MS AntiSpyware vs Ad-Aware vs SpyBot

[+Mystic MVC]

good article...not even going to try Microsoft till the final release comes out...then i can make my opinion

585256162[/snapback]

Same here.

[YaKaLeDo]

MS Antispyware definitly has more functionality then Ad-Aware

you can try 'Spy Sweeper' which has evenmore then MS Antispyware and Ad Aware combined.

[thunderrooster]

Of course giant(now microsoft) antispyware, pestpatrol,spy sweeper and spyware doctor will detect more than spybot and adaware. Their database is huge, contains way more than spybot and adaware. That is also why they get trashed allot for false positives. I downloaded the ms beta antispyware and all it is as I can tell is giant redone with ms name all over it. The only way this can be good thing is if ms offers this for free. If they bought giant just to redo giant antispyware to put their name on it and sell it just like giant did then they wasted their time. If they offer this for free and add it to future versions of windows and make it available as a download it will help with the big spy/ad ware problem.

[BigBoy]

I'm not complaining and it wasn't posted by one person, i'm just saying that the credit goes to GIANT and not ms as ms only did some renaming and icon changes

585256595[/snapback]

You know - beg to differ. Giant was a solid product, yes. But let me tell ya - it had T - O - N - S of bugs. Goes to show that not only MS software has bugs. It was actually amazing, the amount of little bugs the software had and was commercial. I don't think MS would release it ever as it was then, not even as Beta. I have used both.

So - MS folks are doing a LOT more than chaning a few icons. My guess is that the next update will be much more polished.

[digen]

Nice read there.I'm impressed but credit certainly goes to giant.period

[PseudoRandomDragon]

You know - beg to differ. Giant was a solid product, yes. But let me tell ya - it had T - O - N - S of bugs.

585256714[/snapback]

If it has tons of bugs, then how come I used it on 5 different computers without finding a single one?

[revvo]

Yeah good read.

What's funny is the people I forced to use firefox don't ever get spyware anymore. What a tool huh. The others use IE and still get dozens of spyware that they love to remove with GIANT or whichever. That suits me fine :D

[Vieira]

I completely agree with slimy.

All the hard working was made by the Giant, and the Microsoft now is who gets the credits. The Giant was probably one of the best anti-spyware developers , but sometimes it is enough be the best. The most of people used Ad-aware because it was the most famous. The same it is happenig with the Norton. All people use it, because it is most famous, what it doesn't mean that is the best. But one thing Microsoft did well: It knews to look for well, and it finished for finding a program so good, but that nobody knew.

PS: Kev: Agree with you too. When I start using Firefox, my problems with spyware just end.

Sorry for my bad English. Hope you understand what I want to say.

Edited January 8, 2005 by Vi3ir4

[IceDogg]

This would lead me to believe they don't plain on selling it any time soon. I hope this is the case. I think it should be free as well. I think MS can afford it. :whistle:

[em3]

Why use a spyware sweeper program like Spybot or MS Antispyware when you can use SpywareBlaser. It prevents spyware from being installed in the first place. When I try other programs to scan my computer for spyware the results are always zero. But maybe it is also because I use Firefox.

[S.MULLA]

i've used spybot, adware, MS antispyware and then used spysweeper; and spysweeper found much more spyware after scanning the other 3. :/

i just use spysweeper now.. :yes:

[thunderrooster]

Just using firefox dont make you safe. It helps though. You still get if from programs that you install and firefox cant and wont stop programs from installing spyware. I agree with YaKaLeDo. There is products out there that will detect more than ms antispware. I just ran pestpatrol and it fount more than ms antispyware. I think giant did do all the work. Ms is just putting thier name on it. If there is any bugs in it they might fix it dont know. But giant antispware did all the work they made it not microsoft. It got to be one of the best spy/adware scanners cuase of giant's work not ms's. The only reason for this hype is cuase ms is so big and now they have it. I think spybot and adaware is a must have. There is no one substitute not even buying one of them paid programs. You still need spybot and adaware bottom line. If you want real protection in my opinion you have to have spybot and adaware then if you choose a paid one, just dont buy a ripp off program. And something else that helps is SpywareBlaster and SpywareGuard.

[Wolfie.Zero]

I've used Ad-Aware SE before this, and all it ever found was tracking cookies. Now I got MS Anti Spyware, it found a load of other programs on my PC, and since cleaning up, has started to run a hell load smoother. This is a good product, kinda makes up for the crap with Internet Expolorer. Even though they bought up GIANT, they bought up the right firm and have shown us about a good product. If they keep it free, then i will be happy, if not, better be cheap for us students. ;)

[thunderrooster]

Just be carefull not everything it finds is legit. Like I siad in the other post them piad programs can and does have false positives including ms antispware. I have heard some horror false positive stories. About the only safe once in a blue moon false positives products is of course spybot and adaware.

