Free AntiSpyware Programs - Comments Page 1

unless my eyes deceived me, the most important spyware protection was not included -- Spywareblaster. That along with the immunization of Spybot S & D will do the job completely and will make the use of Malwarebytes and SuperAntiSpyware almost superfluous but should be kept just in case something comes out and a user misses doing an update which normally occurs for Spywareblaster about every 7- 10 days which means there could be gaps in protection.

A couple of other programs users might wish to have available to use will be Dr. Web CureIt, Runscanner and Stinger. ComboFix should also be at least downloaded and ready to use if all else fails to remove an infection.

It's not free but close to it. Sunbelt software out of Florida offers an exceptional, non intrusive, combined anti-virus & adware/spyware program call Vipre. It is reasonably priced (I paid $40.00 for two PC's) and uses very low resources. It is sold only by downloading, no retail discs. You can download a free 15 day trial to see if you like it. I have both Vipre and their firewall and catch this, 800 phone support Monday - Friday with live people in U.S. Google Vipre and read the accolades of this software and say good bye to slow running, bother me programs like Norton & McAfee.

Bob, What happened to AVG and Avast!? You used to recommend those I believe.

EDITOR'S NOTE: AVG and Avast are anti-VIRUS programs, which I do recommend. But this article was specifically about anti-SPYWARE stuff.

I have used Spyware Blaster for several years and have been very satisfied with it's ability to keep out spyware. I do have to update, which I do every few days to keep the database current. It updates very quickly as well. I also have Ad-Aware installed and run it only occationally but does take a while to do it's scan.

You said "if you're really concerned about possible spyware lurking on your system, try running the immediate scan portion of another tool. Don't turn two real-time spyware scanners loose at the same time, since they can fight and slow down your system."
How do I accomplish that? As soon as I load a second anti-virus program, the two are runing together. How do I make the second one just use the immediate portion when I want it, and not run in parallel with the first program?
thanks.

EDITOR'S NOTE: First, note that this applies to anti-SPYWARE programs, not anti-virus. Now to your point, some spyware tools (Windows Defender for example) give you the option to turn off the real-time scanning. If your does not, (or if the second tool doesn't give you "manual scan only" option) you may need to uninstall one before trying a second tool.

Life has taught me that there is no free lunch. So I'm left with the question, "where's the hook?" Who is paying for all this?? As a rule of thumb all articles about something that is "Free" should explain how that is possible.

I greatly appreciate your evaluation of the effectiveness of these tools, but I believe the reviews should also evaluate the "cost" for "free" stuff.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Nothing sinister. There's usually a free basic version, and a paid version with extra features. They hope a certain percentage of the free users will upgrade and pay.

Spyware Doctor by PCTools is free to download and use, but it will not remove any malware without payment of an annual subscription fee.

I'd also recommend the free Hijackthis, now owned by Trend Micro. This is a great tool for identifying possible malware for those willing to take the time to learn how to use it. If nothing else, it is pretty simple to run a scan, create a log and post the log to a HijackThis forum for expert analysis and advice on malware removal. There are also automatic online analyzers available, which can save a lot of time by identifying known good processes.

BT, the link to Windows Defender is broken - this one takes you to the main WD page http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/defender/default.mspx

Defender is bad
MBAM is great
All the others are good
SAS is one of the best

EDITOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the awesome, insightful analysis!

I agree that that chosing just one, may be a little short sighted.

We regularly install Spybot for it's immunization function (although frankly it's irritating as hell when it flags other products as malicious) and MBAM, which I have found to be the best of the pack - ever!