anti-malware:
- Sunbelt CounterSpy

protection:
- Spybot Search & Destroy
- Lavasoft Ad-Aware Personal

AV sophos

@Black Wolf:
Jan who?

To keep your comp secure you have to keep it updated. Slowdowns can be fixed by using for example the TCPIP-patch and doing normal maintenance like defragmenting.

Your router has got some basic firewall protection (NAT), which is enough in most cases. You can use one of the recommended software firewalls to get both in- and outgoing protection.

NOD32 is considered one of the best antivirus progs today, so yes it's good enough.
Many of the more skilled people don't use any antivirus because they don't need it.

The best protection against malware, virus and similar is knowledge and skills.

Oops... Fixed aboveI think nLite has this option, right?I'm just using Windows Default Defragmenter and c leanerThis is my NAT page in router control panel,

and the guy from ISP set it to be disabled, I'm using a static or real IP, I do not know if disabling NAT is kinda related to static or real IP or not, but I'm very interested to follow your advise, so more info is much appreciated. and what simple one you recommend for a newbie one like me, because I've tried outpost fire wall and found millions of messages and alerts to deal with which was like HELL so I removed it and reinstall a clean XP, so what do you think man!?Sure this is not me man, I think it will be after 5 years from now

I agree, but you yourself use it, don't you?

Indeed I do; though I am eager to find an alternative or even write one if I can learn more Delphi.

-AdAware
-Nod 32
-CCleaner
-HijackThis
-Killbox
and I just test Ewido Anti-Spyware, seems to be good..

I would gladly switch. I would switch to TuneUp's DiskCleaner and RegCleaner, but Cleaner cleans out program junk, not just windows, which TuneUp doesn't do.

Do you still use AVG Anti-Spyware? I really don't like it, nor do I think its needed in any Anti-Malware package.

Also, I don't need Firetune as TuneUp tunes up Firefox as well. Also, I really have never seen the bonus to having Thunderbird. All the other stuff in your Pro kit I agree with. You should put Avast in there, as well as the firewall that comes out best in the tests.

AVG Anti-Spyware may work well, but I'm considering replacing it for Windows Defender or removing it altogether. AVG Anti-Spyware has an unresolved issue with the memory cleaning. It actually acts like a memory defragment utility when it scans the memory which results in poor performance.

I find that Firetune covers a better spectrum for tweaking Firefox.

The problem about putting a firewall in is that not everyone needs or wants a firewall; though many people use Outlook or a very similar email client and may actually need Thunderbird as a better alternative.

Get rid of it altogether. Its just not needed, and WD is appalling IMO.

I don't think so. I mean, for freeware, I can understand it being there, of course. But if you have TuneUp Utilities, it isn't needed, I got rid of Firetune, used TuneUps tweaker, and the speed is as god as it was with Firetune. But yeh, as you're promoting freeware, not shareware, keep it.

Maybe. I think its worth putting Comodo in there. And definitely Avast.

As an alternative sure. But most people just use an online email account, Windows Live Mail is brilliant.

A combination of:

-Ad-Aware
-Spybot S&D
-Spyware Blaster
-My professional tech mind

...and Kaspersky AV of course

None of the above. Stopped using signature/reference file based antispyware apps a few years ago. Not of them can be counted on to catch everything, no matter how many you run. Been involved in too many disputes with their vendors over what should or shouldn't be targeted.
I use System Safety Monitor to prevent all unwanted processes and installers from running. When tightly configured, it can prevent most any malware from running or installing.
Rick

I use the two most powerful Anti-Malware tools available in the market today..


























Knowledge and Common Sense!

Spybot S&D
Adaware
Windows Defender
CCleaner

MOST importantly knowledge & common sence!

I think this "common sense" bit needs explaining. We seek info, we go to the site, if it's a dodgy site, and something nasty is picked up, the user is not to blame, or necessarily without common sense. If you're talking about sex sites, OK, but expected good sites and offered progs can hold problems. For instance, that free weather bar offered by Google, is, I think, dodgy. I accidentally clicked to accept installation. I managed to stop it installing fully, but it dumped three shortcuts on my desktop - one for "Sexy chat". They were all internet shortcuts. Then I ran Spybot and it found 5 new "threats" - all tracking cookies, one of which had 139 entries. They were not there before - I had checked immediately before going online.

