Spyware Doctor - DON'T BUY ! Important Read!

[iamaelephant]

Originally posted by: Nocturnal

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
Spyware can easily be avoided using common sense measures. I run a spyware tool maybe once a year and it finds zip all, maybe only cookies, or perhaps parts of something that I may of purposely installed but removed, for whatever reason.

These two main measures should prevent anyone from having spyware:

1) Don't use IE
2) Don't just download anything, research on it first. Found a freeware program? research it before installing. If there's nothing saying it has spyware, then install it, and if you still dont trust it, do a scan right away. If it works and is trustable then keep the installer for later use.

I understand you're a IE basher but just because you use IE does not mean you'll be infected with spyware. I've been using IE and only IE and I've never been infected, once. Just a FYI.

I agree. I don't use IE at all because I prefer Firefox and Opera for their features, but it's not like if you open IE you'll get a sudden flood of spyware. You still have to be accessing dodgy websites and downloading needless crap for it to be a problem.

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
2) Don't just download anything, research on it first. Found a freeware program? research it before installing. If there's nothing saying it has spyware, then install it, and if you still dont trust it, do a scan right away. If it works and is trustable then keep the installer for later use.

With the recent availability of more free virtualization options, it could be practical to keep an old copy of Windows 2000 in a VM for downloading and testing potentially harmful software. You could make a clean install of the operating system, take a snapshot, and then revert back to that clean snapshot whenever the VM gets hit with something nasty.

 

[mechBgon]

Use IE or any other browser with a Limited account and you've yanked the rug out from under most malware right there, even if your browser is exploited successfully.

As for Spyware Doctor, I wonder if there's a, shall we say, "phake" version of it built to look like the real thing. That is to say, a SpyAxe/MalwareWipe clone going around in Spyware Doctor's guise. kickerf1, where did you get your copy from (and anyone else who's seen the same type of results)?

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Use IE or any other browser with a Limited account and you've yanked the rug out from under most malware right there, even if your browser is exploited successfully.

As for Spyware Doctor, I wonder if there's a, shall we say, "phake" version of it built to look like the real thing. That is to say, a SpyAxe/MalwareWipe clone going around in Spyware Doctor's guise. kickerf1, where did you get your copy from (and anyone else who's seen the same type of results)?

i *thin*i got mine from downloads.com (i could be wrong). i know someone posted in software about a review/comparison of various anti-spyware programs (the winner was spydoctor, which is why i chose to download it).

 

[Red Squirrel]

Originally posted by: ProviaFan

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
2) Don't just download anything, research on it first. Found a freeware program? research it before installing. If there's nothing saying it has spyware, then install it, and if you still dont trust it, do a scan right away. If it works and is trustable then keep the installer for later use.

With the recent availability of more free virtualization options, it could be practical to keep an old copy of Windows 2000 in a VM for downloading and testing potentially harmful software. You could make a clean install of the operating system, take a snapshot, and then revert back to that clean snapshot whenever the VM gets hit with something nasty.

Yeah I do that sometimes to test stuff. Heck, once I used IE in a VM to see how much spyware I can get from simply google searching nasty sites, and ended up with about 300 items. IE just lets most of that crap through without asking much questions. activex ftw. I dont know how IE7 is though, aperently security has been improved.

 

[gsellis]

Originally posted by: Nocturnal

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
Spyware can easily be avoided using common sense measures. I run a spyware tool maybe once a year and it finds zip all, maybe only cookies, or perhaps parts of something that I may of purposely installed but removed, for whatever reason.

These two main measures should prevent anyone from having spyware:

1) Don't use IE
2) Don't just download anything, research on it first. Found a freeware program? research it before installing. If there's nothing saying it has spyware, then install it, and if you still dont trust it, do a scan right away. If it works and is trustable then keep the installer for later use.

I understand you're a IE basher but just because you use IE does not mean you'll be infected with spyware. I've been using IE and only IE and I've never been infected, once. Just a FYI.

QFT

 

[IamDavid]

IMO Spyware Doctor isn't very good either. I had some of the same experiences as the OP.. Not only with spyware doctor though, pretty much every different utility "finding" what others didn't. I work on a dozen or so PC's a week anymore and Spyware/Malware/Adware is the main problem. Unfortunatley there isn't 1 problem killer, or even 3.

This is why I will NEVER have Windows as my main PC\Workstation again. I wish everyone would at least try Ubuntu or another version of Linux..

 

[Nocturnal]

Originally posted by: IamDavid
IMO Spyware Doctor isn't very good either. I had some of the same experiences as the OP.. Not only with spyware doctor though, pretty much every different utility "finding" what others didn't. I work on a dozen or so PC's a week anymore and Spyware/Malware/Adware is the main problem. Unfortunatley there isn't 1 problem killer, or even 3.

This is why I will NEVER have Windows as my main PC\Workstation again. I wish everyone would at least try Ubuntu or another version of Linux..

Like I said previously, if you're that stupid that you infect yourself with spyware or a virus, then you shouldn't be using Windows or at least an administrator account.

I've been using Windows XP Pro with SP2 for the past few years and I never get myself infected.

I remove spyware and viruses and fix PCs for a living. That doesn't deter me from wanting to use Windows.

