Guest Andrea Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 What's the best FREE anti-spyware downloads out there?? So far I have tried the AVG and Windows Defender. Still having trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigmoss Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 Spybot http://www.download.com/3000-8022_4-10743107.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowtechTurkeyHunter Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 adaware and spybot both available at download.com and both 100% free. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TreeStandBowHunter Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 Some times free stuff isin't that good. I go the extra distance and buy mine. Have never had any trouble. Computers are too expensive to take a chance on free stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebeilgard Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 things that are free are usually worth it.... imho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigmoss Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 I own 2 IT companies and we use spybot all the time and it works great, finds allot of stuff others apps wont. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master_Chief Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 Not that it is Spyware or anything but my Mac doesn't have these issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c_lou Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 Spybot and Adaware are the 2 that I use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randyman Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 Spybot and Adaware are the 2 that I use. Same here. Both are free and widely regarded as some of the best regardless of price. Just because you paid for something, it doesn't mean it's better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michihunter Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 Used Spybot and AdAware for years. Found that Ewido http://majorgeeks.com/downloadget.php?id=4677&file=10&evp=7368947188a9b94a4044a9a8b255d2fa could find things those two could not. Needless to say, you should always run multiple spyware programs to get entirely clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckee Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 It ain't free, but PC doctor(Spyware doctor) is the best program out there IMO. I got 5 trojans on my PC yesterday, and it almost crashed on me. I went into safe mode (finally) and got it all cleaned up ...whew It also picked up over 250 other threats and zapped them as well. My Norton missed it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andrea Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 Downloading spybot now.....holy cow this is taking FOR-EVER. Lord forgive me, but I hate hackers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddyboman Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 I have to agree with Spybot...Good free stuff :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 Be careful what you download Andrea, some might screw up your computer worse. AVG had an anit spyware program, not sure if it is still available or not, the updates are still available manually on that free software. Currently primarily using trend micros stuff on my computer, came in a software package called fix it utilities. Have AVG free anti spyware and antivirus loaded too. Used to use spybot search and destroy and adaware on my old computer, never loaded either on this new one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckee Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 Be careful what you download Andrea, some might screw up your computer worse. Yep, some of those free anti-spyware programs are actually spyware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michihunter Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 Be careful what you download Andrea, some might screw up your computer worse. AVG had an anit spyware program, not sure if it is still available or not, the updates are still available manually on that free software. Currently primarily using trend micros stuff on my computer, came in a software package called fix it utilities. Have AVG free anti spyware and antivirus loaded too. Used to use spybot search and destroy and adaware on my old computer, never loaded either on this new one. Trend Micro's Spy Subtract is another GREAT program and is available free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 Yep, some of those free anti-spyware programs are actually spyware. Not only that Steve, but some will remove stuff from your computer. Had an issue a few years ago on my old compaq, and did some checking and thought one of those free programs sounded good. The free program said I had a keylogger on the computer which seemed possible, so I ran the program. Ended up losing everything in my outlook express, my address book and several saved emails with pic attachments that I had not backed up. If it were me, I would buy something that you can trust, and not the junk from Mcafee, not only will it likely not fix your problems, but they will likely not help you at their customer service, at least they did not help resolve my problems after I was stuck with software I purchased from them that did not help me. Would also strongly suggest backing up anything that is important prior to running any of these programs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 Try Zone Alarm Security Suite. $60 can be installed on three PCS. Fire wall stops hackers cold, captures their IP address and they quit trying. Don't think you're getting hacked? This software will flat open your eyes. It also catches programs trying to use your email without permission. This is a common thing Trojans try to do. Virus Protection Spyware Protection You can also run some of the free online scans like Ewido, Bitdefender and AVG if you suspect issues. Never install multiple virus softwares on the same computer to run simultaneously. This actually results is less protection instead of more because they disable some of each others features to actually run together. Install one only. Then occasional free online scans are OK. Bottomline, NOBODIES product catches absolutely everything. Norton is probably the very closest to being the most complete. However, the background processes their packages run can slow things down as much as the infections you're trying to avoid. Norton does not play well with ZoneAlarms fire