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Best Free Adware-Spyware-Scumware Remover
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Introduction
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The internet is a dangerous place to be in the 21st century, with many people using increasingly ingenious ways to part you with your hard earned cash, whether it be by exploitation, surreptitiously harvesting your credit card and bank details for their own nefarious purposes, or tempting you to spend money on products and services that you neither need nor want. During the latter years of the 20th century, and the early years of the 21st, Spybot S&D and AdAware were kings, protecting you from all manner of malware that tried to infect your computer with the sole intention of parting you from your wallet. But as technology improves, so do the malware writers, and the kings of yesterday in terms of protection may no longer be up to the job. With every new generation of malware, there will be a new generation of software to combat it, and in my own tests, these are the best free products I recommend. |
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Discussion
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Top of the list is Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free (MBAM). MBAM is a top notch and reputable product. A fairly lightweight download (just over 10 MB) and simple installation means this is not a burdensome product. In my testing, even when the PC was severely infected with many nasties running, it started without any problem and scanned and removed those nasties effectively. The interface is very simple, the scans are very fast and detection is first class. A reboot to complete cleaning was still required for some malware, though this is a minor inconvenience, and required by most programs of this type. The only downside is it has no portable version, and if there is no working network connection in the infected PC you won't be able to download the latest virus definition updates. Second is SUPERAntiSpyware (SAS). Once upon a time this was a good product but recent releases have not been up to the mark. The interface is simple, updates are speedy but it still installs a start-up item which doesn't actually do anything at all. The scan speed is twice to thrice that of MBAM and the detection is less than half of it. The removal also left a lot to be desired. It left a few nasties running even when it showed them as removed. SAS also requires a reboot to complete the removal process. The upside is, it has a portable version which will help with the removal of infections from computers without a working network connection. I hope version 5 brings improvements. ~~~~~ Below is the old review which is still going to be updated ~~~~~
Top of the list once again is SuperAntiSpyware, which successfully detected and cleaned 121 threats on my test system. A fairly lightweight download and simple installation (5.99 MB) mean that this is not a burdensome product. If anything the general package whilst aesthetically similar, has improved, managing to detect and clean after a single scan rather than the two scans required previously. A reboot to complete cleaning was still required, though this is a minor inconvenience, and required by most packages. If I had to raise a criticism, it's that the freeware version still installs a start-up item which doesn't actually do anything at all. In the paid version, it loads the always on protection which is not available in the freeware version. This minor annoyance aside, it remains my top recommendation.
Promoted this time to joint second place is Emsisoft Anti Malware free edition, and let me be very clear that it is ONLY the free edition that I am able to recommend. Emsisoft Anti Malware was able to identify just 43 infections; though some of the more serious threats identified by SAS were included in these. If we disregard tracking cookies, then the margins narrow. However, detection rate is only half the battle, and unfortunately EAM was unable to automatically clean some of the more virulent infections found by itself. Nevertheless, it helpfully provides a link to forums for manual removal instructions.
The downside of EAM is the download size, being a huge 91.69 MB, immediately followed by further updates. Anyone on restricted bandwidth or dial up may be advised to look elsewhere, but for an average broadband connection this should not be a factor.
Separating A2 and MBAM is almost impossible. I found them to be on a par with each other regarding their scans, but both require a technical proficiency that many may not possess; A2 requires manual removal of many threats, whilst MBAM forced me to jump through hoops to get it working.
PCTools SpywareDoctor SE also performed well in scanning, finding 24 threats (excluding cookies). Unfortunately, cleaning the system proved more problematic. Despite reporting successful cleansing, SD failed to terminate processes already running, and did not in fact clean some of the more annoying infections. It would also be useful if SD prompted a reboot after cleansing, though it did not do this, and only experience dictated that this would be a good idea.
SD does, however, include real time protection, which most other products don't, and this protection did block those infections that it had failed to clean. Nevertheless, a further scan and clean with SAS was needed to fully clean my test system. A fine effort, but sadly falling short of the mark. Do note that the free version is no longer available from the PCTools website. It can be obtained as part of the Google pack, or from *here. *Warning: This is a Cnet download link. Downloads from Cnet (Download.com) now require the use of a proprietary installer.
