Best Adware/Virus Scanner/Blocker combo?

A

aces155

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 31, 2005
Messages
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So when I installed my new PC and ran Norton Internet Security everything was good for a few days. Now when I boot up NIS takes about 2 minutes to get rolling. Now my machine is about as powerful as you can get. Fx-60 on an A8n32-sli deluxe, with 4GB of DDR355 Ram so it is not the hardware.

I uninstalled NIS yesterday and now I have some spyware! What is the best free or almost free Virus and Adware scanners on the market? By Best I rank first low resource usage and second protection.
Thanks!
 
i have dealt with Spybot Search and Destroy as well as Adaware.. both these programs are good but they dont detect EVERYTHING. iam having this problem with stuff thats not getting detected. iam looking for a really good solution besides those two.
 
][V][ ZeRo ][V][ said:
i have dealt with Spybot Search and Destroy as well as Adaware.. both these programs are good but they dont detect EVERYTHING. iam having this problem with stuff thats not getting detected. iam looking for a really good solution besides those two.
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try hijackthis http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=941741 and make sure you have the latest reference file for adaware and spybot
 
Anything with the name Norton in it sucks.

NOD32 will detect almost every virus/worm and a good bit of spyware. Spybot for whatever it doesn't pick up. If you gotta have free AV software, Avast! Home Edition is good.

However, use Firefox or Opera and almost all your spyware problems will go away.
 
For antivirus...IMO (and many others who know about antivirus programs ) Esets NOD32 is one of the best antivirus programs out there. On top of being strong in viri/worms...it's also quite strong in ad/spyware preventin/detection...through it's IMON module (internet module). It's also very well known for being lightweight and fast. Currently NOD32 does not have an internet suite..meaning firewall protection. With the soon to be released version 3.0 though (soon...real soon)..they will have a total package.

Kapersky is also one of the best out there...excellent detection rates, I'd say it's detection rates are a whisker above NOD32 even. It's a tad bit heavier...prior versions hada bad reputation for slowing down PCs substantially...however to be fair...their most recent version is reported to be very light...nearly as light as NOD32. Kapersky also has a full internet protection suite (AV/firewall).

Bitdefender is another very good one.

But...even though some of the better antivirus programs are getting better at ad/spyware detection, you should still use several tools to "layer" your protection.

1) Windows Updates
2) Keep your PC behind a router/NAT firewall
3) Never ever leave your local Administrator password <blank>....sooooo much bad stuff is coded to install itself into your system assuming this.
4) If you must surf bad websites (porn/warez, etc)...use an alternative browser. Opera is my favorite, Firefox is also fairly safe (although it's security issues are rising since it's gained in popularity so much)

Now...for my recommendations of anti-ad/spyware programs.....
*CCleaner (short for Crap Cleaner)..the first thing you want to run...it's a deep temp file remover...must more thorough than Windows Cleanup. Run this first...it removes sooo many temp internet files it will cut your scan/removal times in 1/2 with the tools you'll be using below.
*Spywareblaster...not a removal tool, but think of it more as a "condom for your webbrowser". Protects IE and FF. Install, update, protect. It blocks a LOOOOT of stuff from being installed. Every now and then manually update it.
*Spybot Search and Destroy...install, update, immunize, then scan and remove. Every now and then manually update and re-immunize it. The free version both removes, and does some blocking. I don't use or like the tea-helper registry protection though. Medium in detection rates.
*Adaware...install, update, scan, remove. The free version only removes. Medium in detection rates.
*Microsoft Defender (formerly known as Microsoft Antispyware...which prior to Microsoft purchasing it was Giant Antispyware). Free...install, update, scan, remove. Also has realtime protection. Pretty decent in detection rates.
*Ewido...an excellent version, pretty much the best in detection and removal out there...you can download a free trial which you can install and run for something like 12 days. It's excellent..use it to clean up an infected system.
*Webroots Spysweeper is also an excellent program, the real time protection is a bit heavy...slows your system down a bit..but excellent for removing infected systems. However...I "think" they recently pulled their free version...they used to have a 12 or 15 day trial you could download and clean systems with.

On heavily infected systems, if running WinXP don't forget to disable system restore first.
 
I use bsafe for my firewall and antivirus (they use sophous) seem pretty good. I use spyware doctor for my antispyware, its the only program Ive used that has gotten everthing I have ran into. Bsafe is also an internet filter. it can be easily disabled but it will block bad pop ups, even if you get the popup the program will not let its contents run.
 
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