Nowadays, you can do nothing without any given program wanting to access the internet. Installation programs on cover disks often actually aren't - they are just internet shortcuts to the real installation prog. I only know this because Zone Alarm tells me. Most users without a firewall - that they can actually use - won't have a clue. And why does Word want to go online? I'm only typing a letter. And the plague of automatic updates - always defaulted to On, is further wresting control from the user.

I've only ever had one virus, and that was 20+ years ago, but, according to Spybot, I am regularly picking up Spyware. I don't do any obviously dodgy sites. Funnily enough, I don't suffer from pop-ups either.

One post mentioned Agnitum. I tried the freebie, and discovered that it held a list of all my visited sites - the full history, which, try as I may, I could neither edit nor delete. I emailed them for an explanation - it seemed a bit daft, a security program that would remove history from Windows, but maintain its own - they did not reply. Dodgy?

Most users don't know what others are up to, and cannot be expected to, which is why we come here, and buy magazines.

A list of clearly-written basic guidelines for safe-surfing would be welcome, so that common sense can be the gift of all. So would a list of the dangers. What's the difference between spyware and malware, and do we need different progs to clean them up? And if they are just modified cookies, how come they're getting past our firewalls?

I've got an old version of Zone Alarm and AVG, and use Spybot after a session. I've also got an image of my C: drive which I reinstall immediately if I'm worried, and from time to time generally.
Cheers.

Spybot S&D with the SD helper enabled is what I recommend to clients. However Windows Defender's more proactive nature is a nice feature, and it hasn't annoyed me once on 6mo of use...So I have started recommending that as of late.

SUPERAntiSpyware

Sorry, Windows Defender don't support Windows 2000!

At the time of the post, it was working with Windows 2000.

You're correct. Microsoft thinks that we're gonna cough up money for a later version of Windows because they tricked people (at least n00bies) into believing that malware removal is impossible with Windows 2000!

I'd have to say my favs are Hijack This and BitDefender.
Hijack This is powerful and yet a lil tedious but dependable.
BitDefender is my first all-in-one and I like it so far.

Ad Ware Pro SE and Spy Bot S&D

Detection And Removal

Autoruns
Rootkit Revealer+regdelnull (sysinternals)
Spybot S&D (particularly the startup tool)
Ad-Aware SE Pro
Registry Workshop
ShellExView
Procmon
Process Explorer
Hijack This (merjin)
2nd Computer - Google
Safe Mode
CMD.exe
Grey Matter
Script to clean /temp and browser caches with securedel (sysinternals)

Anti-Virus

Symantec AV Corp Edition v10 (myself)
Nod32 (others)

Prevention

Firefox+NoScript+AdBlockPro+Delete Cookies on exit setting
Safe Surfing Habits (No pr0n or warez! duh!)

Firewall

Jetico

other

Windows Update
keeping other apps+plugins updated (java runtime, flash etc)

Spyware Doctor is good Anti-mailware and spyware cleaner.

OK, as I voted for a combination, I should also explain a bit.

First off, I'm using Win98SE (with lots of official/unofficial/manual upgrades). In time, I've had a few light infections, mostly at the beginning of my Internet adventure.

Then, I got a good hang of the common sense, although still surfing dangerous places. But... at one point I stumbled into Ad-Aware, which started showing me the mistakes I've made and their results. After that, I also stumbled into Spyware Blaster.

Both of those tools - the latter preventing malware installation and the former cleaning up whatever managed to slip in - helped me keep my system sane.

Few years ago I also found HijackThis, who introduced me to the world of deeply buried registry keys; not much of a news, though, as I was already using Mike Lin's StartupCPL and Codestuff's Starter to check on autorun items - much better than msconfig, in my opinion. And talking about autorun, a few lines in autoexec.bat also help me keep the system clean and prevent any malware stored in Temporary Internet Files or Temp from running, at boot time or whenever:


Another tool I used to use quite often back then, was Trend Micro's Damage Cleanup Engine AKA sysclean. I still regularly update it together with the virus signature file, but I very rarely run it, lately.