Old timer Ad-Aware, coming in at 35.7MB performed reasonably, if not exceptionally, finding a further 24 infections even after cleaning with A-squared, 4 of which represented real threats, whilst the remaining 20 were cookies.
Doing less well in on demand tests were Spybot S&D, and The Cleaner 2010. Spybot was the other program that was actively blocked from running, and nothing I tried could overcome this. It does come with an on demand file scanner which can be run from the command line and set to scan your entire drive. However, after letting this run for over an hour and noting that progress had barely touched my relatively small installation system (2.1 GB) I cancelled. It would take an age to complete the scan, and would only examine files. Registry entries and services would be left untouched. The Cleaner 2010 found absolutely none.
Arovax Shield is still in development, and starting to mature, though there are still bugs to be ironed out. For example, once installed, and after the obligatory reboot to enable it to start it's services, it immediately complained that it could not find Firefox. This is no surprise since FF was not installed on the test system, though I fail to see why it should prevent it from doing its job. Maybe as time progresses this will become more viable, but in my opinion it isn't quite there yet.
And so that leads us to my standard "other recommendations". Internet Explorer has now reached version 8, which I am sure will become the most prolific web browser before too long, and as such will be the most heavily targeted. I stand by previous recommendations that an alternative browser (of which there are many free ones these days, including Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome and Safari) will offer a safer browsing experience.
And in order to shut the door after the horse has bolted, there are few more useful than HiJack This, which is still a tool requiring expert help, but can be invaluable in helping to clean an infected system. Fortunately, the expert help is still only a forum away.
And as always, let common sense guide you. Don't run a program from an untrusted source, and don't visit websites where infection is likely. You should also beware of popups from programs that you haven't installed, some of the fake anti-spyware I managed to pick up in my browsing sessions was surprisingly convincing. Remember, sometimes malware will scream into your face that it is there (see pic, not a genuine window amongst them). It will just not tell you what it really is.
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Related Products and Links
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Some issues have been reported on 64 bit systems
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Editor
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This software category is maintained by volunteer editor joeguru. Registered members can contact the editor with any comments or questions they might have by clicking here. |
The comments section below is so lengthy that it has become difficult for our visitors to read. Future posts will now be edited for length and repetition, and personal attacks deleted. You are all welcome to join our Security Forum which is much better-suited for intensive debate.
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Comments
Your antispyware seems a bit outdated.
How about Threatfire and the latest MUCH IMPROVED version of Spybot (1.52). I found spyware terminator slowed my system down much too much. I don't recommend it.
Windows defender is a joke. Its engine is VERY weak IMO. AVG antispyware is MUCH better especially at finding trojans.
My current layering is threatfire 3.0, Antivir, and spybot 1.52 (runs on a schedule dontcha know). I run AVG antispyware and Hijack this on demand.
Rock solid protection as of now.
Personally I would put TF under another category (as it is done now).
I do think that it makes very little sense to have a seperate
Best Free Adware/Spyware/Scumware Remover
and
Best Free Trojan Scanner/Trojan Remover
It seems the market now divides into
1) "Antiviruses" - which are usually now broad specturm antimalware
and
2) Specialist anti-malware - which claim to serve as companion two level guards to antivirus.
Within this category, we have antispyware and antitrojan but the line between anti-trojan and anti-spyware is currently none-existent (if ever did exist). Ewido for example throughout its history as changed names from anti-trojan to antisptware despite being the same product.
I would even be tempted to say combine all these categories plus "best antivirus software", into antimalware scanners, but i think having a seperate antivirus category is still defensible
Since this is a "remover" category, one wonders why the excellent superantispyware is not included? It is after all listed by Eric Howes as one of the few trustworthy antispyware.
Me thinks though perhaps one should have seperate categories for best X (on demand), best X (resident protection) where X is antivirus and anti-trojan/spyware.
Point taken about TF. It "IS" listed under HIPS. My Bad.
