Dont be so hasty.

I have been a lurker here, for quite awhile. I have tried every spyware and antivirus combo there is. I only now felt compelled to register and speak my mind. I see a lot of you who seem to bail on the old, for the new and unknown. I have always based my final choices on reviews from publications and sources that I felt were legit. Everyone has their own. Lets first start with antispyware. I have licenses for them all. And in the end I agree with several "Official" reviews including the latest from Consumer Reports, like them or not, that Spy Sweeper is still the best. 5.0 was an issue for resources, but 5.7 has basically taken care of it. And if you eat my resources to ensure the integrity of my PC, more power to you.

Spy Doctor also is very good. As Counter Spy. I also would not bail on SpyBot or Adaware SE just yet either. All of these come from companies who live or die by their products and have been around for quite awhile. SpyBot deserves donations for just hanging in their. We all will agree, that whatever the security product, they all, have good versions and crappy ones. It is the nature of the beast. I am leery of new ones until I see a viable test of their capability before even considering it. Superantispyware is one I will use since quite a few of you have bailed and decided on it. It may turn out to be the top of the group, but at this point it hasn’t been proven. What amused me what the one poster who bailed on Spy Sweeper, even though he still had time on his subscription, to go to this product based on several given their short term reviews.

Now don’t get me wrong. I do feel this product will emerge, but am leery of Nick having to promote his product. And Nick that is what you do here, and about 30 other forums I frequent. I do agree with you that feedback is needed, but the, "Be everywhere" approach will not be what sells your product. Independent and accurate testing will be. I applaud your approach at being consumer friendly, or pro-activeness for product sales, they both are warranted in this over surplus market. And I do wish you the best over the next year when I am sure your product will be included in accurate research for reporting purposes. But all of you should be more patient with the proven until that happens with any product.

Antivirus. Sorry but I agree with PC World and a few others that BitDefender Standard, at least for me, is the best. The funny thing is, if you look at real testing, who do you see first. Good ole Symantec. The most hated product of all. But their antivirus, pulled away from all of their bloat, is really the best based on the May reports. Kaspersky, great product, but no malware protection. 23 percent if I am correct. And then their is the favorite of all, Nod32. Malware protection low but no question a great antivirus product. But if they want to sell it to the average Joe, you better simplify the installation because not everyone knows about blackspears settings, which are great, but can cause conflict based on the system and programs you have currently installed. So what is the point of all this? If it aint broke, don’t fix it. There isn’t such a thing as perfect security. You get close based on your level of expertise and comfortability and go with it.

What do I use?
BitDefender 10 Security Suite beta, which is great.
Spy Sweeper 5.7
Adaware SE
Ccleaner
Registry Mechanic
Blue Coat Web Protection

This is my recipe for a safe and sound system.
Thanks for allowing me to post, and guess I will go back to lurking.

 

Thanks for that informative post, I agree with you about Spy Sweeper, but I can't buy it. I also think that Norton Anti-Virus isn't as bloated as lots of people think, but still I won't let Norton touch my computer. Never have tried Bit Defender but have heard great things about it. I like NOD32, but again I can't buy it. When I first really got into security software the first thing I discovered was Spybot. When I scanned with it it found a number of spyware/adware traces on my computer. Spybot is still good but not if you have enough protection against spyware that only the newest most elusive spyware squeezed itself through your defense, then you are better off using a program with better signatures. CCleaner is also a great product and I reccomend that to everyone.

My setup includes:
Antivir PE Classic
Kerio Personal Firewall
Spyware Terminator
Windows Defender
CCleaner

 

Norton varies depending on the computer. On my aunt and uncle's it doesnt slow anything down, but on mine when I used the trial, it was like a snail.

 

That is why you cant say a product is good or bad just based on a few voices. Each PC is different.

 

i cant wait to try the real bitdfender 10.

 

BitDefender huh?

I have not seen a good beta yet. It almost reminds me of Mecafee.

Not stable and messes with your OS.

