FWIW Microsoft Windows Defender vs MS antispyware

[TBoneit]

Just installed Microsofts Windows Defender, their MS antispyware replacement.

Casual testing on a customers infected drive shows that:
After cleaning with MS Antispyware (AKA Giant A/S) that was up to date. MS Windows Defender found 14 new Spyware that Antispyware had missed. A siginifgant imrpovement.

Available on the www.Microsoft.com website.

Just thought I'd let you know.

Cheers

[waheed]

Its in Beta stage.

[guns1inger]

Windows Defender is just the latest version of MS Antispyware. Same product, relabeled in anticipation of a Vista release. The version running in Vista runs as a service instead of an app. Haven't looked at the current release outside of Vista.

It's good to see it's improving. We have had the beta on a 400+ strong laptop fleet simply because it was free and automated (not many of the free ones are) so we could set and forget. Worked OK for a while, then we noticed some of the spyware that caused us problems got downgraded, then were no longer picked up at all. Turned out M$ had aquired the parent company that used to produce this spyware, and over time quietly stopped addressing. Would not have been a problem if the spyware had stopped existing, but we still have infected machines form time to time.

Word is that Defender will remain free to Genuine Advantage XP owners even once it goes gold.

[offline]

I was very happy with it at first but it began to miss too much. The Panda suite is far better, but of course you have to pay for it. Ewido is good for cleaning after the fact. I don't think there is a single "cleans/prevents all" solution out there.

[Faustus]

I don't think there is a single "cleans/prevents all" solution out there.

Sure there is. Fdisk and http://www.freedos.org/

[kschang]

He-he-he. That's like telling people that to solve Earth's problems, the solution is to live on Mars.

[Poppa_Meth]

If you want a good active shield spyware scanner you can get Webroot's Spysweeper for $20-$30 which has always been a very good product. The main reason a lot of people switched away from this to MS Anti-spy was simply price. Free vs. pay product.

[JerryB]

Just installed Microsofts Windows Defender, their MS antispyware replacement.

Casual testing on a customers infected drive shows that:
After cleaning with MS Antispyware (AKA Giant A/S) that was up to date. MS Windows Defender found 14 new Spyware that Antispyware had missed. A siginifgant imrpovement.

Available on the www.Microsoft.com website.

Just thought I'd let you know.

Cheers

hi,
this is my 2 cents worth.... smile
giant, the original program was bought out by M$ and renamed... giant has always gotten very poor reviews based on testing....
after MS bout the software.... and renaned.... but that all they did.. MS beta and beta one...had great tools.. but very very poor on detect and clean...... spyweeper, spybot and adaware.. etc etc and af ew other were fqar superior....... when it came to detect and clean
windows defender... is a rebult of beta one.. because 1 had a lot problems.... however windows defender appears to still have issue and it still does not come up to par with the others.....
Like previous replyier mentioned. main reason people downloading is it free!!! and it from M$.. smile....... well spybot and adaware are free and they are proven very good at what they do....!!

[Steen4]

I don't think there is a single "cleans/prevents all" solution out there.

Sure there is. Fdisk and http://www.freedos.org/

Hell, I'm game...

[MrRalphMan]

Jerry B,

Do you have an example of the spyware that is no longer picked up?

I also run Zomealarm anti-spyware and this always picks up quite a few items that MS Anti-Spyware hadn't picked up/cleaned.

Thanks.

Paul.

[EAO]

Would anyone here put it past an ethical bunch like MS to decide if this should be closely tied to DRM and if freeware apps can run on your PC?

[Wile_E]

I use Adware and Spybot. Enough protection for me. Plus my Outpost Firewall now has realtime scanning of Anti-spyware. But I always keep it off. I don't like all-in-one products, nor products that use up memory unneccessarily. I may have to switch firewall products soon, if they don't give us the option to uninstall all those plugins.

[mike1061]

I use adware and spybot too. What I want is something that blocks them in the first place. Those do not.
Thanks Mike

[Poppa_Meth]

Add Spyware Blaster.
For realtime protection good products are rare. There is Webroot Spysweeper and I believe the full version of Ad-aware has active shields.

