Finding David

20 years in USAF, retired in 1993. Currently employed and well on my way to being independently out of debt....

My Photo
Name:
Location: Sanford, Maine, United States

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Anti Spyware Mini Software Review

Hi. Remember me?

What is spyware? It's software that web sites maliciously install on your computer without your knowledge (generally) that gathers information about you, your web surfing habits, etc. Believe me, if it can find this out about you, it can find out ANY information about you that you store on your computer, such as credit card numbers, bank account numbers, passwords, etc.

I hate spyware.

I normally use Ad-Aware (free download here).

Recently, Microsoft (or as I affectionately call them, Micro$oft) released a beta version of their anti-spyware software. I thought I'd give it a spin.

Needless to say, I ran a comparison test.

Here are actual screenshots from scans using Micro$oft's Anti-Spyware (Beta 1) and Ad-Aware. First Micro$oft's product:



Notice it didn't find anything. Nothing. Nada. Zip.

I made NO changes to my computer, surfed nowhere, nothing. I simply ran Ad-Aware immediately after running Micro$oft's product.

Here's the screenshot:



Notice the difference? Ad-Aware found 23 objects (!) that Micro$oft's product missed.

I do like Micro$oft's product's real-time scan feature. This means it's supposed to scan your computer constantly while you work and alert you to any nasty spyware programs, browser cookies, etc, that are trying to install themselves on your computer. Obviously, it's not doing a thorough job. Too bad.

So I would have to recommend using Ad-Aware and scanning your computer 2-3 times a week and cleaning ALL the junk out.

Have phun, and as always, surf safely!

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home