Also, I agree that yes, one particular anti-spyware program will not cut it in this day and age. You need as much as you can get or enough to get the job done.

 

[IamDavid]

Originally posted by: Nocturnal

Originally posted by: IamDavid
IMO Spyware Doctor isn't very good either. I had some of the same experiences as the OP.. Not only with spyware doctor though, pretty much every different utility "finding" what others didn't. I work on a dozen or so PC's a week anymore and Spyware/Malware/Adware is the main problem. Unfortunatley there isn't 1 problem killer, or even 3.

This is why I will NEVER have Windows as my main PC\Workstation again. I wish everyone would at least try Ubuntu or another version of Linux..

Like I said previously, if you're that stupid that you infect yourself with spyware or a virus, then you shouldn't be using Windows or at least an administrator account.

I've been using Windows XP Pro with SP2 for the past few years and I never get myself infected.

I remove spyware and viruses and fix PCs for a living. That doesn't deter me from wanting to use Windows.

Also, I agree that yes, one particular anti-spyware program will not cut it in this day and age. You need as much as you can get or enough to get the job done.

I sure hope your not calling me stupid for running Linux over MS?.. That's for a different thread I guess.
I have never been "infected" with any malware/spyware/virus. That I knew of. That's what scares me. There new exploit to MS systems reported daily. How many go unreported/detected.

 

[sandorski]

Not sure if it's the same demo I tried, but I ran some Spy removal demo recently and as soon as it detected, but didn't allow me to Remove, I uninstalled, cussed, and went to find something else.

If I was the OP I'd be pissed too, that's f****in criminal. He didn't install a Demo/Trial, he installed an Ad. :|

 

[SoundTheSurrender]

Linux or OSx ftw.

 

[yosuke188]

I will test this on my computer. I will come back with the result quick.

 

[John]

Originally posted by: sandorski
Not sure if it's the same demo I tried, but I ran some Spy removal demo recently and as soon as it detected, but didn't allow me to Remove

Correct, you have to pay to register the program in order to gain removal capabilities.

 

[yosuke188]

Well I downloaded Spyware Doctor free trial, and got a result that would agree with the OP.

It detected "176 infections". All of which Ad-aware, NOD32, nor Windows could catch.

I look at the report more closely and notice that they are all tracking cookies. It is seriously just ridiculous. It lists tracking cookies from espn.com, pricegrabber, etc. None of them are real viruses.

Now I am not saying that Spyware Doctor can't detect spyware, I'm just saying they definitely use this technique to lure people into buying their software. So don't panic like the OP when Spyware Doctor detects 176 spywares on your computer, it's probably just a bunch of bogus.

 

[John]

[*]yosuke188, you need to learn the differences between spyware & viruses.

All of the popular anti-spyware apps will detect certain cookies, but does that make them deceptive? No.

As I stated before, I service computers for a living. Malware removal is a good chunk of my work, and I have access to all of the popular tools. When it comes down to it Spyware Doctor and Spy Sweeper detect and remove more legit malware than an other anti-spyware app currently available.

Now some of you are savvy surfers and know how to maintain your system(s). It's probably rare that any "harmful" malware gets installed on your system. In this case Windows Defender, Spybot, A-Squared free, and Ad-Aware may be more than adequate. You may even use a modded hosts file and Spyware Blaster.

Hopefully some of you will read thru the malware guide that is linked in my sig. I offer a free version of Spyware Doctor 3.2 that allows live updates using the current definition database plus removal of all detections.

 

[Baked]

Don't want to get spyware? Don't connect to the net.

I find clearing your cache and cookies after every session does the job. Unfortunately 99.999% of the people are too lazy to re-enter their login info for websites and forums, leaving it wide open for malicious websites to install spyware on your system. But that's just me, some people would rather have it the hard way and paid money to clean up the mess. /shrug

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Baked
Don't want to get spyware? Don't connect to the net.

I find clearing your cache and cookies after every session does the job. Unfortunately 99.999% of the people are too lazy to re-enter their login info for websites and forums, leaving it wide open for malicious websites to install spyware on your system. But that's just me, some people would rather have it the hard way and paid money to clean up the mess. /shrug

of course if you are really paranoid, you can have only one partition connect to the 'net . . . your games and apps can reside on a clean one.


. . . and thanks, John, i found your links very helpful!

 

[Diasper]

I just gave spyware doctor (free 3.2 version) a spin on a freshly installed copy of Windows XP. It came up with 6 results of Trojan.StartPage.GEN. However, it looks like it is being very over zealous as a quick google result shows - Site 1 - Site 2 - Site 3.

This I'm assuming has been corrected in later versions of spyware doctor but letting such a common function of Windows to labelled as spyware is sloppy.

 

[lxskllr]

I don't know how people get so much spyware. I run as full admin all of the time, all settings for my computer are set up for my ease of use(read lazy) and I never get anything. I block 3rd party cookies, use Spyware blaster, and Firefox. The only spyware I've gotten in the last couple of years was about 2 weeks ago. I voluntarily downloaded a theme from themexp, that came bundled with adware. After I easily deleted the adware I have a cool new XP theme. No problems