wall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michihunter Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 Try Zone Alarm Security Suite. $60 can be installed on three PCS. Fire wall stops hackers cold, captures their IP address and they quit trying. Don't think you're getting hacked? This software will flat open your eyes. It also catches programs trying to use your email without permission. This is a common thing Trojans try to do. Virus Protection Spyware Protection You can also run some of the free online scans like Ewido, Bitdefender and AVG if you suspect issues. Never install multiple virus softwares on the same computer to run simultaneously. This actually results is less protection instead of more because they disable some of each others features to actually run together. Install one only. Then occasional free online scans are OK. Bottomline, NOBODIES product catches absolutely everything. Norton is probably the very closest to being the most complete. However, the background processes their packages run can slow things down as much as the infections you're trying to avoid. Norton does not play well with ZoneAlarms fire wall. Hate to say this but Nortons is about the worst I've ever dealt with. Especially when it comes to customer service. I actually bought the System Works and wish I'd have saved my money due to it's ineptness. Uninstall took a VERY long time trying to get it totally removed from my system. Very OVERRATED and definitely not worth the money. I do however agree about "antivirus" programs not being run simultaneously. But not "spyware" programs. Two seperate entities there. The free AVG antivirus is a VERY good program and after using it for the last 3 yrs virus free, I can recommend it without hesitation . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowJoe Posted November 2, 2007 Report Share Posted November 2, 2007 Here's the setup I'm running and I have had no viruses in 3 years on two different computers. AVG Free Ad-Aware PE (Free) Windows Firewall (Already on your computer) Bit Defender Online Virus Scan. First and foremost, you have to uninstall all of your current anti-virus and firewall protection software. It will conflict with what you are putting on there. I activated my Windows Firewall before I ever installed any of the free downloads. Then I installed the free edition of AVG Free, then I installed Ad-Aware PE and then I went to Google and searched for "online virus scan". Bit Defender is the third one down but you can only use it if you are using Internet Explorer. Hope I helped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andrea Posted November 2, 2007 Report Share Posted November 2, 2007 I am using Spybot now. Already had AVG and it apparently isn't that great. Norton wasn't doing it's job either. I cannot use Internet Explorer now. Am using Firefox. And can't use Google either. Using Ask.com now. I won't be clicking on anymore links that I am not familiar with that's for sure!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckee Posted November 2, 2007 Report Share Posted November 2, 2007 I am using Spybot now. Already had AVG and it apparently isn't that great. Norton wasn't doing it's job either. I cannot use Internet Explorer now. Am using Firefox. And can't use Google either. Using Ask.com now. I won't be clicking on anymore links that I am not familiar with that's for sure!!!! We got sucked in good Andrea. I mean, who wouldn't click on a video clip of a so-called baby Bigfoot...eh :rolleyes: It was that active X we had to download first that did all the nasty stuff. My Norton scan picked up nothing, even after I was infected. I haven't been happy at all with that Norton 2006. Piece of garbage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo Posted November 2, 2007 Report Share Posted November 2, 2007 Sounds a lot like the Webthunder ActiveX virus. You get it and it will download a lot more than the active x control. Actually Symantec identified this one back in August this year. They are the folks that make Norton. So I don't know why unless your virus patterns aren't up to date it would have missed it in a scan. Honestly, I'm little puzzled by that. Now I have seen spywares and viruses specifically attack Norton (and other anti-bug packages as well) these attacks thwart subsequent updates, turn off key processes or disable a specific feature of the software (like email scanning for instance). So specifically if you got errors in your update report or notice some features turned off you thought you turned on, you may have yet another infection. Also I can't emphasize enough how many of these bugs out there worm into the system restore and use that to reinfect the computer after your scan supposedly "cleaned" it. Always if the scan finds a bug. Turn off system restore POWER down the computer. (just a reboot won't cut it) Boot up and scan again If you're clean, turn system restore back on. If you still have the infection search you're Antivirus softwares websites for specific removal tools. Nobodies package I know of prevents you from downloading an Active X you give the computer permission to. There really is no magic bullet I know of. Sorry, wish there was a simple answer. I know Mac Users claim to be immune. But in todays day and age IMO that's really asking for it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruttinbuc Posted November 3, 2007 Report Share Posted November 3, 2007 Andrea, there are a lot of free help sites out there that will help you clean up the mess. www.majorgeeks.com is one of the best! they straightened me out big time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TreeStandBowHunter Posted November 3, 2007 Report Share Posted November 3, 2007 Being an Information Assurance bubba I can tell you the number one reason why people (The ones that have the Anti-Virus software already installed) get a virus or whatever is because they fail to update their current anti-virus software and keep it current with updates. People often get annoyed a couple times a week when they are using their computer and the little update icon flashes saying that an update is available. Most people just ignore them. Norton is pretty good if it is kept updated;). The best defense is to make sure you know what you are clicking. I never click on a link that I don't know is trust worthy. Also if I don't know the email sender, I don't open up any emails either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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