What to look for in a antispyware program? Should I buy on or get it for free?
Oh, yeah, spyware... again? Wherever you turn your head, you can't escape it, and if you want to work on your computer without worries, you may even have to pay for a good antispyware program...or even two.
Of course it's not easy to decide what spyware removal program to buy (if you decide to go this route), especially when it's about your hard earned money, so before deciding what program to get, you should ask yourself 2 questions:
1. What features do I need? Is it enough to scan fast, have a lot of signatures in the data base and offer protection from browser homepage hijacking, or not?
2. Free or paid? There are a lot of free antispyware programs, why not use two, three or even four of these and forget about paying. You could drink three beers and get a pizza instead...or not, because we'll also show you the differences between free and paid antispyware applications.
Must Have Features
Every antispyware application (free or paid) MUST have the following features:
- Effective real time protection against all spyware-related threats that may attack your computer.
- The backup and restore functions are not something you would better have, but a vital necessity, because you don't want to know what can happen when erasing stuff you shouldn't (nothing is perfect, so such things may happen).
- Automatic updates is also a must.
- Detailed scanning results and description of encountered problems.
- The ability to completely remove all files, directories and registry entries associated with a certain spyware threat.
- Easy to install and use for every average computer user.
- Scheduled scanning is another feature worth its value in gold, since it helps you concentrate on important things and forget about scanning your system.
- The ability to set scanning options manually, and also have access to quick and full scan modes
Why pay for antispyware and not get a pizza and beer instead?
- Junk food is not healthy, and beer can cause a lot of problems, especially for men, if you know what I mean
- Most free antispyware programs are feature limited versions of commercial ones that miss one important thing: real time protection.
- Paid antispyware is a good long term investment, because you'll get frequent updates, upgrades, and don't forget about technical support!
- Usually, free antispyware solutions are less effective than paid ones, and the tests performed so far prove this (of course that some exceptions do exist, but the previous statement is usually true).
- At last, you should be aware that most free products don't offer any customer support, and when they do, the response time is pretty slow.
Our Recommendations:
There’s no such thing as the best or the perfect antispyware solution. Everyone has different needs, a certain budget and a certain level of expertise with computers. However, bellow you can see what were the results when I ran a full system scan with 7 of the most popular spyware removal programs :
| Name | Spyware Doctor |
SpyBot |
Norton Internet Security 2007 |
Spy Catcher |
SpywareBlaster | ||
| Spyware found | 44 |
41 |
29 |
3 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
| Real-time protection | yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes | yes |
| Full Scan | yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
no | yes |
| Customer support response | 12h |
12h |
12h |
12h |
12h |
never | unknown |
| Read our review |
Antispyware software
What choice is there for Vista 64 bit I have searched on the web but could only find a few. Could you review some of the available.
Antispyware compatible with Vista
SpyBot Search and Destroy
SpyBot Search and Destroy and Spywareblaster, both free ware (or by donation) are excellent programs if they are used i.e Run and/or updated at regular intervals. Avast anti virus, Home Edition is free for the home user and is updated regularly.
These programs are ALL that you need, in addition to Microsoft updates, to insure the security and speed of your system. If you are not willing to take a hands-on approach to your own security, then paying for a bodyguard you don't know from Adam is not going to help. The above mentioned programs carry a low overhead in terms of system resources and are highly effective owing to the due diligence of their developers.
System Security
Keeping Your System Secure and Fast
Use This Pro-Active Approach
“Spybot Search & Destroyâ€: This program is freeware for the home user. They make a profit by selling it to Corporations in the form of a site license.
Once a month start the program. Click on “Search for Updatesâ€. If there are any, click on the open boxes then download the updates. If it fails to download switch to another server (to the right of “Search for Updatesâ€) and try again. When updates have been installed, click on “Immunizeâ€. If some items are not blocked, click on the cross icon that saysâ€Immunizeâ€.
Last, run “Search & Destroyâ€. This will take several minutes to complete.
You are now protected against Spyware that may have recently been installed and against attack by all known sites that will attempt, but fail, to install them.
“SpywareBlasterâ€: This protects your computer from access to known malicious software sites that use Active-X Controls to invade and take control of your system. (Active-X controls are not bad in and of themselves. They were designed to make your computer easier to use and update. But, people exploited the vulnerability they introduced into systems that use the web.) This is more passive protection than Spybot S&Dâ€. Once a month, start the program, click on updates and if any are downloaded click on “ Enable Protection for All Unprotected Itemsâ€. You’re done.
“Avast Antivirus†software has been installed on your system unless you supplied me with and/or requested that I install another commercially available program. Avast Antivirus software is free to the home user. As above, they profit by selling site licenses to corporations. They only request that you register, at their home page once a year. At that time they will email you a key code you can copy and paste into the registration field and you will be safe for another year. This is an excellent product and it will automatically update itself, from the internet each time you reboot.
Once a month you should also Defragment your hard drive. This will help your system run smoother, faster and more efficiently. Click on “My Computerâ€, right click on the “C†drive and click properties. Click on Disk Cleanup and clean out all the junk files left behind by Windows XP and the Web. When that’s done click on the tools tab and click on “Defragment Now†then Defragment.
SPAM: The war is over and we don’t have to eat it anymore. It’s a little known fact but Spam is against the law. “How come I keep getting Spam in my email then?†– you might ask. You have to “opt-outâ€. Read the email and find the opt-out link in it and use it! No “Spam Blocker†needed. Most people don’t realize this. I get maybe one Spam email a month: No “Spam Blockerâ€, no lie.
If you are using Windows ME or XP, Turn “On†Automatic Updates. Microsoft security updates are an important part of the operating system you paid for when you purchased their software and will automatically be updated monthly protecting you from security threats.
When you install software, always use “Custom Install†and read all the stuff they are going to dump into your system. Un-Check it if you won’t use it or don’t want it. A lot of it is just junk and trial versions you will never use, they may contain spyware and will slow down your system in the long run.
Do not install “Free Toolbars†to Internet Explorer. These programs always come packaged with spyware and clutter up your browser with useless buttons. The producers of these add-on utilities sell information about your browsing habits to third parties and they will slow your system down.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Bill
griffinpcs@comcast.net
Spyware
Great page, but no mention of Ad-aware 6 or AVG!, both of these are free & seem to do a good job.
We run both Spybot & Ad-aware 6 on our machines.
Regards, Derek.......
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