Spyware Terminator vs Windows Defender

Sometime in October, Spyware Terminator will add Fast User Switching. With this added it will be much more functional for people with more than one account. Windows Defender of course already offers this and I have read it has improved over time, however I'm still not sure it is as good as Spyware Terminator at this point, especially with the added HIPS protection ST offers. I only use it right now as an on demand scanner since I have a two user account, but I really like this program so far. It's scans are fast, but thorough and it has many features that I like, plus it updates almost every day. I know about Crawlers past, but I haven't noticed or read anything to make me feel all that concerned about using it. I realize at the moment there may be better paid AS programs, but I also use Ewido Anti-Spyware as on demand and it never finds anything that ST doesn't which is only cookies. I liked WD too, but I feel the added HIPS of ST is a nice feature to have now a days. Just my opinion, and I would really like to hear what others have to say. Thanks.

 

My opinion is that SpywareTerminator is a better app for protection than windows defender. I have used both and am currently useing ST. So far it has worked just great

 

Windows Defender is free.That's it's only redeeming quality.
Spyware Terminator is the better choice.

 

Thanks, and although this is a ST vs WD thread. What do you think about the spyware protection that AOL AVS has? I know this is Kaspersky, but not sure how good it's spyware feature is at detection or prevention. I will add to keep on topic, that it is almost ashamed that WD can't be exactly that. A Windows Defender. It seems to have everything in place to be with all it's protection in place, but the detection and prevention just doesn't seem to be there. As far as ST goes, this program has not only grown in leaps and bounds in comparison, but seems like it adds signatures at a higher rate as well.

 

I am running avs at this time or at least for two more days. and I still run ST along with it .

 

i have never ever had WD block anything i have had ST block many things on my test run on my old laptop on risky sites

 

WD is not bad. I dis blocked many things when I tested.
But Spyware terminator detection seemed better, however I can,t say anything about removal. Many software are good in detection but poor in removal that serves no purpose.

 

Spyware terminator has the better protection imo however it didn't fare too well in the recent spyware test which surprised me. Unfortunately they didn't test windows defender so we can't get a good comparison. What surprised me was spybot s&d's impressive result.

 

Which test was that?

 

This test - http://www.malware-test.com/antispyware.html

 

I know there was thread on this test, that I believe added some doubt to it's credibility. Not sure what to believe, but it does include WD. See Microsoft Windows Defender. Also WD and ST both did well in previous testing on this site.

 

I don't see the reason to be so excited at Spybot's performance on that test!
Looking at a high result of 35% for CounterSpy, I don't see where any of the programs did well at all!

 

That's a good point about the 35% the Tester, that's one reason why i agree with using a layered defense. I use Comodo Firewall, AOL AVS, and sometimes fire up WinPatrol Free for the heck of it. I don't ever find anything but cookies with Ewido or SuperAntiSpyware, and now ST, but maybe that has something to do with the percentages huh? I do surf safely on FireFox and use McAfee SiteAdvisor with it. I still think it would be important to have HIPS though, and another reason why I will use ST as realtime when it has the FUS feature for more than one account. You would just think Microsoft would make a much more superior product, even for free. Aren't they somehow involved with Counter Spy?

 

Duke1949,

Re: M$ and security programs...inevitably,any program that they gobble up will turn into a piece of crap.They started out with one of the best A/S programs at that time.

CounterSpy-the story.*This is to the best of my understanding*
CounterSpy is the result of an agreement between Sunbelt and Giant to use the same program.Giant was the original.Part of that agreement between Sunbelt & Giant was for sharing definitions/database thru sometime in 2007.
Giant was a hot program after scoring highly on some A/S test.
Enter M$...they purchase Giant(a month after I buy a 1 year license).
There was a lot of speculation that CS would suffer after the agreement's expiration.
That theory isn't heard much anymore after people started noticing that CounterSpy was detecting a lot more than Windows Defender.

On the reputable test sites I notice that the three programs that usually do the best are payware...CounterSpy,SpySweeper,and Spyware Doctor.Sometimes ZeroSpyware ranks high.
I think too that something that really adversely affects detection capabilites is the explosion of spyware/adware in general.I am more concerned with that than a virus.

 

I must be blind lol, i didn't even see defender there.

 

Of course i expect paid for software like counterspy to do well, but for a freebie spybot did amazingly well, even beating some paid for programs. I'm just a spybot fan, its always been a staple program in my pc security.

 

Farmerlee,

You're missing my point.
On that round of testing none of the programs did well.

It's easy to miss Windows Defender in that round.
They are also listed as "Microsoft AntiSpyware" in an earlier round.