Real-Time Protection?

Discussion in 'other anti-malware software' started by Mystik_TK, Oct 5, 2006.

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  1. Mystik_TK

    Mystik_TK Registered Member

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    I'm just wondering what the consensus is on which app has the best RTP? Spy Sweeper, SAS, Spyware Doctor or ewido?

    I tried Spy Sweeper, however it was pretty harsh on my resources and the Shield protection caused the "hourglass" to appear and blink once every second. As soon as I diabled its shileds, no problems. However, once I uninstalled it, I noticed that I would get a message every boot from my Epson Ink Monitor saying that the printer needed to be plugged in and Ink Monitor would be closed. I never recived that message before installing/uninstalling SS and I have no idea why. o_O

    Anyway, back on topic...any advice?


    Thanks.
     
  2. WSFuser

    WSFuser Registered Member

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    i find SAS's realtime protection lighter than either Spy Sweeper or ewido. as for spyware doctor, ive never tried it.

    regarding detection i dont know how any antispyware fares because ive never gotten spyware. Spy Sweeper will sometimes alert me to changes in the startup folder but thats all ive gotten.
     
  3. Mystik_TK

    Mystik_TK Registered Member

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    Thanks for the reply. By "lighter", you mean it doesn't offer the same amount of protection, correct?

    I should also add CounterSpy to my list of considerations. Anyone have thoughts on how that compares to the above-mentioned apps? Is there a rough time fram for when will v2 be released?


    Thanks again.
     
  4. WSFuser

    WSFuser Registered Member

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    i shouldve rephrased that. i meant lighter in resources.

    counterspy will be worth consideration when version 2 comes out. the betas use far less resources than previous versions and its good overall.
     
  5. cheater87

    cheater87 Registered Member

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    spyware terminator is great IMHO it protected me from CWS and that is awsome
     
  6. btman

    btman Registered Member

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    I like spyware doctor, just wish it was free...
     
  7. aigle

    aigle Registered Member

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    Hi, Spyware doctor,s real time protection is free now as i know.
    I tried it but I hate it,s slow load, it takes ages to load on start up.
    Even on disabling it, its update process was running. Aslo i am not sure but people on these forums report false positive issues with it. I personally always saw that it finds a lot of stuff than other scanners, may be their way of counting the threats is different or false positives, I am not sure as i never investigated this point.
    It,s older version used to eb free for on-demand scan.
     
  8. aigle

    aigle Registered Member

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    I found SpySweeper,s real time protection as the best in my limited experience though I can,t comment about it,s being light or harsh on resources as I never used it on my PC except for a few test scans.
    As freeware, ST is really good though I am still paranoid about Crawler.
    Otherwise trhe only option in freeware is Ws Defender, it,s just OK.
    BTW, if u are a safe-installer, safe-surfer type of person, u don,t need antipsyware. If u take risks, no AS can protect you. The only option here is ShadowSurfer, DeepFreeze, FDISR with freezed snapshot, and EAZ-FIX type of software. Just rollback after finishing ur surfing session.
     
  9. ErikAlbert

    ErikAlbert Registered Member

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    The real-time protection of a scanner isn't strong enough IMO and you can only use ONE real-time scanner, if you don't want any conflicts between two or more real-time shields.
    Only CIPS and HIPS do a much better job and depending on your knowledge you have to choose between both.

    CIPS is for less-knowledge users, because CIPS decides for the users, what is good or bad and that's why some knowledgeable users don't like CIPS. The more knowledge you have, the more you want to be in control.
    Only CIPS has a chance to become popular among the majority of users.

    HIPS is for knowledgeable users. because the user himself can decide what is good or bad.
    In the hands of less-knowledgeable users HIPS is a dangerous tool, too many wrong yesses and no's.

    CIPS or HIPS is the very best protection you can have, because it prevents installation of malwares.
    If scanners remove threats on your computer, it's already too late.
     
  10. lodore

    lodore Registered Member

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    precisely why im looking at HIPS atm. its also because im sick of real time antispyware scanners that use way to much resource and HIPS dont.

    if you read what i posted about online Armour else where what i forgot to put is it didnt slow me down anymore.
     
  11. bigc73542

    bigc73542 Retired Moderator

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    I am useing SpywareTerminator and it works great and doesn't drain your resources. It is worth giving a try since it is free.
     
  12. Mystik_TK

    Mystik_TK Registered Member

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    Thanks again for all the advice.

    It's shame about Spyware Doctor's slow start-up and flase postives. I've read about boh of those issues before.

    As for HIPS protection, yes I completely agree that those are very important. However, I'm currently using Kerio Firewall and am about to switch to Comodo and both of those have enough HIPS functionality for my needs.

    As for Spyware Terminator, I still don't trust Crawler, which is why I avoided mentioning it in my original post.

    Does anyone know roughly when v2 of CounterSpy will be released?

    Also, to help curb my paranoia, does anyone have any theories as to my Epson-related question in my original post? It's honestly driving me insane. LOL.


    Thanks again. :)
     
  13. ErikAlbert

    ErikAlbert Registered Member

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    I don't know if it will help, but it's worth to try, since the problem doesn't seem to go away and driving you crazy.
    Uninstall the software of your printer completely and re-install it again.
    Not a brilliant solution, but it might work. :)
     
  14. lodore

    lodore Registered Member

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    oh dear epson printer software. I screwed up my Epson printer software once, i read in the instructions wrong it said turn off printer and plug in to usb, guess what? i forgot to turn it off so it screwed up and it wouldnt uninstall lol. lets hope you can uninstall your epson software if you need to. the lesson is always read the manual step by step dont think you know it all!!!
     
