Best resident protection spyware blocker?

[Jarmo P]

what's spybot tea timer. I've got Avast, Windows Defender, Service Pack 2, Spybot, Ad- aware  SE Personal, and Spyware Blaster. they all work perfect and keep my P.C clean.

I don't run any antispyware real time. SpyBot's teatimer is a CPU hog. 
The faulty popup has not been fixed as far as I know, though there is a user fix for it.

I am always puzzled why people are so concerned about spyware.
SpywareBlaster's immunization should help IE users and no harm applying it also to us firefox users. Running something like CCleaner takes care of cookies and temporary files.

Nowadays I surf using Sandboxie. You would not get any spyware in theory using it.

[Tarq57]

Maybe it's not that everyone is so concerned about spyware per se, but use the term to describe malware generally, including adware, trojans etc. I know I have.
And malware is, I believe, quite likely to be encountered. Just looking around a few help forums, there are literally thousands of users requesting help for malware related issues.
I certainly went for resident antispyware in a big way after my infection, which because I didn't treat it correctly ended up with a reinstall. (prob not a bad idea, since a trojan was involved.)
BTW here's an interesting sandbox test. Sandboxie comes out looking pretty good. http://www.techsupportalert.com/security_virtualization.htm
I tried this for a while, but couldn't get the computer to run correctly with it.

[internetworld7]

@Go Pack Go

Allow me to make this simple for you. As far as resident or real-time protection is concerned, spybot search & destroy does not provide that. Immunization is not the same as real-time protection. Spyware Terminator seems to be effective, though somewhat controversial depending on who you talk to because it is made by a company called 'Crawler' which has been known in the past to link to spyware. Windows Defender is much improved now that it is out of beta and is a bit under rated. Windows Defender, while not the toughest protection, does provide effective and solid resident protection. Download it and visit www.spycar.org and test it. When I tested it, it passed the test there with no problems. I would also add the free version of a-squared in which you can run a manual scan from time to time to make sure Windows Defender hasn't missed anything. While I haven't used SUPERAntispyware, it has been recommended by others here and appears to be a good program. The free version does not have resident protection but you can always run a manual scan as a second or third opinion on your PC to again insure that noting has slipped by Windows Defender. Oh and let me also add that it might be a good idea to surf the web with either Firefox or Opera if you're not already doing so. Ignore all spam that you might receive and before you download software from the internet, just look up the software in google. Trust me, if it is bundled with trojans or spyware, you will find plenty of information about it in the search engines. Pretty simple isn't it? 

[Go Pack Go]

OK, I am going to use Comodo free firewall, avast! Home, and Windows Defender real-time.  Now, if I can I use Spybot S&D's Tea Timer at the same time as Windows Defender for extra protection.  Because on the Wikipedia page for Spybot S&D, it has a step-by-step for Spybot's Tea Timer to work in the background without consuming resources, does this work?  Will it help any if I use both Defender and S&D?  If so, will all of these products work together w/o conflict?

[Go Pack Go]

I also have Ad-Aware SE free, Defender, and Spybot S&D for manual scanning so I am good in that category, but I am curious about the Tea Timer working in the background using minimal resources, contridicting it being a "hog" in a previous post.

[Lisandro]

OK, I am going to use Comodo free firewall, avast! Home, and Windows Defender real-time.  Now, if I can I use Spybot S&D's Tea Timer at the same time as Windows Defender for extra protection.  Because on the Wikipedia page for Spybot S&D, it has a step-by-step for Spybot's Tea Timer to work in the background without consuming resources, does this work?  Will it help any if I use both Defender and S&D?  If so, will all of these products work together w/o conflict?

They won't conflict (at least with the default installation). But, for sure, you'll lose a lot of resources and won't receive the payment for this security.
I mean, the balance will be using one of them, or even none, only an antivirus resident.

I am curious about the Tea Timer working in the background using minimal resources, contridicting it being a "hog" in a previous post.

