Spyware and Adware out of control

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
<rant>



I just ran CA Pest Patrol and cleared out some junk on my girlfriends Gateway running XP Home. Didn't work ...still had plenty of pop-ups one I restarted. It's obvious that even the "pay" software isn't working. I then used the beta MS Anti-Spyware and that found 6 items that Pest Patrol didn't.



This is disheartening because consumer want to know that if they spend $50 on a program they are protected. That is not the case. Microsoft needs to be thankful that a vast majority of their consumers aren't savvy enough to know just how poor IE6 is and the anti whatever programs they spend their hard earned money on.



Apple better NOT let this ever happen on Mac OS. </rant>

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 16
    mikefmikef Posts: 698member
    I fully agree the problem is totally out of control.



    FWIW, I have always used Spybot Search & Destroy and Adaware (both free) to remove spyware. They've always done the job when working on clients' machines without having to spend money on the commercial alternatives.
  • Reply 2 of 16
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    I use Adaware and S&D too. Sometimes Adaware doesn't find everything and Spybot will and vise versa. I still have to fight the computer now & then, but that's just windows.
  • Reply 3 of 16
    corvettecorvette Posts: 561member
    I find that MS Anti-Spyware beta works really well to get most if not all crucial spyware.



    of course, i'd rather use mac but no can do.
  • Reply 4 of 16
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Yeah I'm normally using Spybot haven't used adaware in a while but foolish of me to think that a paying product would actually function better.



    If I were Apple I would hammer Microsoft for needing to include an anti-spyware product in their computer. Most people are getting adware popups that they think are coming from the website they are on. They don't blame Microsoft for their poor security track record.
  • Reply 5 of 16
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    it is quite shocking what things in the windoze world have become, especially when you experience it first hand,



    like me discovering a lot of wireless routers out there are really just crap and have to be reset almost every week, reminds me when i was doing multimedia and windows98 would hang about 3 times a day.



    even using decent internet security whatever-ma-jig is a pain-in-the-a55, because of the memory and CPU overhead, and the constant boxes coming up, do you want to authorize this, are you sure of that, etc, etc. the anti-malware and anti-spyware has become malware and spyware in a way...



    maybe people that like windows can put up with it, but my time has come, its apple for me ... right now i'm using windows2000 dial-up because broadband is down (see above rant on wireless routers are crap) and so i'm letting my iBook rest.



    this win2000 machine i'm running just totally unprotected, i've got my trigger finger on a fresh reinstall and format of the hard disk should anything blow up/get infected. thanks to .Mac for me and GMail for my parents, i sleep well at night knowing that our data and email are safe. also much of CDRWs lying around.



    after 10 years, i'm finally 'getting' this IT thing and perhaps learning to deal with the changing landscape out there, but like a childhood hero of mine used to say, i pity the fools that don't know better



    peace. OS X is our 'last best hope' and it is thriving!! it's not perfect, but it's miles ahead of Longhorn or whatever other Microsucks rubbish comes out
  • Reply 6 of 16
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by hmurchison

    <rant>



    I just ran CA Pest Patrol and cleared out some junk on my girlfriends Gateway running XP Home. Didn't work ...still had plenty of pop-ups one I restarted. It's obvious that even the "pay" software isn't working. I then used the beta MS Anti-Spyware and that found 6 items that Pest Patrol didn't.



    This is disheartening because consumer want to know that if they spend $50 on a program they are protected. That is not the case. Microsoft needs to be thankful that a vast majority of their consumers aren't savvy enough to know just how poor IE6 is and the anti whatever programs they spend their hard earned money on.



    Apple better NOT let this ever happen on Mac OS. </rant>




    PS... somebody needs to get their girlfriend a new Apple
  • Reply 7 of 16
    The main problem is that these antispyware programs all use their own set of definitions. Since the term "Spyware" has not been totally defined yet, companies make their own definitions to what they think is spyware. That's why when one program finds all it can and removes it, another may find more.



    Best solution is to just install multiple spyware removers, and Spy Blaster to prevent most in the first place.
  • Reply 8 of 16
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by sunilraman

    PS... somebody needs to get their girlfriend a new Apple



    No doubt Sunil!! I got her an ipod to start...she likes the Mac mini...so who knows.
  • Reply 9 of 16
    Quote:

    Originally posted by corvette

    I find that MS Anti-Spyware beta works really well to get most if not all crucial spyware.



    of course, i'd rather use mac but no can do.




    Did you ever think that might be because MS knows flaws with Windows/Explorer that it isn't telling the public? I have always considered MS to be a major proponent of spam and the like because it is their software that is responsible for most of it and because until recently they haven't done anything about it.



    Honestly, I use Windows at work (and keep my wife's PC virus free) by doing three things. 1) Be very careful about what software I install. 2) Do not use Internet Explorer. 3) Do not open any e-mail attachments with Outlook/Outlook Express. I've never had a virus. I unfortunately do have occasional spyware installed with Mozilla/Netscape, but I know that if I/she used IE that the problem would be 100-fold worse.
  • Reply 10 of 16
    groveratgroverat Posts: 10,872member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by rogue master

    [B]Did you ever think that might be because MS knows flaws with Windows/Explorer that it isn't telling the public?



    Microsoft bought their Anti-Spyware application from a company called GIANT.



    You know how I know that, because it's the exact same program and is even still registered as "GIANT Anti-Spyware" in a lot of the system files.



    And I own a copy of the original GIANT Anti-Spyware.



    Beyond that, it is likely (MS exec in the family (wife's side)) that Anti-Spyware is going to be rolled into Security Center.



    They bought it so they could make their OS more secure. There's no other reason.
  • Reply 11 of 16
    mikefmikef Posts: 698member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by groverat

    They bought it so they could make their OS more secure. There's no other reason.



    This is only because Windows users were starting to get fed up... all it takes is one large customer to be affected by spyware for MS to get a call to clean up their act.



    I just don't understand why it's taken people so long to realize that Windows ain't what it's cracked up to be.
  • Reply 12 of 16
    groveratgroverat Posts: 10,872member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mikef

    This is only because Windows users were starting to get fed up... all it takes is one large customer to be affected by spyware for MS to get a call to clean up their act.



    Is this a bad thing?



    Quote:

    I just don't understand why it's taken people so long to realize that Windows ain't what it's cracked up to be.



    A damned good operating system?
  • Reply 13 of 16
    mikefmikef Posts: 698member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by groverat

    Is this a bad thing?



    No, certainly not, but what I was getting at is MS should've been proactive not reactive.
  • Reply 14 of 16
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Hell I wouldn't even give Panther the designation of "Damned Good" but XP is livable. However security issues are threatening to lower that rating.



    I think MS is on the way if IE7 blocks a lot of these nasty things.



    I look forward to the relative calm of Tiger by years end. Thank God.
  • Reply 15 of 16
    groveratgroverat Posts: 10,872member
    SP2's IE has pop-up blocking and requires user acceptance of executed code.



    Of course, I've seen users click straight through " Are you sure you wish to install the Crippling Spyware DataLoss package?"



    And, of course, the built-in firewall.



    I would quantify both 10.3 and XP-SP2 as "damned good". For the love of God, look what you can do with them. They are nothing short of amazing. Odd bits of silicon & copper coursing with electricity are transformed, before your eyes, to the most beautiful women in the most depraved sexual positio... uhh... wait. I mean...



    Hmm... what were we talking about?
  • Reply 16 of 16
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Grove!!! You're married! You best purge "those" thoughts from your cerebrum. :P



    I'll have to download SP2 and see how that works.
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