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Anti Spyware/Adware Utilities

Posted: March 5, 2008, 8:49 pm
by Lynxe
I've been doing some hunting for a couple of anti spyware/adware utilities to install on this machine. Every site I go to for "rankings" says something different (marketing *grumble*).

Time to turn to you guru's - what should I go for?

Re: Anti Spyware/Adware Utilities

Posted: March 5, 2008, 9:04 pm
by Fash
There's a lot of snake oil out there...

Trick is to not get spy/adware in the first place... Don't use IE or click shit you shouldn't be clicking, and stay away from lame P2P clients.

If you want to spend money on protection, buy Acronis True Image Home, that way you're always able to restore to a good state. It is one of the few must-haves.

Re: Anti Spyware/Adware Utilities

Posted: March 5, 2008, 9:19 pm
by Boogahz

Re: Anti Spyware/Adware Utilities

Posted: March 5, 2008, 9:21 pm
by valryte
...and don't fall into a fall sense of security thinking that using Firefox will make you oblivious to spyware/adware...Regardless of the browser that you use, just "don't click shit you shouldn't be clicking".

Re: Anti Spyware/Adware Utilities

Posted: March 5, 2008, 9:43 pm
by Animalor
Fash wrote:... Don't use IE ...
That argument became completely invalid on IE6 when Windows XP SP2 came out and on IE7.
Fash wrote:..or click shit you shouldn't be clicking
That one is the true wisdom.

Install ActiveX controls only when absolutely necessary. Free software, unless it's usually from a ridiculously rich company, will be packed with Adware.

I personally only have Windows Defender installed on my PC. Haven't had adware in years.

Re: Anti Spyware/Adware Utilities

Posted: March 5, 2008, 10:28 pm
by Fash
Animalor wrote:That argument became completely invalid on IE6 when Windows XP SP2 came out and on IE7.
completely? :lol:

Re: Anti Spyware/Adware Utilities

Posted: March 6, 2008, 12:40 pm
by Lynxe
For the record, I don't click shit I shouldn't be... but I have kids that are just old enough to click shit yet young enough not to know what they shouldn't click :)
Boogahz wrote:See Sticky post!
GOGOGO!
http://www.veeshanvault.org/forums/view ... =25&t=8962
That post ranges from April 2004 to Dec 2005 Boo. I was hoping for some more current advice :wink:

Re: Anti Spyware/Adware Utilities

Posted: March 6, 2008, 2:02 pm
by miir
Lynxe wrote:For the record, I don't click shit I shouldn't be... but I have kids that are just old enough to click shit yet young enough not to know what they shouldn't click :)
IE7, Vista UAC and a good anti-virus/spyware program like Mcafee should be all you need.

Re: Anti Spyware/Adware Utilities

Posted: March 6, 2008, 8:47 pm
by Aabidano
miir wrote: a good anti-virus/spyware program like Mcafee
I like AVG enough to pay for it, and have had good results from Avast as well. McAfee, while effective is way too bloated.

Re: Anti Spyware/Adware Utilities

Posted: March 6, 2008, 9:07 pm
by Fash
Aabidano wrote:McAfee, while effective is way too bloated.
I agree on the home versions.. I use McAfee Enterprise 8.5i and I think it's the least bloated that I've seen. I'll have to look at AVG.

Re: Anti Spyware/Adware Utilities

Posted: March 7, 2008, 2:45 am
by Truant
Lynxe wrote:For the record, I don't click shit I shouldn't be... but I have kids that are just old enough to click shit yet young enough not to know what they shouldn't click :)
Boogahz wrote:See Sticky post!
GOGOGO!
http://www.veeshanvault.org/forums/view ... =25&t=8962
That post ranges from April 2004 to Dec 2005 Boo. I was hoping for some more current advice :wink:
The stuff in there is still fantastic.
I still use adaware and spybot S&D

Re: Anti Spyware/Adware Utilities

Posted: March 7, 2008, 2:57 am
by Spang
I still use Ad-Aware

Spybot never found anything after Ad-Aware, so I stopped using it.

I also found out that Microsoft Defender isn't very good. I would run it, and then run Ad-Aware. Ad-Aware found everything MS Defender couldn't find. MS Defender never found anything.

Re: Anti Spyware/Adware Utilities

Posted: March 7, 2008, 10:06 am
by Aabidano
Stopped using spybot and ad-aware when my AV began including those features.