 

read the title dont be so hasty lol i think bitdefender is good

 

If you notice in my posts, I don't say "go get SUPERAntiSpyware", I respond to users questions and concerns with the product, and I listen to user suggestions. I also correct any facts regarding the product or company that may be incorrect. It's public relations in an aggressive and competitive industry.

The product has been around for 2 years - so hardly a newcomer. Many people don't realize that, and that's part of the education process for users by me being part of the forums.

The product is currently promoting itself by being effective in detecting and removing many spyware infections. I will never say "we are the best", and I do know we certainly are not the "worst". There will never be one single product to detect and remove all spyware - SUPERAntiSpyware provides an additional weapon against the spyware fight and it "plays well" with other products.

Nick Skrepetos
SUPERAntiSpyware.com
http://www.superantispyware.com

 

Personally I appreciate Nick giving attention to the various forums.

Now "Where is Nick, he should be around to help us."

"Nick is just here to sell his SAS, and he should not do so."

I conclude that you couldn't please some people if you hung 'em with a new rope.

Best,
Jerry

 

First, I have beta tested for KAS, CA, Bitdefender, Zone Alarm and Symantec. Version 10 of Bitdefender which will be released here in the US next week, is the best security suite I have seen. Anti Spam is a work in progress, but they all are. And this is based on doing beta on all new releases coming out, but,as Nick and a lot of you have suggested, one antispyware will not do it. Each needs to be complimented by another, either stand alone or active. But with the new version 10 of BitdeFender, it will suffice for the active. I was, and still am amazed by it. I deal with facts, not speculation and will be the first to join the SAS ranks once I see it tested against the rank and file. One last comment, antivirus software will go down in importance over the next few years. Antispyware, malware and the importance of a secure firewall will be the needed. Nick, you will do fine, but reviews and tests will sell your product, not salesmanship. Yashu Nick.

 

Regarding Nick and his presence in numerous forums:

One thing we all know about SAS from his presence is that he does offer support.
Not all programs have good support!
IMO that is another very important aspect of any security program.

 

I have also been lurking for along time and decided to start posting here.

I have to agree with customer support, this is vital to making a good product. It helps immensely in solving software conflicts and other problems. And it also keeps your customers very happy.

I do beta testing here and there aswell, currently beta testing for Comodo Group. I am very impressed with thier products and also thier customer relations. They are developing very good products IMO.

Bitdefender10 is also very impressive, and I haven't anything but good things to think about it also.

I have tested software on my own now for nearly 4 years, and came to some solutions for my system. As stated in the first post, this is all up to the individual system and user needs. It is great that a forum like this exists where people can research and gain knowledge about malware and the products meant to defend against it.

my setup is

Comodo Personal Firewall Beta 2.3.3.33
System Safety Monitor Beta 2.2.0.583
NOD32 Antivirus 2.51.26
Ewido Antimalware 4.0.0.172c (free mode)
SuperAntispyware (free mode)
Spybot Search And Destroy (advanced mode)
AdAware Se Professional (w/plugins)
A-sqaured Antimalware free
Ccleaner
Firefox w/noscript and adblock plus
Peer Guardian 2 (w/19 different lists)
Hosts File (compiled on my own)

and I also use on occasion

blacklight beta
bitdefender rootkit beta
rootkit revealer
gmer
ice sword
process explorer
regmon
filemon
autoruns
hijack this
tcp view
tdimon

I suppose I'm preety well equipped

 

Welcome trjam.

To correct you on the version, there is no SpySweeper 5.7, but rather 5.0.7. Just don't want to confuse anyone.

I agree with your conclusion regarding BitDefender and SpySweeper; however, why do you use Lavasoft's Ad-aware? I used to use it, but found it useless.

 

Thanks on the dorrection version. Why Lavasoft? Sentimental Reasons, and a lot of hope.

 

Mine's not.

 

trjam, and everyone else, thanks for an interesting thread! BitDefender 10, huh, my subscription to NOD is about to run out, might just have to keep an eye out for that one.