Spybot search and destroy I have stumbled upon ' what maybe a trojan on spybot .In the upper left hand corner there is a small set of of binoculars , if you click this a game comes up If you play the game to the end a picture of a man in a circle comes up .then it says end of game Later on I started to use Threat Fire It started to malfunction . I removed Spybot as it was the last program I downloaded Threat Fire started to function O K Later on I downloaded Spybot from a different vendor the same game was there I immediately removed Spybot I have tried all types of programs ( anti spyware Anti trojan anti virus ect., ) none off them have been able to confirm my suspicion that spybot has a trojan on it As I think spybot is a very well put to gether program Ineed some help to either prove that this game is a trojan or is meant to be a part of spybot . If it is a trojan how do I remove it from my computor .
I thought you recommended avg antispyware before
how come it has disappeared?
I find it curious that you have not included Superantispyware. On a friends severely infected computer, Superantispyware was the only program that removed all the truly nasty programs, and outperformed A-squared, AVG antispyware, Spybot search and destroy, Microscopic Defender, and Adaware. Superantispyware did leave some traces that the other programs found, but traces are generally harmless. Superantispyware was the only program that truly resolved the infections!
Another great program for cleaning infected systems (when used in conjunction with other on demand scanners) is Rogue Remover. Its specialty is removing phony anti-spyware applications.
As mentioned, the lack of listing of Super antispyware clearly shows this is an outdated list, particularly since Super has being around for a while already and is not even really a new comer.. Another rising star is MBAM anti-malware. The exclusion of this one is more excusable since it is quite new but still any one who even follows such matters in the slighest will know of the reputation and quality of MBAM.....
Ad-Aware is dismissed as still being an old utility, when it was revamped less than a year ago. Seems like the review isn't current and doesn't even say why AAW is "no longer up to the task." Evidently still judging the old AAW program and not the new one. Being a non-techie, I would rather have a real expert's opinion than just some guy's opinion who could be anyone.
I have not had the opportunity to compare MBAM to superantispyware, though I use both as on demand scanners. It seems that the number or nasties that MWAM detects is growing, but it appears to be far less than superantispyware (although I do not know for sure). Anyhow, I use Comodo firewall w/HIPS (free), Comodo Boclean Antimalware (free), and Kaspersky Antivirus (paid) to protect my desktop system and every attack on my system was prevented. I use A-squared, superantispyware, and occasionally MBAM as on demand scanners. Everybody says it is best to layer protection, and I slathered the layers on THICK.
On a system running XP SP2 I had BSOD problems with Spyware Doctor. Uninstalling stopped the problem. I'm now running the freeware version of AVG antispyware, but I'd rather have something that actively protects.
Be careful with Spyware Terminator. There are comments all over the internet about how it is in itself adware. Do the research on it first.
LOL. I love naive comments like this... Particularly from a self-confessed "non-technie".
The "new" AAW program is just a face-lift mainly, very little changes under the hood... Just ask anyone who isn't a "non-technie". Not many real experts in the world (no Gimzo himself doesn't count either), but for those of us removing malware crap day in day out (no that doesn't make us experts), pretty much everyone who does that will tell you ad-aware and spybot are useless against all but the simplest malware. They just haven't kept up with the software architecture changes needed to deal with the toughest strains...
You don't even need to be a technie, just go to the usual forums where technies hang out and try to see the way the wind is blowing....
I agree with Lusher, I use Avast! Home edition 4.8
and sometimes I feel like avast may be missing out some things, but installing another program with real-time will eat my memory, and I'm very low on memory. On-Demand scans are useful to remove viruses without eating too much memory by themselves, also AVG Anti-spyware Is dead. The new AVG 8 Anti-Virus(It is known to kill a lot of peoples computers) already contains an anti-spyware component
Yes, any new product that is based on signature detection technologies will be initally handicapped in some senses. They might have a stronger and more flexible engine, but they will be less capable of detecting older malware because they lack the older samples (though this depends on the contacts they have and MBAM is active in the antispyware scene). But this disadvantage is minimal at best, and will shrink as time goes by.
"Everybody says it is best to layer protection, and I slathered the layers on THICK."
Not a good idea....
