Help! What Software Is Best?

I have been having problems with malware (SpyShredder) and other spyware programs. I have been looking for a program that will help with that. I saw Spyware Doctor, but then read alot about it having problems with false positives. I looked at other programs and it seems like everyone has a problem with every program available. I am really confused as to what program to get to help me with the problems I am having to identify and clean out malware, spyware, trojans, etc. Can anyone give me a good suggestion. I am not that literate with software so as to be able to look at each identified problem and determine if it is truely a malicious file or not. Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

 

You won't find a universally favored program.
For spyware scanners you could try these:

http://www.superantispyware.com/

http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/

Hope that helps.

 

I assume that you have a good anti-virus. The AV should take care of trojans, but normally do not concentrate on spyware, although some suites do.

I have not used it but Spyware Terminator has a following, and is free.
http://www.spywareterminator.com/

I personally use paid versions of SuperAntiSpyware and AVGAS. I also have used Counterspy, and like it also. A-squared is also good. If you have a stand alone AV, not a suite, I would run one of those alongside the AV.

I am not sure that one will ever find a security application that does not give some false positives, but some give less than others. You can get a lot of help here, and on the program specific forums.

It might help if you were to post what browser, operating system, and other security applications you have.

Regards,
Jerry

 

I second the motion for Superantispyware and AVG. I use AVG in real time and SUPERantispyware for on demand. I also use BOClean accessible from Comodo.com, and SpywareBlaster.

 

Heres yet another vote for AVG AS and SUPERAntiSpyware. Theyre very good scanners

 

SAS,AVGAS,AVIRA,DRWEBCUREITBETA,BOC.

 

Interesting, I see you have switched real time enablement. In a previous
post you said:

Any particular reason for the change ? BTW. I also have both SAS and
AVGAS paid versions with SAS on demand due to CPU spikes which I find
rather irritating. Both are excellent programs in my opinion.

 

Hi and welcome HDSjr55. If you have malware on your computer, you could try going through the removal procedures here. http://wiki.castlecops.com/Malware_Removal_and_Prevention:_Introduction If the problems persist, there are also instructions for posting a HijackThis log for more help. Good luck, innerpeace

 

Does anyone like Tenebril's SpyCatcher Express?

http://www.tenebril.com/consumer/spyware/spycatcher-express.php

It offers:

"The Industry's Fastest, Most Powerful and Comprehensive Spyware Detection — Ensures cutting-edge protection through the patent-pending Spyware Profiling Engine™, a three-pronged method for spyware detection (profiles, behavioral analysis and contextual intelligence). Competitors typically use one detection model, preventing them from blocking mutations and the latest threats."

Is this true? Then why use Superantispyware when this offers real time protection for free?

 

Another vote for these products. I use both on my machine and i also have put them onto my freinds and family computers.

 

It's a bit of a learning curve, this security software business. Takes a while to start to get the hang of it. Some programs have the ability to pop out an alert every time anything (good or bad) tries to run, other don't trouble so much.
Some, like the Comodo firewall, alert fairly frequently until they "learn" what's safe to run. Most will have a false positive, sooner or later, so I'm afraid a little bit of user interaction is unavoidable.
You're probably going to have to try a few applications out and see which you like the best. Leave them at their default settings, at least until you've had a read of the help files.
Don't have more than one application resident (realtime scanning/guarding) installed in each of the categories Antivirus, Firewall, Antispyware. If you try to, conflictions are likely.
Do have a good Antivirus running (I like Avast, AVG and Avira are also good, free, and generally problem free.)
Some applications have very good forum assistance, too. Like Asquared, SpywareTerminator, Comodo, Spybot, and Avast, to name a very few, and some don't, like Lavasoft (AdAware), who's forum I can't even register on, and the help offered is mediocre at times.
If something is found, flagged as a "nasty", either during a scan or in realtime, don't panic. Quarantine, rather than deleting it, in case it is a FP, Google the file name. Just looking at the number of results, and the paragraphs under each result, can often tell you what you need to know.
I'm sorry, but I don't think there is a way to use a Windows computer with the internet and not be involved at some level with the security of it if you want to minimize the chance of it being damaged through malware. And that means having at least a cursory knowledge of security programs, and what they can and can't do. (And, of course, knowing what NOT to click on, and how to read the important bits of a privacy or licence agreement.)

 

No single product can catch everything on a given day, no matter what they claim - it just simply is not possible - the best defense is multiple layers of protection and scanning/detection.
No single product can catch everyth

 

I have the paid versions of both SAS and AVG. I switched SAS to the on demand one because I wasn't getting definition updates reliably. I always get an AVG update on boot up.