Author Topic: How good is Avast's antispyware?  (Read 20430 times)

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Offline Lisandro

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Re: How good is Avast's antispyware?
« Reply #15 on: May 19, 2008, 04:16:20 AM »
I am not familiar with vista firewall - is it more than XP inbound only?
Yes. It can, with Advanced settings, control the outbound traffic.

A-squared has a free anti trojan on demand scanner
Take care about false positives.

Hosts file -- go to Spywarewarrior and go to Updates thread - you will find two fine Hosts files who update regularly
SpyBot can handle hosts file too.

also ie-spyads for IE restricted sites block file is available a Spywarewarrior
SpyBot and AdvancedWindowsCare could do the same job with a better interface.
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YoKenny

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Re: How good is Avast's antispyware?
« Reply #16 on: May 19, 2008, 04:40:08 AM »
Quote
SpyBot can handle hosts file too.
The Spybot S&D HOSTS file is not verified for accuracy like hpHost and MVPS HOSTS file:
http://www.hosts-file.net/?s=Download
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

Windows Defender does a good job of monitoring the HOSTS file for changes.

I'm impressed with MBAM:
http://malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

wyrmrider

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Re: How good is Avast's antispyware?
« Reply #17 on: May 19, 2008, 05:23:43 AM »
Yo
you are reasonably correct on Spybots host file capabilities- good in it's day, not updated as often
however I do not find many errors in it
I have used a hosts merge program to check vs MVPS- and have found no need to be able to connect to anything Spybot and or MVPS block
ie-spyads is not updated as often as it needs to be so perhaps there are other choices for IE users for restricted sites lists
Spybot's restricted site list is not very comprehensive - same league as its hosts file
however I still update spybot every Wednasday and immunize- old habits- not running T-timer


Thanks TEch for the info on Vista firewall  did they write their own?

Offline Lisandro

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Re: How good is Avast's antispyware?
« Reply #18 on: May 19, 2008, 04:39:05 PM »
Thanks TEch for the info on Vista firewall  did they write their own?
Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Windows Firewall with Advanced Security

While providing complete inbound AND outbound protection, by default, the Vista firewall does not contain any rules for controlling of outbound traffic. That is, every program is allowed to go out.

If you decide to define your own rules, make sure to enable

- avast.setup access on port 80 (http)
- ashWebSv.exe access on port 80 (http)
- ashMaiSv.exe access on ports 25 (smtp), 110 (pop3), 143 (imap4)

Configure Vista Firewall to support outbound packet filtering: http://searchwindowssecurity.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid45_gci1247138,00.html

Or use Vista Firewall Control 32-bit: http://www.majorgeeks.com/Vista_Firewall_Control_32-bit_d5578.html
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wyrmrider

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Re: How good is Avast's antispyware?
« Reply #19 on: May 19, 2008, 07:56:13 PM »
Thanks tech
IS vista firewall ms written or licensed?
no outbound filtering without writing rules
that's going to be way past a lot of users

miscreant

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Re: How good is Avast's antispyware?
« Reply #20 on: May 19, 2008, 08:05:42 PM »
I did suggest to use vista firewall control earlier which makes using vista firewall much easier for the novice ,as it contains preset zones such as browser ,email zones etc,as well as being advanced enough to add your own rules.If your going to use vista firewall and cant be bothered with the hassle of writing your own rules then nothing is simpler than vista firewall control software.
m

Offline Lisandro

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Re: How good is Avast's antispyware?
« Reply #21 on: May 19, 2008, 08:48:38 PM »
IS vista firewall ms written or licensed?
I'm not following you... but it's into the OS, you don't have to pay for a license to use.
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Offline Vladimyr

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Re: How good is Avast's antispyware?
« Reply #22 on: May 20, 2008, 06:05:50 AM »
IS vista firewall ms written or licensed?
I'm not following you... but it's into the OS, you don't have to pay for a license to use.

I think wyrmrider means: 'Is the Vista Firewall purchased and adapted from another company's product?'
I believe it was developed in-house by MS.
There is a way that seems right to a man,
       but in the end it leads to death
.” - Proverbs 16:25

Jeleal

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Re: How good is Avast's antispyware?
« Reply #23 on: May 20, 2008, 02:47:10 PM »
I'm so sure that Avast's antispyware protection is good, that I don't run any other antispyware program in RealTime, and I have a free license for a-squared Anti-Malware and SuperAntiSpyware. I do use OA Personal and Mamutu though just in case a new threat comes along, but I doubt I even need Mamutu.