Antispyware

[Barbouille]

I am looking for your recommendations on an antispyware program that is effective and light on system resources.

I run a P4, 1.6 GHZ with 512MB of RAM.

Thanks

[areidmtm]

I like ad-aware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/)

It's effective and faily light.

[Early Out]

I rely on Windows Defender (https://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx), supplemented by the occasional scan by the free versions of Spybot (http://www.safer-networking.org/) and ewido (http://www.ewido.net/en/) (in neither case do I use the "active" version of those, so there's no system load at all).

Spybot has some nice features like its "immunize" function, and, in its "advanced mode," some tools for checking your ActiveX controls and BHOs. ewido is widely regarded as one of the best scanners for trojans and other scumware.

[imagineer]

ad-aware and spybot are great, I also found this one which I havent tried but its pretty popular:

http://www.download.com/Spyware-Doctor/3000-8022_4-10562289.html?tag=pop

[Barbouille]

I registered Spyware doctor 4 and I do not like it for the following reasons:

1- It is not very light on system resources (not as light as some others anyway)

2- It takes FOREVER to load on my PC (I would guess a good 90 seconds or more).

3- When I update the database, it sometimes freezes my PC during the installation process.

4-It comes into conflict with my Quicken XG (Canadian version of Quicken) and most of the time, I cannot use Quicken XG if Spyware Doctor 4 is loaded into memory.

Otherwise, I think it is a great program. Very effective I think. Finds lot of stuff.

Thanks to all those who provided an opinion. Other opinions would be appreciated as well.

[ValhallaComics]

I've been using SpyBot & Ad-Aware for years, now. With that in mind, I haven't had any problems with spyware, unless I've decidedly done something stupid, out of curiosity. Even then, it's easy to get rid of the spyware, with those two programs.

I also use AVG Anti-Virus (Freeware Edition) & The Cleaner, as my anti-virus software.

All of the above are much lighter in comparison to the "more popular" alternatives & just as effective (if not better).

[techgy]

I have personally been involved in removing and cleaning several systems that have been infected with spyware or virus infections. From my perspective, there's no ONE tool that is will cover ALL the needs. Some are better than others.

Among the two leaders are Webroots "Spy Sweeper" and SunBelt-Software with its "Counterspy". Both offer good protection. Spysweeper is a little better since it offers some protection against a rootkit.

I prefer Spy Sweeper.

Techgy

[Reichling]

I use Avast (http://www.avast.com/) on my Windows XP Pro 64x computers and Zone Alarm Security Suite (http://www.zonelabs.com) on my Windows XP Pro computers. Both work very well and Zone Alarm is an all in one with Firewall, Antivirus, and Anti Spyware. Avast has a firewall and antivirus and then I use a couple of other programs for spyware.

[change]

counterspy is pretty cool too

[aceofspades]

spybot has its advanges because it scans the registry better and is more targeted, It doesn't just delete every single cookie. It only deletes the advertising and tracking ones. It also gives a nice description.

Adaware is very light and that is what i use.

[Early Out]

In case anyone's curious, or cares, ewido was bought by Grisoft, the folks who produce AVG, and ewido 4.0 has been replaced by AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5 (how they came up with "7.5" is anybody's guess). It still looks and feels pretty much like ewido, but they claim to have made some improvements. As before, the "pay" version includes active protection, automatic updates, etc., but the free version includes all of the scanning options, and allows manual updates.

[RustyTheWonderdog]

i use spybot, adaware, and windows defender. of the three, i like spybot the best. adaware is a resource hog, takes a long time to run, and appears frozen if you run it in the background. windows defender can catch some of the things that spybot misses, but it just isn't as user friendly.