Lusher,
Your comment "Not a good idea...." is completely wrong. Layered protection is the golden rule for security, including computer security. Although it is not a good idea to run two or more security programs that do the same task (e.g. two real time antivirus monitors), IT IS A VERY GOOD IDEA to run multiple security programs that complement each other. A good example of this is a firewall, an antivirus program, and an antimalware program (Comodo firewall, Kaspersky antivirus, and Boclean Antimalware in the case of the user above). Furthermore, passive protection offers another layer of protection that does not use system resources and can be used to complement the active protection achieved by the programs above (good examples of passive protection that complement each other: spywareblaster, IE-Spyad, and a good hosts file). When you layer complementary security programs, it has been proven that your chance of being infested with malicious code is much lower. In fact, here is a good example...look at the graph on this website: http://www.threatfire.com. Layered protection is recommended in the Best Practices Internet Safety for 2008 (http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic123660.html). In sum, LAYERED PROTECTION IS A GOOD IDEA, and is the best way to protect your computer.
By the way, if you are going to post a comment like "Not a good idea....", you should explain why it is not a good idea.
As far as Malwarebytes and Superantispyware...I have used them both, along with others, but they have NEVER found anything on my computer because of my LAYERED PROTECTION. Based on the info posted on many forums, they both sound like excellent tools.
Be careful with Spyware Doctor. Its fast, light, yet pretty aware thanks to it's constant monitoring/auto-updating. I was happy with this one for several months (after I dropped the bogged down Spybot v1.5). However, after a recent booched attempt at a windows update (silverware update) spyware doctor went balistic. It detected (hopefully false-positives) 3 trojans (involving approx. 250 system files). Allowing it to clean and quarenteen the trojans caused system errors relating to rundll.exe. Restoring what was quarenteened got rid of the system errors (eventhough SWdr. still blocked direct access to those "infected" files). Only disabling, or uninstalling SWdr. returned the system to normal (I think).
Norton Internet Security (full scan) could not find these problems.
and Spybot reinstalled (v1.52...much much better) could not find these problems (full scan).
a squared free is the best. period.
I use spyware terminator because the newer versions of adaware, Spybot, and S. doctor caused freeze-ups.
super antispyware freeware is tha best spyware for the moment it can remove new malware that can piss you off.
www.ak0n.tk
Mitchelle V. de la Cruz
I wouldn't trust any PC Tools products (including ThreatFire) now after finding a malware in Spyware Doctor. Good thing trusty Avira Antivir detected it during installation, as i thought it probably was a false positive (Virus or unwanted program 'Worm/Rbot.923528.1 [worm]'
detected in file 'C:\Program Files\Spyware Doctor\SDInfo.sdp.) performed another scan using a-squared and it also detected it as a backdoor malware so i removed it ASAP and uninstalled all other PC Tools products. After performing a full scan again and found nothing but being a paranoid and format-happy n00b i'm reformatting my pc soon after posting this comment.
When in doubt (1)back-up, (2)format and (3)repeat. :D
use anything but don't use bit-defender as your back up anti virus... have you heard about sockspy.dll? that cause errors with IE7.. every time i open certain programme IE7 shows error of sockspy.dll and i had to close IE... sockspy.dll is a part of BitDefender...
Sorry about the double post earlier regarding Spyware Doctor. For some reason my browser didn't update this page and I thought the first entry didn't go through.
About the problems I experienced with Spyware Dr. ; well I am not alone...
http://forums.pcworld.co.nz/showthread.php?p=676705
It may not seem like a big deal until you get a prompt about system files being altered from their original state if you proceed with fixing the false/positives. Fortunatly the quarenteen restore worked like a charm. Whew.
BTW, I was using the google pack edition. Hope it improves.
You don't mention at all that Microsoft has purposely made Windows Defender unable to install in Windows 2000, thus forcing people to upgrade to XP if they want to install it. What they did was add a single line to the installer telling it not to install in anything less than XP. Of course, where there's a will, there's a way. Remove that line, and Windows Defender installs and functions beautifully in Windows 2000. Someone has already taken it upon themselves to upload a "modified" copy (modified only in the sense that it will install in Windows 2000 not that it's been cracked to allow pirates to use it), which I have personally confirmed to install, run, and update under Windows 2000.
