The best spyware sofftware? Opinions Please.

[Jernet]

I am tired of all the adware/spyware crap on my computer. Anybody have an opinion of what the best software to remove it is at the moment? Thanks.

 

[Luc]

format you drive and reinstall windows from scratch. the good spyware cannot be deleted with any tool. then, when your PC is nice and fresh install firefox and down't download activex content.

good luck.

 

[capblood]

Try AD-AWARE. Its Free and the best, for my opinion.

 

[Luc]

Adaware has made deals with several spyware companies so that their spyware does not get detected/removed. However, it is one of the better tools out there. The best approach still is to format.

 

[Dale Hubbard]

Yup. Reinstall the OS like Luc suggests. Just happened to me too. I reintsalled with a thorough disk format.

 

[tekz999]

Zone alarm is the best. It has antivirus, antispyware, firewall all in one.

 

[Jernet]

thanks for the input. i am looking at adaware right now

 

[LeeRyder]

Use AdAware with SpyBot SD and everything will be detected.

With the most maliscious forms of spyware/malware, you sometimes do have to go into the registries and fix things, but those are rare..and you will only need to do that if the spyware/malware is less than a month old because adaware and spybot generally will come out with a fix within that timeline.

Never reformate. If you need help, ask online. Many people (myself included) spend hours each week helping people getting this crap off their systems, verbally or textually walking them through problems like these.

 

[RazorNF]

Spybot is good, but you'll need more than one spyware scanner. In some cases, one will detect something that the other doesnt. If you do eventually end up reinstalling, what I recommend is to get your system up to the point where you have all your apps installed and configured, then use something like Ghost to image your disk.

What I've found, is that no matter how much scanning and maintenance I do with my system, it'll eventually start bogging down over time, and the only thing to get it performing the way it should, is to nuke the system and start again...

 

[Luc]

Spybot is good, but you'll need more than one spyware scanner. In some cases, one will detect something that the other doesnt. If you do eventually end up reinstalling, what I recommend is to get your system up to the point where you have all your apps installed and configured, then use something like Ghost to image your disk.

What I've found, is that no matter how much scanning and maintenance I do with my system, it'll eventually start bogging down over time, and the only thing to get it performing the way it should, is to nuke the system and start again...

Exactly. Reformat. Get everything up and running then Ghost the drive onto a CD/DVD.

 

[zehrila]

Every software related problem can be solved without formating your computer so i second mr LeeRyder.

 

[Dale Hubbard]

Every software related problem can be solved without formating your computer so i second mr LeeRyder.

I can send you a program that will make very sure you have to reformat and reinstall the OS on your machine. Ever heard of a trashed FAT?