Ad-aware and Spybot: overhyped

[Dammit9x]

After some googling around for a solution to the webrebates spyware, I came upon this collection of reviews:

http://www.adwarereport.com/mt/archives/000004.html

Everywhere you go, including this forum, people say to use ad aware and spybot for spyware. Hype breeds hype. The reviews confirm my suspicion that these two just don't get the job done. They also suggest some better, lesser known apps.

If anyone else has some review links, this thread would be a good place to share them.

Bush? Kerry? Fuck 'em. My vote goes to webroot spy sweeper.

[Keyser]

the reasons everyone loves adaware and spybot s&d is that 1) they are free and 2) they do a decent job.

i dont doubt that theres better programs available, but they more then likely cost money. not to mention that i havent had a single case of spyware or adware since i switched from IE to firefox a number of months ago (no joke, not a single one)

bottom line. firefox + adaware & spybot = no cost, good protection for me.

on the other hand, if those proggies give you crap or you are one of the thick headed or simply uneducated web users who continue to use IE...then it might be worth it to spend a few bucks on a top quality program.

[Cyberxion]

Yeah, I've not really had any trouble with the two programs. Are they the best available? Probably not. Do they do an adequate job? Yeah, they do. And that's all that's important to me.

And it's not exactly a matter of hyping the progs up. If someone finds the program to be satisfactory in serving thier needs, then of course they're going to reccomend it to others. It's not as if we're here lighting candles and making sacrifices at the alters of Adaware and Spybot, nor did anyone suggest at any time that there weren't better products to be found. People simply suggest using these free programs to others, as thier personal experiences with them have been positive.

Even where it a matter of hype, that hype has to come from somewhere. Did you stop to think before jumping up on your soap-box that if these programs truly were crap, that eventually enough people would've related that sentiment that the positive word of mouth would've died down by now? That so many people here reccomend them should be a testiment to the fact that while likely not the best programs out there, they at least do a decent enough job to keep most of us here happy....

[Cosmic]

I'm happy enough with Spybot. If there's anything majorly wrong, chances are it'll detect it, otherwise AVG will. If all else fails, I'll use the System Restore feature built into Windows XP and run both programs afterwards to make sure there's no problems. Couldn't be happier, both are free and they've saved my arse countless times.

[Norgus]

y'know if I was a lowly malware author, I think I'd get to work on something that targets system restore. My wouldn't that be evil.

[MasJ]

You're right about none of them fixing WebRebates, thats one hell of a bugger.

[Dammit9x]

the reasons everyone loves adaware and spybot s&d is that 1) they are free and 2) they do a decent job.

Consider this: If people followed that reasoning, no one would be trying out firefox in the first place, because the good-enough-for-me and the everybody's-using-it-so-it-must-be-good arguments could be applied to IE. They can be applied to anything. Nobody would be using linux either.

By the way, system restore can be used to remove all traces of trial version apps, so it's not like the premium programs are for rich folks only. They can be used as a second line of defense after the freeware apps.

Yeah, I've not really had any trouble with the two programs. Are they the best available? Probably not. Do they do an adequate job? Yeah, they do. And that's all that's important to me.

What would you do if someone came to the board complaining of spyware that spybot and adaware couldn't fix? Move on to the next thread? I didn't even know there were diferences until I started searching around. I'm trying to inform people that there are options out there, and some are more powerful than others. So don't accuse me of getting on a "soap-box." I never said they were "crap." Don't turn this into an us vs. them thread.

[Dr Morgan]

y'know if I was a lowly malware author, I think I'd get to work on something that targets system restore. My wouldn't that be evil.

They do. This is why when you remove viruses from your pc, you're meant to turn off system restore before you do it.

[quaycur]

^ Yeah, I recently found this out.

Good 'ol AVG.

[Dr Morgan]

What would you do if someone came to the board complaining of spyware that spybot and adaware couldn't fix? Move on to the next thread? I didn't even know there were diferences until I started searching around. I'm trying to inform people that there are options out there, and some are more powerful than others. So don't accuse me of getting on a "soap-box." I never said they were "crap." Don't turn this into an us vs. them thread.

This is why spybot and ad-aware get updated, so they can tackle newer threats as they present themselves. If it's a definate adware problem, then eventually (usually within a day or so) an update is made available to deal with that specific threat.

In my daily dealings with people who suffer such issues we see that the most common problems are with browser and proxy hijackers which are not spyware and so a spyware removal tool will not aid them. In these instances they need to look into programs such as Hijack This and CWShreder.

The right tools for the right job. Thanks to programs like Adaware and Spybot the often daunting task of reg editing is negated which cannot be a bad this for technophobes and computer novices. I welcome these two programs for their ease of use and the fact that they are the most effective adware removal tools on the net and are both free.

Back to the topic at hand though. If you have a problem that Adaware of Spybot cannot fix then it's unlikely to be a spyware or adware issue.

[Del_Boy]

I'm not saying anything about the programs mentioned. But it isn't totally unheard of for AV/Spyware removal products to totally fabricate problems so that the end user thinks - wow Norton/Ad-Aware didn't remove this shit - hence this product must be better.

One example I can think of off the top of my head was 'Bullguard lite' which was bundled with Kazaa a while back.

[MaXim]

Use HiJackThis.

[Keyser]

Consider this: If people followed that reasoning, no one would be trying out firefox in the first place, because the good-enough-for-me and the everybody's-using-it-so-it-must-be-good arguments could be applied to IE. They can be applied to anything. Nobody would be using linux either.

no, they couldnt be applied to IE. IE is the main reason people get spyware. IE is a reason people get viruses. IE is the reason people get hundreds of popups and lose control of thier internet experience. i dunno what your idea of 'good enough' is, but that certainly isnt mine.

from my experience, spybot and adaware + firefox do a damn good job of keeping my pc free of spyware. i have had no problems with spyware in the number of months that i have used firefox and regularly updated and run adaware and spybot. hence, they are good enough for me.

as for linux, thats completely different. linux is free, and in many ways a superior operating system, whereas windows is an expensive (if aquired legally of course) OS full of annoying quirks and security issues.

[Mason]

Spy Sweeper is more effective than Adaware and Spybot (I've used all of them), but it's not free. Hence, for many people, that makes Adaware and Spybot better tools. After all, if you can't afford to buy the tool, it's not very useful to you.

[Nitramuse]

Agreed.

I have no problems with Ad-aware and Spybot. They work perfectly for me.