Spyware Terminator

I am setting a friends laptop up with all free security. I already have Avast and Comodo 3.0. I want to put a real time spyware scanner on also and I like Spyware Terminator but it seems bloated lately. Anyone using it out there? Is it any good? Honest opinions please and I do me free programs. I am also Sandboxing both IE and FF.

 

I think ST was a good product when you think about its free, but i agree its getting to bloated now.

I like Windows Defender better then ST now.
And i really dont like Windows Defender, lol

 

I know. I dont know why ST is turning down the dark road. BTW we have the same set up.

 

I was rather enthusiastic about ST for quite a while, but it does seem that development recently has been more into their WebSecurityGuard (which is a way of including the Crawler toolbar into the product) and less on ST's actual detection and removal capabilities. I don't feel confident to recommend it at this time but don't really know, either.
I'd imagine that with the sandboxed applications, Comodo 3 (with Defense+ ?) and Avast - which has always been faultless for me- the protection is pretty good. Your friend will have to learn enough to answer any Defense+ prompts. You might want to also consider SpywareBlaster and/or a hosts file. Both are set-and-forget-it applications, apart from a check for updates every week or so.

 

Avast Home 4.8 which will include Antispyware protection is right around the corner.

 

And that helps answer my question how? The post is about Spyware Terminator not up and coming versions of Avast but ty and I know this already.

 

I used ST for quite a while and eventually switched to SAS Pro. But if I wanted to stay with a free AS I would use Spyware Doctor SE which is available through the Google Pack. I regularly use it to clean up machines in the field and it does a better job than ST IMHO. It has a real time file shield and it scans in SAFE mode which is important if you get a bad bug that makes it impossible to use Windows in normal mode (ST scans in SAFE mode too, to its' credit).

 

Thanks for that but Spyware Doctor tends to slow a system down and the free version isnt as good as the full version. I think I will just set SAS free and tell hi mto scan once a week.

 

Actually you should know you really don't need an Anispyware with Firefox. As a matter of fact. You yourself have claimed in the past how someone doesn't need an AS in Realtime with a firewall and Antivirus. I actually agree since I use Firefox and have not even seen a hint of spyware in any Antispyware scans over the years. These scans have included in no special order. a-squared Anti-malware, Spy Sweeper, SuperAntiSpyware, Windows Defender, Spyware Terminator, CounterSpy, and others. If you really want to help your friend out. Uninstall Comodo and put on ThreatFire Free. That way they can't screw up their PC and will have better protection than any RealTime AS will give them. Also stop being mean to people in this forum, or I'll tell Mehil on you. LOL.

 

This isn't my set up. Its a friends laptop who will tend to download and look at anything. I don't need a separate as cause I have Avira. I AM NOT GOING TO UNINSTALL COMODO. If you have a comment about ST make it. If not then just ignore this post. I was merely asking anyone if they thought ST was any good. BTW TF is a behavior blocker and thats all. Its is not a firewall.

 

Perhaps you should also recommend an alternative firewall, if Comodo is to be removed?

 

My vote goes for PC Tools Firewall. I will add that Spyware Terminator is in my opinion still a fine program and I actually liked its Web Guard. Hopefully though it will turn around and make some improvements over the current version. Also I believe Avast is a very good AV with some spyware detection capabilities, and with just Sandboxie alone would make a very nice security set up.

 

We cross posted.
One of ST's strengths is its HIPS and realtime shield. (I'm not sure if the current development of its HIPS is going to make it all that secure. There was a proposal to make its recognition of files and processes name-based, rather than file-analysis based, including the md5 or similar.)
If your friend is likely to be the type who will "download and click on anything" I'd be more inclined to use a setup that does not require as much user interaction, as he is likely to just click "allow" for a prompt, anyway.
This also applies to Comodo3, with Defense+.

 

spyware terminator is a good programm, its free and scans pretty fast, faster than super anti spyware and similar to adaware.( aprox 4 min for a quick scan). finds most of the pests, not all though. i ve used both versions, now using sas. if u decide to use it just install it without crawler, only on demand scanning.

 

Spyware Terminator's scan is fast alright. But my scans more like 25 min and misses some things. SuperAntiSpyware's scan is 46 min, runs smoother...without pausing on certan system files. I had Spyware Terminator set to startup at bootup with full Hips resident settings, but then I switched from Outpost Pro Firewall to Comodo Firewall Pro 3 w/D+. So I disabled the Hips/resident part of Spyware Terminator, but it loading at startup caused my grown (I think it it has something to do with the icon, it is not the only icon to refuse fo load...Sandboxie's icon refuses to load too sometimes). I got around this just by not loading it at startup, all is quite now. Right now I have SuperAntiSpyware on my computer.

 

I am running spyware terminator and under real time protection application guard I have two dlls from my AV program on the block list. How can I move them to the allowed list?

 

Click on each item(in turn) that you want to move from the block list, and simply select "Delete".
(At least, that's the way it used to work with the version I used last.)
I don't think you can actually move then to the allowed list, just delete them from the block list, and if the HIPS pops a warning again, click "allow"/tick remember.

 

I am problably cursing in church when I say this to you (considering your avitar):

Fair chance it is a new laptop with Vista32 and your friend is not so familiar with security aps (leaving it over to you), when this assumption is true:

Think about ease of use:

Level1
VistaFireWall with VistaFireWallControl free for outbound control

Level2:
Run LUA (or use TweakUAC for running LUA in 'quiet'mode for policy mitigation)
Sandboxie for IE/FF (threatgate mitigation)

Level3: ThreatFire free (behavior based plus on-demand AV at intrusion)

Should do the trick with minimal overhead/maximum security while enjoying the power of a new PC

 

Don,t bother for ST and don,t install too much. If he is an average user, jsut add a free AV( Avira is best) with ThreatFire and windows own FW.

 

For what it is worth you may want to read this review of St v2.0 from PCMag:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2167808,00.asp

Intresting...especially as they also review a number of other free apps in the same sector:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2304349,00.asp

As I said, may be of some use, depending on the store that one puts in magazine reviews...but then again it is another oppinon.