The Most Effective AntiSpyware program?

Discussion in 'other anti-malware software' started by mrm3601, Feb 24, 2010.

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  1. mrm3601

    mrm3601 Registered Member

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    This may be an unfair question and I know this has been asked over and over, but I'll ask anyway: What is the most effective, lightest AntiSpyware software? I have the following security on my PC and I run Windows XP SP3. Neither I nor my wife do gaming but we're on the Internet a lot (I do research and my wife is an engineer). [By the way, it's been difficult for me to find reviews of antispyware software that are not biased].

    1. I have the most recent edition of NOD32,
    2. Prevx3, and
    3. the Paid Version of Online Armor

    I don't know much about PC's but I think it's possible, if appropriate, to run one program in "real time" and another program "on demand."
    If an antispyware program is necessary I'm thinking of the following:

    • SuperAntiSpyware professional,
    • Malwarebytes',
    • CounterSpy, or
    • PC Tools' Spyware Doctor

    Any other suggestions would be appreciated (again, I'm not sure that anitspyware is necessary given my security set up).

    One more question: Would antispyware be suggested if I get Sandboxie?

    Thanks again.
     
  2. jmonge

    jmonge Registered Member

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    prevx will cover all you spyware defenses and more
    but if you want to buy one i will recomend Mbam Pro it is very good at detecting and removing malware;) by the way nod is alsao good for spyware protection;)
     
  3. whitedragon551

    whitedragon551 Registered Member

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    Spyware Doctor is scareware. It falsely detects infections in the free version without removal capabilities to scare you into buying. As soon as you buy it those "infections" are no longer detected.

    Id say MBAM or SAS. Counterspy is sort of out of the game at this point. They used to be great, but since MBAM and SAS have entered the field that have sort of pulled ahead of the pack. Id put MBAM over SAS just because its detection rate seems to be slightly higher.
     
  4. CogitoTesting

    CogitoTesting Registered Member

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    :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D .


    Thanks.
     
  5. pegr

    pegr Registered Member

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    Assuming you are using a paid version of Prevx, you already have enough anti-malware software running in real-time. Personally, I wouldn't add MBAM Pro, as there would be a considerable overlap with what you already have. As with all things, the law of diminishing marginal returns applies, and there is always a risk of a conflict or adverse impact on system performance from running too many security programs of the same type in real-time. That said, there is no harm in doing on-demand scans with the free version of MBAM, just to be on the safe side. It is good at detecting threats that AV's sometimes miss.

    If you want to add additional layers, it would be more effective to start looking at virtualisation and policy restriction software. Sandboxing the browser is definitely worth considering. Sandboxie combines both application virtualisation and policy restriction, and is very effective. Combining Sandboxie with what you already have, running additional antispyware software in real-time is unecessary. If virtualising the entire system partition is of interest, Returnil and Shadow Defender are both excellent choices. For policy restriction, AppGuard, DefenseWall, and GeSWall are excellent choices.
     
  6. chinook9

    chinook9 Registered Member

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    I asked basically the same questions that you did and I ended up buying MBAM Pro. However, because I Sandboxie the browser, I feel so well protected that I turned off MBAM Pro real-time just to improve the speed a little and reduce chances of conflicts with other software. I have a dual boot machine with Linux and, right now, I don't use Linux much because of the XP protection I have. I would suggest, however, that you set up a separate Sandbox for Banking and financial matters.
     
  7. progress

    progress Guest

    Spybot :)
     
  8. whitedragon551

    whitedragon551 Registered Member

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    I seriously hope your joking.

    Spybot "was" good. Its not anymore. The only beneficial part to Spybot is its immunize feature which can be replaced by Spyware Blaster. Its HOSTs manipulation is also handy if your not very computer savvy and dont know how to open a HOST file with notepad. Other than that it offers no real benefits at all.
     
  9. gery

    gery Registered Member

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    TRUE
    i think you are right
     
  10. progress

    progress Guest

    SuperAntiSpyware isn't really effective (poor detection in almost every test) and Spyware Doctor is bloatware² :oops:

    I think MBAM is the best choice nowadays ...

    Let's wait for Spybot 2.0 :D
     
  11. whitedragon551

    whitedragon551 Registered Member

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    Its v1.6 right now. There is no telling when 2.0 will come out or if it will even be worth anything. They are still in the alpha testing and havent released anything for beta testers. They have to offer alot that would persuade users to switch from MBAM or SAS to Spybot.
     
  12. Ibrad

    Ibrad Registered Member

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    Was it ever made official that spybot 2.0 will have real time protection or not?
     