If you can test, let us know the results 

[internetworld7]

Be careful when using comodo firewall and avast! together. Many people are experiencing problems with these two security products running together. To my understanding comodo has acknowledged the problem and is working on a fix. Personally I just use the SP2 firewall in XP. It gets the job done and works just fine. Some people believe it is necessary to have a two way firewall. However, I rely on a multi-layered approach to security. I don't rely on any single product as the cure all solution.

As far as tea-timers is concerned in spybot, I'm not very familiar with it. Spyware Blaster uses no system resources at all and has received many recommendations. It works without even running in the background to protect your computer from the many active x based spyware programs. It is my opinion that Windows Defender and Spyware Blaster will provide solid protection.

And a quick update. You may want to add SUPERAntispyware to your arsenal. I can see why several people recommend it. It's a great program. With this program you can run a weekly scan. Combined with good common sense and good internet practices, I believe this will be sufficient protection for anybody. 

[Go Pack Go]

Will my system resources be in good shape with just Comodo and avast!?

[Lisandro]

Will my system resources be in good shape with just Comodo and avast!?

Most probably, yes.
avast at normal level of sensibility 

[Arup]

The latest Windows defender protects crucial areas well, the rest is taken care of by Avast, the two work out nicely for overall system protection.

[BJ_GeOrgE]

well i use avast home edition,spyware terminator(a very good real-time anti-spyware) and windows xp sp2 firewall and i scan my pc weekly with spybot s&d on demand..so everything works like a charm with very low resources..i think this combination is suitable to my requirements coz i're protected without using lots of programs and slowing down ur system..in my opinion a personal firewall is not necessary..it's useless to use more and more programs..it's a bit risky what i'm telling u but that's what protection i use and i have no problems by now..if something wrong happens..i'll let u know..

[DavidR]

in my opinion a personal firewall is not necessary as xp sp2 firewall and network shield keeps u safe..it's useless to use more and more programs..

Whilst the windows XP firewall is usually good at keeping your ports stealthed (hidden) it provides no outbound protection and you should consider a third party firewall. Network Shield is a very limited specific intrusion detection for common virus attack ports and not a firewall.

Any malware that manages to get past your defences will have free reign to connect to the internet to either download more of the same, pass your personal data (sensitive or otherwise, user names, passwords, keylogger retrieved data, etc.) or open a backdoor to your computer, so outbound protection is essential.

So if your happy with that risk, good luck.

[polonus]

Hi DavidR,

Going that way is not for the average Internet user, if you are an advanced user and have some advanced programs to check on the integrity of your system all the time, and know what that means, well some do. I know the function of a firewall has been downgraded by some 40%, and there is a lot now that can get unto your machine under the radar right into your machine, that is why you need webshield and port 80 scanning with a form of IDS installed. Then it would be good that firewalls could also incorporate some form of extended protocol scanning with a personal configuration where you could block all you do not want to admit or block from going out even at the lowest levels.
To-day multi-level protection is the best thing we have at the moment,

polonus

[greenhatch]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned BOClean. I recently abandoned Ewido AntiSpyware (paid version) following AVG's takeover. I appreciate BOClean  works in a different way to AVG/Ewido, but reportedly, is at least as effective, if not more so.

[DavidR]

Hi DavidR,

Going that way is not for the average Internet user, if you are an advanced user and have some advanced programs to check on the integrity of your system all the time, and know what that means, well some do. I know the function of a firewall has been downgraded by some 40%, and there is a lot now that can get unto your machine under the radar right into your machine, that is why you need webshield and port 80 scanning with a form of IDS installed. Then it would be good that firewalls could also incorporate some form of extended protocol scanning with a personal configuration where you could block all you do not want to admit or block from going out even at the lowest levels.
To-day multi-level protection is the best thing we have at the moment,

Sorry I don't see where this relates to my post, basically stating that in BJ_GeOrgE's opinion, "in my opinion a personal firewall is not necessary as xp sp2 firewall and network shield keeps u safe..it's useless to use more and more programs.." doesn't provide adequate defence. This is over an above any other defence you might hav, it only relates to having a firewall that provides outbound protection.