spyware

[talldude123]

please put down which anti-spyware program you think is the best. I am scared of downloading one that will f*** up my computer

 

[Trotter]

What have you downloaded that screwed the pooch?

I go with Ad Aware, Spybot, and Microsoft AntiSpyware. All are free, and safe.

MS AntiSpy can hang sometimes, and pull your comp down to a crawl. If it does, boot to safe mode, uninstall it, reboot, and reinstall. It's the same as any MS product in that it can become corrupt...

You can also go to http://housecall.trendmicro.com/ and use TrendMicro's online spyware scanner. They also have an online virus scanner you can use there as well. Both are free.

 

[talldude123]

i will install the microsoft antispyware. it seems to be reliable

 

[Trotter]

Get all three. Ad Aware and Spybot are available on MajorGeeks.

By using all three, you get pretty good coverage (nothing is perfect). All three work a little different from the others.

 

[talldude123]

ok. do i have to have all 3 running in the background? (it would guzzle memory i imagine)

 

[Tyler1989]

Webroot

 

[talldude123]

i also just downloaded the yahoo toolbar, it has a little spyware add-on and has detected more spyware than microsoft and spybot.

 

[Ste]

ok. do i have to have all 3 running in the background? (it would guzzle memory i imagine)

Not all spyware programs run in the background. Most, at least the ones I use, are just scaners, you open them when u need them, when your done you close them and they do not run in back ground.

I use.
AVG
Aware SE Personnel
Spybot Search a& destroy
SpywareBlaster
Microsoft Antispyware Beta

of which AVG and spybot are the only ones that run in background.

 

[Tyler1989]

AVG was once free... Is it still free I cannot find the download link anymore?

 

[Ste]

Its still free, I don't have Link though, I keep the installer programs for all the free ones i use on a USB device.