  13. progress

    progress Guest

    Only some Spybot freaks have access to the alpha 2 version at the moment :rolleyes:

    As far as I know Spybot 2.0 will contain a real time protection module :blink:

    Some screenshots:
    https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1537990&postcount=18
     
  14. MarcGabi

    MarcGabi Registered Member

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    I made the original post in this thread but I'm responding from my office. The consensus seems to be that antispyware may not be necessary on our pc.

    Still, and stating that I'd like the PC to run as fast as possible, I'm inclined to add either MAB or SuperAntiSpyware Professional.

    One more question: I've read that both MAB and SAS are very good products. Can anyone suggest one over the other?

    Thanks again.
     
  15. guest

    guest Guest

  16. raven211

    raven211 Registered Member

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    MBAM and Hitman Pro gives me peace of mind almost all the time. :)
     
  17. guest

    guest Guest

    Yes, I forgot Hitman Pro, I like the fast scanner and It has an excellent detection
     
  18. Daveski17

    Daveski17 Registered Member

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    SUPERAntiSpyware is my choice, it found a trojan on my computer that Spybot & Norton missed. Needless to say I don't use Norton or Spybot any more. MBAM may have a high detection rate but I got way too many false positives with it & so I uninstalled it. If I had removed all of the drivers it believed & flagged as malware my computer would be a paper weight now. :mad:


    Let's not. :thumbd:
     
  19. MarcGabi

    MarcGabi Registered Member

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    Edit from my last post:

    I think I'll try adding MAB on demand and I'll try using Sandboxie. Can anyone say if either would substantially impact system performance?

    Thanks again.
     
  20. apathy

    apathy Registered Member

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    MBAM and Hitman Pro, the dynamic duo. Prevx is a great piece of software but I don't like their lukewarm names for malware. Medium grade malware/High grade malware, what the hell does that mean? Please give me a specified name about the malware and I'll find out about it. Generic names are useless and half the time the medium grade malware is triggered by a strange packing software like nullsoft or file encryption to exe.
     
  21. progress

    progress Guest

    Because they missed one trojan? :D I think you will have to change your setup very often :oops:
     
  22. gery

    gery Registered Member

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    i change my set up very often but not because of AV-s not finding stuff in my computers
    on topic: SpySweaper is really heavy for any system and it really did not find it so necessary to have it on my set up but i may use it time after time. Now i think MBAM is a must for any computer user especially the free version. But i only keep only one AV AS or AM software at a time. Install MBAM and leave it there and once in a month i may scan but nothing found.
    KIS AVG NORMAN AVIRA NIS NORTON 360 PANDA DR WEB all paid or even AVAST FREE Agnitum AV OA++ or Emsi never almost never let me down
     
  23. Daveski17

    Daveski17 Registered Member

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    No, I got Norton free with my ISP, now I don't. Norton was problematical though from the start. Eventually British Telecom changed to McAfee, I have heard that they had a lot of complaints about Norton. I had a lot of minor problems with it. Most people told me that McAfee was rubbish. I thought I'd try it to see. I find it a little heavy on my platform, yet no more than Norton, & it seems fine. It has a pretty good firewall as well.

    I got rid of Spybot when it went all HAL 9000 on me after I tried to update it. :eek:

    In fact it's been nearly a whole year since I managed to uninstall it. I'll never use it again. It's definitely past its sell-by date. Its real-time protection did cover Opera though & SpywareBlaster (which I use now) doesn't. SB does cover K-Meleon however & I have always liked KM as a browser.

    I think that it is a good idea to have something like MBAM or SAS as well as an AV inter alia. I am not that disappointed in Norton for not detecting a trojan, although I would have thought Spybot would have been a bit more on the ball. It is probably wise to have a dedicated anti-malware app as well as an AV. MBAM is probably very good, I just couldn't trust it after a while.

    I would recommend SUPERAntiSpyware to anyone, it is probably the only anti-malware program (apart from SpywareBlaster) that I can honestly say that I have had no problems with (although I've also had no problems with McAfee).

    I am in two minds whether to uninstall McAfee & try the Panda Cloud though.
     
  24. bellgamin

    bellgamin Registered Member

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    MBAM -- over & above its excellent protection against malware, its IP Protection is great defense against poisonous websites.
     
  25. Fly

    Fly Registered Member

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    Counterspy can give the other programs a run for their money.

    MBAM supposedly is good when dealing with rogues.

    I don't know which one is best.
    It has been some time since I used Counterspy, but I found it to be very effective against spyware/adware. Especially if you run it real-time with settings to paranoid, but you'd have to take into account Counterspy's interaction with other security software - or even MS updates !

    I tried MBAM once, but it didn't find anything ! That doesn't mean it's bad, the computer was clean like usual.
     
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