Spybot

[Wings]

I notice there are a lot of reccommendations here to get Spybot. Some years ago I dropped Spybot because they got very slow on definitions updates. I take it they have cleaned up their act since then?

[evilfantasy]

Cleaned up their act is a bit harsh maybe. Spybot has always been trusted and every program goes through growing pains of some sort.

Here is a great little article with Spybot's Creator Patrick Kolla Linkage

But it is always good to use a few different programs.

[elxr06]

Try a-squared free. A-square free updates definitions everyday, you just have to install them by using the update button in their program.

Or Ad-Aware. Which don't update everyday. i don't know if ad-aware updates faster than spybot.

Or try AVG's antispyware. You need to pay to get the automatic updates and the realtime protection after the free trial is over. But once free trial is over, it works like the paid versioin except NO automatic installation of updates and no realtime protection. But the definitions are still being updated everyday.

[Wings]

Thanks for the great info. You guys provide a valuable service to the neophytes and those of us who can't quit make guru status. (grin)

[evilfantasy]

You spelled quite wrong. (grin)

[Wings]

Good grief! That typo resulted in a totally different meaning! Haha. "Quite" it was meant to be.

Thanks, Evil.

[Broni]

But it is always good to use a few different programs.

That's the main point!

[elxr06]

But it is always good to use a few different programs.

That's the main point!

Yes. You will always have progams that will miss certain things. You wil always have programs that remove the wrong things.

In the future, there might be programs that will be 99.9% accurate and precise, but when will that be?

So always have a backup for second opinions. Or... if you're kinda feeling lazy, at the worst, keep some backups or system restore points that are always handy when problems come up.