... Out of every 10 comments I've read about this program around 8 of them are bad.
Windows Defender: This programs going no-where fast. No new versions, barely any definition updates...
Trend Micro Anti-Spyware: It's going no where fast either, though some people and tests show it has "Amazing" detection rates. I think more people would use it if it did. They're more focused on improving their anti-virus anyway because it does need to play catchup. I feel this anti-spyware is kind of like Nortons and BitDefenders "Tune Up" utilities. Though the main reason you'd need a tune-up is because their software is so heavy in the first place. BD's registry cleaner won't be top notch any time soon. And neither will this anti-spyware.
Any other ones please inform me if I left them out (If they're slightly important (So no McAfee Anti-spyware) and don't use another companies anti-spywares engine.) I didn't include Anti-Spywares/Anti-Malwares that don't scan. I only included Threat-Fire because it's an anti-malware, and Spyware Doctor is an anti-malware... And they're made by the same company and will probably be put in an Anti-Malware bundle or something eventually.
This is all IMO.