Same goes for Ad-Aware - last working version for Win9x being 1.06R1 - and Spyware Blaster. Just because I haven't had an infection in years on my system (not counting a trojan found in a screensaver, while running Win2003Server last year).

My browser of choice is SlimBrowser, IE-based. Some useful features (auto-logins, batch start, etc) combined with popup blocker, in-page filters and many others has made me keep it as a must-have, for years.

No firewall and no real-time antivirus. I just don't need any, and it would only kill the scarce resources I have (Pentium II @ 400MHz, 256MB PC133 SDRAM, MSI GeForce4 Ti4200 running in Dual-View mode).

The best advice I can offer is: always know what's running on your machine. Regularly check startup items, services, run a rootkit revealer, look in the processes list (Task Manager or Codestuff Starter) for any unknown/suspect process and look it up on Google... Oh and never install ANY nicely offered free toolbar.

Be the master of your system - don't let it own you!

WinAntiVir2007 just kidding!

Rootkit Unhooker, which was recently bought and it's creator hired by Microsoft.

it's like IceSword on steroids and it works in Vista.

AVG 7.5 and Spybot 1.5 <3

• Spybot S/D
• Ad-Aware 2007
• Spy Sweeper (w/o AV)
• BitDefender AV
• Zone Alarms Free Firewall
• PeerGuardian2
• Avira AntiVir (as file scanner only)
• SuperAntiSpyware (scanner only)

Is there a website showing the test beetween all this software? For what i can say in vista windows defender do its job. the other alternative would be for me spybot and adware but theses 3 softs are equivalent

i use windows defender as standard in the background, Eset System security and do scans with ad-aware

I personally and at work have used Symantec corporate AV and superantispyware. Another good anti-spyware program is malwarebytes. Now I have some 64bit machines running and have temporarily fallen back on AVG due to symantec corporate (end point) not having vista 64 ultimate support. I am waiting for a call back from a Sophos rep tomorow.

I just use Hijackthis and CCleaner.
Prevented Autorun worms from registry tweak.
No antivirus and no antispyware.

i think polls like this should be remade every 1 year or so?

I've used a few of the ones in that list, but after a couple years of battling spyware, I was able to determine how to deal with them without those programs. Currently, my computer hasn't had spyware on it for well over a year, because I am careful about how I do things on the internet.

My favorite apps for dealing with spyware (on other people's computers) are: File Monitor, Process Explorer, NTFSDOS and Regedit.

how can u rely on only one given in the choice..i think atleast u should hav adaware and spybot search and destroy

That's why there's an option for "Combination of the above (Please post)"

Personally:

Spybot S&D
Spywareblaster
I also run Zonealarm Pro's antispyware now and again but its never found anything that Spybot hasn't.

I have tried a number of antispyware programs...from AVG to Kaspersky and Nod32....

Some are annoying in continually reporting problems (even when they may not exist).
Some interfere with Windows operations and slow down the system.

Some do absolutely nothing but take up drive space...I have yet to see them detect anything.

Stay away from McAfee or anything that contains the Norton or Symantec brand.
Do NOT use Microsoft Defender - it is useless (no surprise).

I finally narrowed my testing down to two programs that seem to work well for me.

SUPERAntiSpyWare (it seems to detect more of the NEW trojans and viruses that are missed by other programs and it does NOT interfere with Windows operations)

and

Spybot Search and Destroy (although I dont use the Resident SDHelper and TeaTimer)
- I DO use the program just for scanning the drives for problems once a week.

This is just my opinion...I just became more interested in antimalware and antivirus when I started being
attacked by various trojans and false virus advertisements to sell useless antivirus software.

SUPERAntiSpyWare and Spybot Search and Destroy (plus making sure my Firewall is ON) and I seem to have less problems.

Windows Defender
Spyware Blaster
Common Sense

I don't even have a firewall.

Closing this to make a fresh one for 2009.