[Nelsinho]

thanks for the info dude (Y)

[Rapier]

Why does it classify KaZaA as Moderate and Plus! as High ?:|

http://www.<< spam >>/images/antispyware...sultsdetail.gif

[Andrew Lyle Global Moderator]

ahh the page of flexibeta is down... sux0rs.

i used microsofts beta and it worked great! i found things ad-aware and spybot missed... GREAT JOB MICROSOFT!

[Slimy]

GREAT JOB MICROSOFT!

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lol, after what i said i find this a very ironic thing to say, but it's ok, he didn't read teh thread, still, i agree to ms buying one of the better companies, kudos

anyways, what i currently use is spywareblaster, winpatrol, adaware se personal (all in my sig) and ms antispyware... i think many things are gonna change tho, hopefully i'll be able to remove winpatrol if ms antispyware's memory footprint gets smaller... wonder if ms will want to take time to do that :wacko:

[Samoa]

Funny how MS spyware stuff isn't free, considering it's MS's fault to begin with. They provide the code, which allows others to manipulate it harming us, then MS charges us to correct that harm. :wacko: Sound like a maffia or what?

[kainashi]

microsoft is going to release two versions of this, right? a free, stripped down one and a pay for version with extra features?

[Slimy]

^ interesting info kanashi, mind telling us where u heard that? on neowin?

[Herby]

I use Hitman Pro, it's free but it's only available in Dutch. :/

Hitman Pro is the ultimate spyware removal tool. It is a skin for a number of established spyware and adware cleaning and protectionprograms. The user only needs to administer the settings in the Hitman Pro shell. Then the shell wil perform the external programs to automatically run the jobs. Hitman Pro contains also a number of simple passive protection options, making it difficult for spyware to run.

It requires Microsoft Windows XP (or Windows 2000)

Unique qualities Hitman Pro:

? Automatically runs external software:

- Ad-Aware SE 6.2 (v1.05)

- Webroot SpySweeper 3

- Spybot Search & Destroy 1.3

- SpywareBlaster 3.2

- McAfee Stinger

? The freeware versions of the external software have been put together in one installer, together with the newest updates, so that an infected standalone machine can be cleaned

? Downloads automatic the newest updates, even if the external software doesn't support this!

? Checking of the right settings for the external software

? Generates a Rapport

Download Hitman Pro 1.7.5

[Veedems Veteran]

In the end, for someone like me, the subscription fee is the determining factor. I'll stick with the current free alternatives.

[Slimy]

I use Hitman Pro, it's free but it's only available in Dutch. :/

Hitman Pro is the ultimate spyware removal tool. It is a skin for a number of established spyware and adware cleaning and protectionprograms. The user only needs to administer the settings in the Hitman Pro shell. Then the shell wil perform the external programs to automatically run the jobs. Hitman Pro contains also a number of simple passive protection options, making it difficult for spyware to run.

It requires Microsoft Windows XP (or Windows 2000)

Unique qualities Hitman Pro:

? Automatically runs external software:

- Ad-Aware SE 6.2 (v1.05)

- Webroot SpySweeper 3

- Spybot Search & Destroy 1.3

- SpywareBlaster 3.2

- McAfee Stinger

? The freeware versions of the external software have been put together in one installer, together with the newest updates, so that an infected standalone machine can be cleaned

? Downloads automatic the newest updates, even if the external software doesn't support this!

? Checking of the right settings for the external software

? Generates a Rapport

Download Hitman Pro 1.7.5

585258456[/snapback]

i was looking around for an english version, some1 mentioned it is in the future plans and found out that the creator of the program, Mark, wasn't allowed to release such a program and the companies were trying to contact him about it... still too bad it's not i:penglish :p

[Mastertech]

MS Antispyware is ok but it produces false positives, similiar to Pest Patrol. I suspect the tester did not use the latest Beta of Spybot v1.4 B2 with all the latest updates? Also the actual number of Spyware infections a program detects can be misleading since some group them together while others count every single file and registry key. Spybot groups all the files and registry keys for one infection, so its detection rate looks lower then it is. The other thing is how MS Antispyware incorrectly labels remote connect software and certain P2P programs as spyware. This artificially inflates the detection results.

A real test would require better methods. Every system I ran this on that had Ad-aware v1.05 SE and Spybot v1.4 B2 both fully updated, MS Antispyware did not find any new infections. In one or two cases it found a left over registry key or two from files that were removed. Similar to how uninstalled applications leave registry entries behind. Thus the system was not infected but MS Antispyware said it was. These sort of false positives can produce unnecessary panic.

The big False Positive it found on all machines is "Search Squire". It was identifying the Immunized registry entry Spybot made as a Search Squire infection. Not good. It looks like this needs some more work.