SusanIAm
offlineBlocked
I have found many differing opinions about the following products, and I would like to know what people who have actually used them think. Are they any good? Is there something better that I should get instead?
- Tweak VI (free basic version)
- Super AntiSpyware
-Advanced WindowsCare v2 Personal
-Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
I am also looking for a good free firewall, if you have any recommendations?
Thanks.
goodgotd
offlineMember
don't know personally about those, looks like you're running vista- but in firewalls Comodo Firewall Pro usually gets a good rating.
Whiterabbit-uk
offlineGames Guru
I've used Advanced windows care, but no longer do because I prefer Glary utilities. There's nothing wrong with it though. Is the home edition the free one???
As for the others I've never heard of them.
regards
Stephen
my_name_is_brad
offlineMember
super antispyware...
I can't speak to the quality of the software, but typically steer clear of anything using the word "super" in the name while masquerading as a security program.
A friend of mine asked about the same software a few weeks ago, and honestly I wouldn't even consider it. they seem to have revamped the home page since then, but prior to that it was comically bad.
bottom line as far as i can tell is that they are offering nothing new, and charging for the same features that products like spybot offer for free. I would recommend Hijackthis, and a decent ad/spyware program such as spybot or adaware well before I would even consider that one.
TWEAKUI is interesting, but for me it doesn't offer anything since everything it does is available through the windows UI. If having it all in a central location and being much more user friendly is a priority for you, then it seems decent. Just keep in mind that it is most likely something you will use once, and let sit. I prefer to perform tasks that involve system settings manually over granting system level access to third party software. We are all different though, so it may better suit your style.
SUPERAntiSpy
offlineMember
Hello - Nick Skrepetos here from SUPERAntiSpyware.com - I saw this post and wanted to respond to "my_name_is". SUPERAntiSpyware is certainly not "masquerading" as a security program we have well over 10 million users and have been around for almost 5 years.
SUPERAntiSpyware is also recommended by Dell, Microsoft, HP, AT&T and many security forums around the world.
I understand your concern with the name "super" - but with all the "rogue" products out there, there are very few names that can be used without appearing "suspect". We have several products under the "super" title : SUPERAntiSpyware, SUPERAdBlocker and SUPERFileRecover.
We have been developing software for over 25 years. I do appreciate your concern, but wanted to stop in to make sure people knew we were not "suspect" even if you don't "like" our product. :)
If anyone has any questions or concerns, we are always available to help!
-Nick
4shadowm
offlineMember
I can vouch for SuperAntiSpyware as a good product. It has a very good detection rate and does better at cleaning infected machines. I prefer it to AdAware, Spybot and AVG Antispyware (used to be Ewido), though generally with Antispyware it's best to have more than one scanner to catch everything.
prs
offlineMember
It is wonderful to have a software representative come to this forum to respond to comments.Welcome! May your tribe increase!
"SUPERAntiSpyware is also recommended by Dell, Microsoft, HP, AT&T and many security forums around the world"
If you could provide the links that would be great.
SUPERAntiSpy
offlineMember
PRS - they recommend us via the telephone support. We see it in our order comments and support requests daily. Companies like Dell, AT&T, HP, Microsoft typically just recommend what's working for them - but don't "officially" formalize the relationship as they don't want to risk any liability by "officially" recommending a piece of software.
Carol
offlineMember
I too can vouch for Super Antispyware, there is also a review of it here http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-adware-spyware-scumware-remover.htm Also if you go back to the home page, you can get reviews on many types of programes including firewalls.
Whiterabbit-uk
offlineGames Guru
Hi Nick, maybe you could negotiate with the giveaway team to give a trial of your product. If it's as good as you imply, it may very well convert many who use other programs such as myself who uses Adaware (subscription version) to use your product.
I'm certainly game to try it, but as I've paid for three years of updates for Adaware (runs out Jan 2011) I don't want to be having to purchase another program unless it's better. (If it was I'd definitely purchase it because the best has to be the one for me.
Regards
Stephen
goodgotd
offlineMember
here's The Spyware Warrior List of Rogue/Suspect Anti-Spyware Products & Web Sites- and SUPERAntiSpyware isn't on it- except on the Trustworthy Anti-Spyware Products list of recommended products to get rid of the scumware.
It gives links to other 'watch-out-for' lists, too.
Buckleysmom
offlineMember
Carol....don't know about the others you mentioned but hubby has used Tweak UI for a long time and he loves it.
I have been using Super Antispyware for almost 3 years and I love it. In fact since I got rid of Adaware with it's new bloatware, I use SPyBot S&D and Super Antispyware as part of my "free" arsenal along with Manutu, A Squared and Spyware Doctor. IIRC Nick is a regular poster over at BBR http://www.dslreports.com also.
I would love to see it(the pro version) given away free here.
Paali
offlineMember
Hi SusanIAm. I haven't used all the softwares that you mention. If you could give us a short description of what they do, or what you are looking for when it comes to tweaking and such it would be easier to give you alternatives.
When it comes to spy-/ad-ware software you should definitely have AdAware and Spybot. They are among, if not THE best. Both are available in free versions.
And for a firewall the very best is Commodo.
Another cleanup utility that is worth mentioning is CCleaner. Cleans up windows and registry very well. But give us a hint to what you are looking for in the programs you want, and perhaps there is one that covers all your needs...