Windows Defender Modified to install on Windows 2000
Ver. 1.1.1593.0 (5.3 Mb) (includes defender, gdiplus.dll, and readme.doc)
This file was modified and uploaded by Jordan Varden and these are his notes as posted to the TechGuy forums:
"I have posted the defender installer on my website, already modified with the launch condition removed. It's in a zip, also includes GDI+ which is necessary for Windows 2000 to launch Defender. Directions included on where to extract the GDI+ files, completely idiot proof."
Since I already have gdiplus.dll in the C:\winnt\system32 directory, I didn't need the copy included in the above zip.
I installed the program in Windows 2000 and updated the definitions on 12/18/2007.
BEFORE:
Engine Version: 1.1.2204.0
Definition Version: 1.0.0.0
AFTER:
Engine Version: 1.1.3109.0
Definition Version: 1.24.4809.0
The program will run and update itself flawlessly in Windows 2000 as long as you have the Automatic Updates service, as well as its own Windows Defender service, both set to manual or automatic.
If you want to know how to MANUALLY alter Windows Defender's install to be Windows 2000 compatible, read this forum thread.
If you'd like more information on the problem (that is, Microsoft's problem with Windows 2000), read this article.
--
Yours Truly,
Paul R.
* Spook Central: The Ghostbusters Companion
That is a false positive. I uploaded it to VirusTotal and nothing was found now.
http://www.pctools.com/forum/showthread.php?s=8345bf3436713cd4e31f1b84f5...
Thanks alot for the info. Saves me the trouble of finding a new anti-spyware candidate, that'll teach me to do more research next time before formatting everything haha:D
In an ealier post on 5/19/08, some guy said "Layered protection is the golden rule for security, including computer security. Although it is not a good idea to run two or more security programs that do the same task (e.g. two real time antivirus monitors), IT IS A VERY GOOD IDEA to run multiple security programs that complement each other." He offered a rather good explaination as to why it is a good idea. I agree completely. If you want to prevent an infection, look at his post.
When dealing with an infected computer, a single scanner appears to be inadequate. So it seems useless to determine which program is best. The truly best approach is to use multiple scanners, because each may detect and clean different nasties. I use a combination of Superantipyware, A-squared, Spybot Search and Destroy, Malwarebytes Antimalware, Rogue Remover, and Windows Defender. Then, I scan with at least two antivirus applications. I also scan with Hijackthis and a rootkit scanner (for more advanced users).
This process has cleaned up every bit of badness when I have used it on an infected computer.
For optimal security:
1) Layered protection for preventing infections.
2) Multiple on demand scanners for maintenance and removal of infections.
Moderator Edit:
Whilst it is a good idea to employ multi-layered security for spyware/adware etc. it is not good practice to have more than one active anti-virus product installed. (passive is probably OK). virus checkers can interfere with each other to such an extent that with more than one active checker in place, they may both stop working effectively. A good rule of thumb with any security software is only ever have one of each active (anti-virus, anti spyware, anti adware). make sure others are on-demand only, and try to stick with a single anti-virus program.
Steve
I am not really sure if this is universally correct, but! After installing SUPERantispyware on my computer, there was several warnings from Avast saying there were multiple worms that had entered my computer when installing the program. I am not a computer-savvy person so I do not know how to confirm if its a false alarm, or a actually threat. If you can please look into it.
- Leo
Super antispyware is one of the best anti spyware programme.. please can anyone suggest me a anti spyware programme with good real time protection..
Commonly used real-time protection that is free:
Commodo Boclean (http://www.comodo.com/boclean/boclean.html) - no on demand scanner, only real-time protection against trojans, worms, keyloggers, spyware, rootkits, adware, etc. Very user friendly and has daily updates.
Threatfire (http://www.threatfire.com/) - has real-time protection and HIPS (which monitors your system for suspicious activity to catch new unknown malware). If your firewall (or other security program) has HIPS, then you do not need threatfire.
I use both of these and they work great, and they are free! They also complement your antivirus and firewall protection.
Some programs that require you to pay for real-time protection: Malwarebytes antimalware, A-squared, super-antispyware. I have not used these for real-time protection, but they come highly recommended on many forums.