As an interesting side note, I went to Spycar recently to test my malware programs. Because of my safe surfing habits, I have NEVER seen my BoClean do anything even though I have owned it now for almost seven years. With the Spycar tests my BoClean was constantly leaping into action, as was Spy Sweeper. It was really neat finally getting to see those two programs in action, killing everything, something that I just don't get a chance to see (thank goodness).

Again, thanks for the interesting info. (feel free to stop lurking at any time ).

Acadia

 

Hey everyone. I have used and like BitDefender. It seemed light, and I liked the over all layout of it. I am currently using Antivir PE as my Antivirus, FireFox browser with Site Advisor, SuperAntiSpyware and Ewido Anti-Spyware Free for occasional scans, and SKPF 4.2.3 for my Firewall. I have not found anything in my PC for quite awhile using these programs. (Although Antivir just found a TR/Clicker.CP in my Windows\system32 folder in a file named pcmgrnet exe recently.) Of course I consider myself a safe surfer, so this could be the reason I don't get infected. I would however, like to ask A1SteakSauce if he thinks Windows Defender has improved on it's memory usage. And Kevin B. how he likes A-Squared 2.0 Free. I will turn to Comodo for my Firewall with it's next release, and would like to use some Antispyware program as resident protection. I like SA, and the way Nick Skrepetos is so active in the Forums, and would certainly consider that over WD. I also liked Spyware Terminator, but it can't currently be used on a two user account. One last question. Does anyone think ProcessGuard Free is worth installing?

 

it depends on your needs. it can protect applications from being modified/terminated in addition to the usual program prompts.

 

Duke1959: I rather like A squared free, it's scanning engine seems a bit more powerfull than most other free antispyware apps. It is able to not only look inside archived files of any type I've thrown at it, it can also look inside packed exe, dll , ocx and other files. This is quite nice, as I think it must partially use the ideas and/or engine of thier virus scanner.

It however can take a very long time to do a complete scan, even on a beefed up machine. Maybe they do something about this to increase the scan speed up to around bitdefender or nod32.

I choose to use several products, becuase each catches something another doesn't. That includes adaware SE and spybot s&d.

I also like spybot s&d advanced mode, it has many quick and usefull tools. I haven't found need for any other startup manager.

 

Trjam,
I certainly understand and respect your desire to do the research before "bailing". I also do a lot of research before jumping to conclusions. I do have a burning desire to try new security programs and would do more of it if I were more sure of myself when things go wrong. "If it's not broke don't fix (or mess with) it". Yea, I understand that too.

I also rely on Boclean to capture anything that the others miss and I to have never seen it spring into action. It gives me much comfort and have had it for over 5 years.

Lavasoft? I don't know? Have had it maybe 6 years. the Plus version ! Spybot I still think is worth keeping and our support.

Finally I am glad to have you here Trjam. Someone who really looks into stuff before jumping in with knee jerk reaction. Yep, I agree while new stuff is Wow cool... it does not make the old stuff less effective or no good.

 

Seriously. I hope I never have to run that many security apps. I don't need to try and out NSA the NSA on security.

 

My new security setup.

Run FF with nocsript and adblock plus extensions through Sandboxie.

KAV 6 and Superantispyware as on demand which haven't found a thing after emptying the sandbox.

Lean,mean and clean!

 

Running,
KAV 6.0
Windows Defender
Outpost Pro
Spybot's Immunize but not Teatimer
SpywareBlaster(doesn't run)

Weekly scans? Every known scanner(almost)...

What is found when scans are run - cookies*. Period.
Something I did was the right choice, for these machines at least.

*I allow all cookies from all sites, cookies are irrelavent.

Running as Administrator with enhanced privelages at all times, both machines.

As always, YMMV.

 

http://www.drunkendonkey.net/eng/html/emoticons/rofl.gif http://www.v-rodforums.com/forums/images/smilies/rofl3.gif http://www.v-rodforums.com/forums/images/smilies/rofl3.gif http://www.v-rodforums.com/forums/images/smilies/rofl3.gif

i know exactly what you mean. but then again, if a config is too slim, that worries me too.