Whiterabbit-uk
offlineGames Guru
Thanks for the info Carol, I'll check into that. Though the pro version would be better;)
I'm not sure about CCleaner. Despite hearing lots of positive vibes about it; I personally had a disasterous time using it after it deleted the whole of one of my back up drives (3 years ago). I asked around and it had happened to someone in the America's Army Clan I used to hang around with three or four years ago, so have never used it since. I'm sure it was probably my own fault, but once bitten.......twice...
regards
Stephen
RunesageMagik
offlineMember
Just came across this thread. Malwarebytes (great pun) is a good addition to your arsenal of anti-malware appls, has shown up on (at least) two competing freeware sites, and has recv'd some good press. I like it, but be cautious playing with the options or it may (temporarily?) disable certain processes.
goodgotd, I concur! In fact, I mentioned The Rogue/Spyware Warrior back in March... for years it's been a diligent, reliable touchstone that can protect you from installing malicious products posing as anti-spy/malware apps.
copmom if you haven't yet found TweakUI's hiding place - it should install to C:\WINDOWS\system32\TweakUI.exe
I'd recommend you make a shortcut of it to put in a Tools or Utilities folder on your desktop. Check out good old Annoyances.org for more info.
thewebmaster
offlineEnglish Mod
I use Ad-Aware from LavaSoft.com
http://www.lavasoft.com/
copmom
offlineMember
Hi Rune and Robert.. yep.. there it was, found the little bugger in Win/system/32 etc. just like you said, and did send to desktop to put in my spyware program folder!
Speaking of the spyware program folder, do I really need ALL pf the following?
Ad-Aware, A-Squared, AFT-Cleaner, CCleaner, Fix it Utility, Hijack this, Premium Booster, Process Scanner, Registry Mechanic, Spybot S&D, Spy eraser, Spyware doctor, Spyware Blaster, Super Anti Spyware, System Mechanic Pro. Not counting the fact that McAfee is running all the time.
Seems several of the above are v-e-r-y similar!
thewebmaster
offlineEnglish Mod
Ad-Aware, has a free version, and an expensive version. I use the free one. I'm amazed to see all the bugs that come in only a week!
-Webmaster
Hi, superantispy or SAS is legit and I have it in my toolkit.
I've also recommended commodo in the past (I sometimes had to find a good and effective firewall for people running older OS, and commodo fit the bill when kerio could not be used.)
Another good free FW is Online Armor. In my view, or maybe as a noob looks at it, it has a really simple learning curve. (As a somewhat savvy user, it shows it has matured.)They have not too long ago released a version for Vista, and the learning curve/annoyance level is, once again, not high.
By the way, anyone looking for "rogue antispy tools" can find a list at castlecops or elsewhere.
Kind regards, Jaak
RunesageMagik
offlineMember
Copmom
You'll find many techs recommend multiple layers of security, because no single anti-spyware/malware app catches all the various exploits. That can be demonstrated by submitting a known hostile file to VirusTotal. They scan it using approx 36 different best known apps and usually some will alert while others don't. However, running multiple progs often cause conflicts and a tremendous drag on your system resources and Internet upload/download speeds. Never run more than one Firewall (Windows' default is ON, so you have to disable it if you're running another one).
I have a folder of shortcuts to all my anti-v, anti-spy/malware appls but only run a few at startup or in background. Others, i.e., lavasoft and malwarebytes, I only upgrade and then run periodically. I don't like McAfee at all, but that's a personal pref and if you're relying on whatever they sell as a suite (I'm not sure - firewall, web shield, anti-v, etc etc), then you may not need much else runing simultaneously. Me, I use Avast (with certain "shields" disabled) and AVG (with that link detector function disabled). I'm a big proponent of both spyblaster and spybot. I still use SyGate's free (but now obsoleted) firewall more because of all the effort I've put into gathering bad IP addies. I hate change.
Registry progs are nice to have (but dangerous for laymen) Each offers a different GUI and functions, some better than others. Laymen really don't need a lot of in-depth functions and just shouldn't be mucking around inside Registry.
HJT is there for emergencies, but I don't know what TrendMicro enables in the background now that they've got their fingerprints all over it. You can tell by checking TaskMan's processes what's running on your system (but the file names take a while to track back, my big complaint with TaskMan since IMHO it should offer a mouseover or rightclick ID)
Ad-Aware - I only run it occasionally
A-Squared - I only use it to scan individual downloads
AFT-Cleaner - simple/safe to clean temp files (as opposed to CCleaner where you really have to be careful about settings)
CCleaner - the Hoover/Electrolux of cleaners (I run it about every 15 min)
Fix it Utility - I have it, rarely look at it
Hijack this - for emergencies where you're following a forum pro's step-by-step inst.
Premium Booster - I'm very skeptical of the claims of any "booster"
Process Scanner - I personally dislike/distrust Uniblue products
Registry Mechanic - risky, but I do run it weekly
Spybot S&D - I run it daily
Spy eraser - ??
Spyware doctor - ??
Spyware Blaster - runs in background
Super Anti Spyware - ??
System Mechanic Pro - ??
Anyone you ask will probably have a different take on the above. The ?? shows I can't keep up with all the software. In-the-wild reviews of antispyware products (even when posted on CNet or PCMag but not official CNet/PCMag articles) are usually just bogus touts planted to suck you in. Make sure the review came from a known tech writer at a reputable institution-backed article. I trust CNet, PCMag, Technorati and a few others. The rogue spyware warrior site is a valuable touchstone to separate the wheat from the chaff and the manure.
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