anti-spyware combo..

[Hard_ROCKER]

***

If I am not mistaken, WinClamAV in ST can be used as either resident (not recomended with avast or any other av installed) or as an on-demand scanner. I had this installed in the last version of ST but have not yet installed it in the current version 2 which I just installed.

Someone correct me if I am wrong.


***

You are correct i use ClamAV as on-demand only in the new ST 2.0. Nice addition IMO.

Is anyone using Windows Live OneCare safety scanner ? Scans for spyware&viruses, defrags the disks if necessary, cleans junk files and can also clean the registry.

[black_moon]

i was browsing softpedia.com for some security freewares and came upon
malware immunizer looks new and good to me. downloaded it but i did'nt install. just another collection of freewares. you might be interested. 

[rdmaloyjr]

I don't recommend ClamAV in ST, I recommend NOD32 Online scanner for a second opinion with avast!.

I prefer ClamWin AV since it's a simple right click away for any file.

I have portable ClamWin on an USB stick.  It finds things (mostly fp) that the ST version doesn't, actually the ST version hasn't found anything.  This has been discussed in ST forums.

It seems the completely separate version of ClamWin is much better than in ST.  Provided you have internet access, BitDefender or NOD32 online scanners are a better choice for a second opinion with any av.

[Lisandro]

Is anyone using Windows Live OneCare safety scanner ? Scans for spyware&viruses, defrags the disks if necessary, cleans junk files and can also clean the registry.

No thanks. MS does a very good thing: operational systems. Other things - browser, media player, security tools... - well, imho, just a joke.

[the Tester]

I wouldn't touch a MS security program with a 10 foot pole!
If you consider the quality freeware programs available Live OneCare is a waste of $.

[roro]

Thanks for the information.  I will download and install ST now.
When I went to the ST site I saw that there were two options to download Spyware Terminator alone or with Web security guard.  Since I already use Avast, I just downloaded ST by itself.  Was that the correct thing to do?

Ro Ro 

[Hard_ROCKER]

Is anyone using Windows Live OneCare safety scanner ? Scans for spyware&viruses, defrags the disks if necessary, cleans junk files and can also clean the registry.

No thanks. MS does a very good thing: operational systems. Other things - browser, media player, security tools... - well, imho, just a joke.

No need to scan for malware ( altough i don't see any problems in letting it do it's thing after all second opinion never hurts ) you can deselect it if you want, i use the scanner to clean the junk files ( along with CCleaner and Advanced WindowsCare ) and cleaning the registry. So far i haven't had any problems with these features ( knocking on wood like crazy ...  ) .
I think MS knows best about how their own windows registry works that's why i only clean it with this scanner. The version for Vista is in beta though, but so far it seems to be doing it's job OK. At least for me. Just wondered if anyone else uses it and if so what's their experience with it ?

Anyway i am also currently trying to figure out a good security setup for my Vista rig. I've installed quite a few security apps these last few days and i am now trying to decide which to keep and which to get rid off.

I have these installed on Vista ( with UAC enabled ) :

Resident Anti-Malware:
- avast! Home ( well naturally ! )
- Windows Defender ( this one came with Vista and i left it installed )
- PCTools Spyware Doctor Starter Edition form Google Pack ( very nice program this one stays for sure ! )
- Spyware Terminator ( currently trying out the HIPS part of the program but i think i'll turn it off as soon as Comodo 3 is out )

Firewall:
- PCTools FW (I hate this one i am waiting for the new Comodo but i might try out Vista Firewall Control aswell altough i doubt it's any better than PCTools FW )

Immunisers:
- SpywareBlaster (yes it works just fine on Vista )
- Advanced WindowsCare ( god i love this program )
- PCTools Spyware Doctor Starter Edition form Google Pack ( this one also has immunisation ... )
- Spyware Terminator ( so does this one ... )
- Spybot S&D ( and this one ... )
On-Demand Scanning:
Besides the ones i already mentioned above that have scanning capabilities i also have these installed:
- AVG AS free ( the background service being the most annoying with this one, does anyone know if Ewido Micro Scanner works with Vista ? )
- Ad-Aware 2007 free ( another one running stuff in the background, bljak, this one will be the first to go i think ... )
- SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition ( background service again ... )
- i also use HijackThis (works under Vista but you have to run it as admin ) and Gmer anti-rootkit + Blacklight ...

Any opinions ?

[DavidR]

You could stop the AVG-AS service and set it to manual, which is what I do, I have a batch file, c:\startavg-as.bat (contents below), that has the start command and I launch that by shortcut before I want to update the signatures and run any on-demand scan. You must start the service first before starting avg-as or it reports no service running or words to that effect. So guard.exe isn't constantly running on my system, only when I want to run avg-as.

Code: [Select]

Net Start "AVG Anti-Spyware Guard"


[Lisandro]

Since I already use Avast, I just downloaded ST by itself.  Was that the correct thing to do?

Although you can use ST WebGuard you don't [i/]have to[/i]. Don't worry, avast is protecting you.

i don't see any problems in letting it do it's thing after all second opinion never hurts

Well... I thought it does not have a free service. I'll take a look. Thanks Mikey, living and learning.

On Vista, I'm using:

Resident Anti-Malware:
avast! Professional, Windows Defender.
I have both PCTools Spyware Doctor Starter Edition and Norton Security Scan form Google Pack.

Spyware Terminator will be installed in the future...

Firewall:
Comodo version 3 Beta. Stable, running smoothly.

Immunisers:
SpywareBlaster and Advanced WindowsCare (Pro: I've got it as a gift of iObit company).
PCTools Spyware Doctor Starter Edition form Google Pack .
Spybot S&D

On-Demand Scanning:
AVGas free (I don't have problems with the background service... although it should stay running...)
Ad-Aware 2007 free (the service was let on Manual for me...)

Next would be SpywareTerminator and SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition.

So, I'm more or less the same as you.

[Hard_ROCKER]

I just tried Ewido micro scanner and it appears to run fine on Vista .
Which means i will probably be getting rid of AVG AS ... Ad-Aware 2007 is already gone but i am still deciding on SAS .

@Tech: Yes the Windows Live OneCare safety scanner is a FREE service . I guess i should have mentioned that in my post ... 

[black_moon]

You could stop the AVG-AS service and set it to manual, which is what I do, I have a batch file, c:\startavg-as.bat (contents below), that has the start command and I launch that by shortcut before I want to update the signatures and run any on-demand scan. You must start the service first before starting avg-as or it reports no service running or words to that effect. So guard.exe isn't constantly running on my system, only when I want to run avg-as.

Code: [Select]

Net Start "AVG Anti-Spyware Guard"


so you should first start the service everytime you wanna run AVG-AS (scan/update)? or starting the service only once and the batch file does the work(no need to start the service). did i get it right?

[DavidR]

I don't really understand the question, the only need for the batch file is if you don't want the service running all the time and you take the measures to stop the service running automatically. The batch file is only required if you change the service from Automatic start to Manual start. AVG-AS requires the service to be running first before you start it.

That is the idea of the batch file, so you don't have to open the services interface and manually start it.

[black_moon]

^thanks. so that's how batch file works it automatically starts the AVG-AS service. now what if you're done and closed the AVG-AS. will the guard.exe still be running on the task manager?

[DavidR]

Yes because you started it, it won't be there on the next reboot, you can also have another batch file to stop it stopavg-as.bat and instead of net start it becomes net stop, easy really.

[Rafel]

AVG As service is only 1500-3000k