  15. the Tester

    the Tester Registered Member

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    I don't know if this helps give an estimate,but my beta is due to expire in 55 days.

    I'm thinking that Eric from Sunbelt would have a better idea.
     
  16. Mystik_TK

    Mystik_TK Registered Member

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    Yeah, it actually cleared itself up. I tried restarting with the printer turned on, as the message said, and once I did that, Ink Monitor doesn't even attempt to start up. It's not even available in MSConfig, anymore. o_O Weird.

    Thanks. So, I guess once would assume that 2 months would be a reasonable time-frame.

    What's CounterSpy like currently in 1.5, anyway? The reason I ask is because I've heard a couple of people say it will be good once 2.0 is released, which makes it seem like it's not all that great at the moment.
     
  17. WSFuser

    WSFuser Registered Member

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    the only thing i dont like about teh current version 1.5 is that the resource usage is a bit high.
     
  18. the Tester

    the Tester Registered Member

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    That's the complaint I have heard too.
     
  19. farmerlee

    farmerlee Registered Member

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    I'd have to say the best real time protection would go to either spysweeper or spyware doctor, both are very good. Imo the edge goes to spyware doctor as its not as heavy on resources as spysweeper.

    Although for the last few weeks i have been trying trend micro antispyware on my main computer which seems to rate very good in many tests and compared to spyware doctor/spysweeper its very light on the resources.
     
    Last edited: Oct 8, 2006
  20. Tarq57

    Tarq57 Registered Member

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    Hi, New to Wilders Forums, another vote to Spyware Terminator. I know the parent company (Crawler) had a shady past, but the application has been de-listed on SpywareWarrior's "rogue spyware" list, and seems to be working well.
    Realtime protection, HIPS, frequent updates, and fairly good forum help. The developers seem to want to change their ways.
    Also use Winpatrol, Spyware Blaster and Guard. (+ a handfull of on demand scanners)
     
  21. Baldrick

    Baldrick Registered Member

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    Have been evaluating Spyware Terminator (currently the 1.6 beta version, 1.5 is the official 'stable' release BTW) and it appears to be excellent. It is super ligt, scans appear to be quick and thorough. Definition updates are frequent and it contains what appears to be a relatively complete Real Time Protection HIPS.

    SO another vote for ST.:D
     
  22. Mystik_TK

    Mystik_TK Registered Member

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    Thanks again for all of the info, everyone. It gives me plenty to think about. I'll have to make a definite decision as I really dislike trying to multiple software as I've become fairly paranoid when it comes to uninstallations and the opportunities for errors.

    I don't suppose there is a trustworthy, reliable anti-spyware comparison site out there, similar to AV-Comparitives? I've looked, but can't seem to find anything clear-cut.
     
  23. muf

    muf Registered Member

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    No. Afraid not. All the tests you'll find out there are subjective. You'll find some that have been tested by complete novices, by websites that are sponsored by one of the participating AS's(so guess which one won?). You'll find testers who are affiliated with certain AS's(how can you trust their results). You'll find tests done by the vendor themselves where they pit their AS against "other well respected AS's", and surprise surprise they always win those one's. I wonder why?

    The other thing you'll find dubious is the test condition's. Do they install a product, update it to the latest version, ask the vendor to confirm they have the latest version/build and signatures. Do they make sure all options are set to max. Do they then scan the test set, record the results, format the HDD and move on to the next application to test? Do they test only scanning or realtime protection. And if they test the realtime do they try to import it to the test pc in the way that the actual malware would try to get on the pc. i.e do they launch it from a CD or do they connect to a lan and try to simulate the malware getting in through the test pc's browser. And then they would have to test the scenario through different browsers as they are all different. Going back to launching from a CD, or even from a folder on the HDD. This is not how malware gets on your pc. I mean you are sat there surfing the net, a CD doesn't leap out from the webpage jumps in your CD/DVD drive and launch itself does it? Then you have the test set itself. How many is correct to test against? 10, 100, 1000, 10000 etc. And what malware should be in the test set. Something that's not been seen for 4 years or only malware from the last 12 months? And how about cleaning capability? Surely it's a waste of time if it can detect but not clean!!!

    And this is where i come back to subjective. Some people think it should be done one way, others think it should be another. Even when someone does a professional(seemingly) test, and for example VirusBulletin or AV-Comparitives you see people not agreeing with the methodology used. How many people complain about VirusBulletin and failing apps for false positives. Plenty of people don't take FP's too seriously as long as the AV detected the real malware. How many times have you seen tests where someone has said "I can't believe XXX scored lower than ZZZ? So you have peole doubting the results.

    All in all there are no tests out there for AS's that you could feel are reliable, and certainly none that you can honestly look at the results and choose your AS from. Use the reviews as a rough guide only. Try them yourself and form your own opinion. Is it known and respected and not classified as a rogue product? Does it run well on your system? Is it easy to use? Does it have advanced options that you need? And i'd also have 1+ free scanners installed to get a second(or more) opinion.

    muf
     
  24. farmerlee

    farmerlee Registered Member

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    I find it best to look at a wide range of tests/reviews to get a basic idea of what products are out there and what people are saying about them. Try out the ones which are recommended and see which one best suits your needs.
     
  25. WSFuser

    WSFuser Registered Member

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    unfortunately trialing teh software is the best way way to find what works best for you and your computer.

    if youre worried about poor or failed uninstallations, there several programs that can help overcome this (examples in parenthesis):

    uninstaller program (Total Uninstall)
    rollback program (FD-ISR)
    imaging program (True Image)
     
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