The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    What is the best antispyware program? paid or free

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by Phil, Sep 5, 2007.

  1. Phil

    Phil Retired

    Reputations:
    4,415
    Messages:
    17,036
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    455
    If you had to pick one, which one would you pick?
    and why?

    paid or free does not matter.
     
    Phil, Sep 5, 2007
    #1
  2. AKAJohnDoe

    AKAJohnDoe Mime with Tourette's

    Reputations:
    1,163
    Messages:
    3,017
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    AKAJohnDoe, Sep 5, 2007
    #2
  3. Phil

    Phil Retired

    Reputations:
    4,415
    Messages:
    17,036
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    455
    Phil, Sep 5, 2007
    #3
  4. knightingmagic

    knightingmagic Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    144
    Messages:
    1,194
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    I use Ad-Aware free and Spybot S&D. These two free apps seem to catch everything, but using an obscure browser called Opera and keeping Internet Explorer updated and protected with Spybot S&D sure helps.
     
    knightingmagic, Sep 5, 2007
    #4
  5. blackmamba

    blackmamba Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    256
    Messages:
    569
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    PCTools Spyware Doctor.

    Get it free from Google Pack.


    If you want to pay for it, it gives you a ton of shields to prevent crap from getting into your notebook in the first place. If you like to manually do all your things, then the free edition would be perfect.

    Get it here.

    Uncheck everything else except for Spyware Doctor. Trust me, this thing will catch more stuff than any other brand name spyware software whether it be tracking cookies or trojans.

    I personally use this along with Spybot but have come to find out that I really don't need to use Spybot as a backup as SD takes care of all that junk in the first place.
     
    blackmamba, Sep 5, 2007
    #5
  6. AKAJohnDoe

    AKAJohnDoe Mime with Tourette's

    Reputations:
    1,163
    Messages:
    3,017
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    ZoneAlarm Security Suite, while it does take a bit more interaction than some other options, also provides the most complete set of facilities to manage security on the XP operating system of any of those I tried, and I tried quite a few!
     
    AKAJohnDoe, Sep 5, 2007
    #6
  7. Phil

    Phil Retired

    Reputations:
    4,415
    Messages:
    17,036
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    455
    Are tracking cookies really a thread?
     
    Phil, Sep 6, 2007
    #7
  8. D3M0N

    D3M0N Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    11
    Messages:
    92
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I would have to say Nod32 personally never had a problem with this program and it uses like no system resources.
     
    D3M0N, Sep 6, 2007
    #8
  9. powerpack

    powerpack Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    7,101
    Messages:
    5,757
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Good point that is how all of us get in the forum. That is how we are tracked. if we didn't have I guess maybe we could log in.
     
    powerpack, Sep 6, 2007
    #9
  10. qhn

    qhn Notebook User

    Reputations:
    1,654
    Messages:
    5,955
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    205
    (my) antispyware:
    . xp = spyware blaster at start, free adaware once a month scan
    . vista = built in defenders, free adaware once a month scan

    + lots of common sense during surfing (ff personally preferred)

    cheers ...
     
    qhn, Sep 6, 2007
    #10
  11. Phil

    Phil Retired

    Reputations:
    4,415
    Messages:
    17,036
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    455
    Good tip. I never knew it was possible to get SW doctor for free.
     
    Phil, Sep 6, 2007
    #11
  12. AKAJohnDoe

    AKAJohnDoe Mime with Tourette's

    Reputations:
    1,163
    Messages:
    3,017
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    There is a link to free PCTools SpyWareDoctor in this post that does not have the Google pack. It will actively block forever in trial mode, but not clean unless you buy it. However, what's to clean if it is blocked? I run SpyBot S&D ad-hoc now and again, too.

    The differences:
    Trial Limitations: The trial offers time unlimited real-time protection (free spyware blocking), but does not remove threats detected during on-demand scans.
    Starter Edition: The Starter Edition offers full scan and removal of threats, and basic real-time protection, is available for free as part of the Google Pack.
     
    AKAJohnDoe, Sep 6, 2007
    #12