Antispyware dinosaurs?

Hi all,

My first real post so please forgive any etiquette mistakes.

I was hoping for some advice concerning free on-demand antispyware apps. I do have SUPERantispyware (free) which I like. My other two scanners are Ad-AwareSE and Spybot S&D. I like them both as well as I have never had any trouble from them, but it would seem that most here today think they are out dated and not of much use.

If I replace them I was thinking of going with either AVGAS or A-Squared. I have heard some things about both however that make me hesitate. Mostly from user reviews at certain download sites. Examples of some problems listed are:

AVGAS - update problems
A-Squared - false positives

Now I know no program is perfect and that those reviews may or may not be accurate. That is why I ask the members of Wilders who I am sure are more knowledgeable.

If you had to suggest one which would it be? Are there better alternatives than those two? Should I just stick with what I have now?

Thanks for your input.

 

For free apps what you have is fine. Now paid is another story and the possibilities really open up. Don't be in any rush to ditch Adaware and Spybot until you have had a fair bit of time to study the posts of other members and ask questions about the various products that they will post about.

 

Hi,
your right there are quite alot of fp's with a squared.
plus ive heard its not very good at removing malware.
i just use kaspersky for my AV and superantispyware pro for antispyware.
that plus an alternate browser and your brain should be fine.
i had to ditch adware a while ago since f-secure had adaware in it.
i never bothered reinstalling adaware when i got kaspersky since i belive its outdated alll it it finds is tracking cookies.
spybot isnt much good anymore hence why i uninstalled it about 5 months ago.
lodore

 

Hi Firebytes and welcome to the Forum.

I would definitely replace Ad-Aware. Now it's true that AVG have update problem. I just remove it from my PC for that reason.

A-Square is good too and when I tried it, I never had false positives. You could also try SpywareTerminator, I know some members here use it and like it.

 

I do use Firefox and sometimes Opera (IE only for Windows Updates) for browsers. I am a pretty safe surfer anyway and when I go to areas I am unsure of I am usually using Powershadow. I also have Cyberhawk (testing) and Spywareblaster among other things.

It isn't myself I worry about so much but when I am gone my daughter sometimes uses the computer and may not be as careful as I am. That's why I like to have some "cleanup" software on my system as well.

As far as SpywareTerminator I too have heard good things. However, I just can't bring myself to trust Crawler. Maybe in time I will.

 

As far as paid products go I must admit I am pretty tight with my money. I always figure why pay if I can build a "suite" of free products that will protect reasonably well. It seems many paid programs are buggy and bloated anyway (IMHO).

If I was to part with some cash for any apps it would most likely be for SAS Pro and Sandboxie.

The review of SAS from PCmag and Gizmo have made me study that program harder though. http://http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2127210,00.asp
http://techsupportalert.com/Security%20Tests/SuperAntiSpyware%20Pro%203.6.1.htm
The only thing that saved me from ditching SAS after reading those were the many posts here at Wilders defending it.

 

Gizmo seems like a bad word around here as of late.

 

Firebytes why not list what you've got, free and paid, instead of doling it out peace meal. That way members can better advise you.

 

Sorry the above link for the PCmag review is wrong, should be http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2127210,00.asp
Sorry about that.

Anyway I will consider all advice concerning Adaware, SPybot, AVGAS, and A-Squared.

Thanks.

 

Sorry TheHammer you are right I should have listed my apps. Here is what I use:

Realtime:
Avast, Cyberhawk (testing) ZA free

On Demand:
Spybot, Adaware, SAS free

Other:
Powershadow, Spywareblaster, DropMyRights

Thanks.

 

why not use powershadow when your daughter uses the pc?
and just reboot after to get rid of the mess?
lodore

 

I ditched Spybot and AdAware a long time ago.Neither program is as good as they once were.

I haven't had a f/p with A-Squared to date.
A-Squared and SAS free should be fine for on-demand antispyware scanners.

 

My daughter sometimes gets on the computer when I am not here (gone more than 24 hours) and doesn't always remember to use Powershadow. Plus she uses the computer for her schoolwork and often needs to save items. I agree that if she would always use Powershadow everything would be peachy.

Thanks for the input on A-Squared.

 

well there is two things you could do.
1. use power shadow and get your daughter to save the work on a usb pen.
2. shrink the C: partition and create a D: partition. and keep C: in powershadow the whole time. and save data on D:
option 1 anyone can do.
lodore

 

Both are excellent suggestions Lodore, especially #1 except I don't leave computer running 24/7 and she would have to fire up Pwershadow herself when I am not here.

Option #2 would be good if I left the computer running all the time and had a clue about making and operating with partitions. I am not overly technical.

I believe for now I just want to incorporate a good antispyware scanner to go along with my present setup. Keep SAS and maybe replace Adaware and Spybot. I gotta keep it simple due to my lack of knowledge even though I know it won't be quite as secure.

 

Sandboxie has a free version and it works very well. I've been using it for a few days now. You are also able to keep files you want if you deem them safe and wanted. Their site has very good information. http://www.sandboxie.com/
You can create icons for her to use that starts Firefox/IE/Opera sandboxed automatically. I keep my "safer" internet icons at the top right of my desktop. You can also teach her how to recover the files from the sandbox she needs and scan them to be sure they are safe. It is easier than it sounds.

Also, run as a limited user whenever possible. This can prevent some malware from wrecking your system. If she doesn't need to install programs, set her up with a limited user account. I hope this helps.

Cheers, innerpeace

 

Both are relics now. The only way they could resurrect them to modern day standards would be to re-write them from the ground up. Just my experience fom having used them both over the years. As-IS, they are left in the dust right now.

 

Yes therefore I code my own Antispy. ;-)

Indeed. Indeed, Forget them. (Spybot is so damn slow, ugly, AdAware is totally out of date (only good to delete mru´s and cookies) , a2 massive fps)

Xoft Spy is a little bit better, not perfect, but some more hints for paranoids.

If MaxAntispy wouldn´t create so much dust and annoying pop ups, then it´d be a nice app.

 

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

 

SystemJunkie wrote:
Xoft Spy is a little bit better, not perfect, but some more hints for paranoids.



Xoftspy? Do you actually trust ParetoLogic? Just something I would'nt touch with a 10 foot pole.(or an 11 foot pole for that matter)

 

A-Squared, in my personal opinion, is not that good an AS/AT. I would still recommend AVG AS because the new version which will add Windows Vista and x64 compatibility as well as fix most update problems should release soon.

Otherwise you can always try SPYWAREfighter, it is a good clone of AVG AS and doesn't have the update problems.

 

I trust nobody. AVG has nice add ons but related to antispy its poor.

 

AVG AS still has that pesky update problem no matter if your using auto update or manual update.

 

Read my comments in this thread: https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=176534

According to my own experiences and tests, the only anti trojan program I can recommend is AVG Anti Spyware, I'd trust no other Anti Spyware program (I let sandboxes etc. aside here).

Since the latest version, AVGAS has no more update problems and runs like silk.

Andreas

 

Hello,
Let me tell you a secret:
It does not matter what you use... It matters what you do.
You can have any one installed, as the free versions of all are on-demand.
Regarding some other semi-dubious apps mentioned, I would not recommend them.
Mrk