[mike1061]

Add Spyware Blaster.
I believe the full version of Ad-aware has active shields.

I will look into that one.
Thanks Mike

[Dv8ted2]

Jerry B,

Do you have an example of the spyware that is no longer picked up?

Gator is spyware. It is made by Claria. Microsoft bought Claria and downgraded it to where it is not detected by antispyware.

I use a combination of Ad-Aware, Spybot Search and Destroy, and Hijack This.

[JerryB]

Jerry B,

Do you have an example of the spyware that is no longer picked up?

I also run Zomealarm anti-spyware and this always picks up quite a few items that MS Anti-Spyware hadn't picked up/cleaned.

Thanks.

Paul.

Hi ,
I see someone already jumped inand answer your question..... that good... M$ bought out claria so they can use the programs for there own uses and implementation,, the maker of gator .. gator is one of those programs that has legitmate and neferious uses....... and and was used a lot by spyware hackers and various other companies...... when M$ bought out... claria, they changed the name.... and at the same time they lowered the threat level...!! of it...
this is why it very bad for a company like M$ to get involved because they start to look at the bottom line$$$$$ and not the user saftey.....

another example is a program/company called newdotnet.... for a long time this was considered malware and many antispyware programs would detect it... however.... because of what the company is doing ..... to clean up there act.... some antispyware program having taking it off there list.... however.... it can be real nasty tryiing to get it off the system if it get on....!!! i have seen reported that adaware no longer detects it... they used to..

[TBoneit]

Well no one program detects and cleans all spyware.

Having said that I use 11+ programs to clean a customers computer of spyware and they all find things the others missed. Plus for some things I use specific single purpose s/w.

Not in any particular order.

CWShredder
Hosts file reader
Ad-Aware
Spybot search & destroy, protects and cleans
Kazaa begone
Antivirus
Spy Sweeper, protects and cleans
Pest Patrol
Hijack This, (It only has a Manual Mode no Automatic mode, be very carefull you can damage Windows with this one.)
MS Antispyware (Windows Defender Now)
Ewido, protects and cleans

StartupCPL.exe, handy as it gives control over startup items even in Win2K
Spyware Blaster Blocks bad sites and reports if IE is configured in a unsecure manner
Spyware Guard, Old no longer updated
VX2 Finder
to fix Winsock Problems: if needed
WinsockXpFix for Xp
w2fix for 98 etc.

Look2Me fixer s/w if needed

And of course for WinXP the ever popular Service pack 2
and for Win2000 Service pack 4

and of course others as needed.

Some of these are not as good as others but I use them as for certain things do work quite well.

[hech54]

Wow...all these urban/internet myths flying around about Microsoft makes me laugh....




...AT people.

[Amish Electrician]

Get FireFox 1.5
Don't except 3rd party cookies
I never have any problems with spyware.

[Poppa_Meth]

Firefox isn't going to protect you completely but it can help. Not supporting ActiveX controls is what makes it more secure than IE, but you can still get virus and spyware infections even with FF. Adblock Plus and FiltersetG Auto Updater make it completely worth it to use FF though. You have less chance of infection when you can see all those enticing ads you might want to click on.

[bevills1]

AmishElectrician is right about not accepting third party cookies which may be blocked in IE cookie manager for those who may not know, and it will reduce spyware.

[Poppa_Meth]

I just tried out Defender. What a laugh. I can't get it to complete a scan. worked fine on my PC at work. at home though it gets to my eDonkey folders where I have several RAR and ISO archives and it just keeps scanning to same set of files over and over again endlessly.

[guns1inger]

FunWebProducts - often ships inside cursor and screensaver packs (the sort of things 10 - 14 year old girls love to put on their laptops)
MyWebSearch - pseudo-search help BHO, often hides with FWP
NewDotNet - as mentioned above

All of these went from kill on site to no longer detected across successive generations of definition updates. Thankfully these also tag the user-agent section of internet explorer (and so tag every http packet you send across the net), so I have set up http filters on our firewall to stop access to any enfected laptop. Doesn't take long for them to come knocking on the door.

Personally, I use Spybot, SpywareBalster and HijackThis, but none of these are automated. And because we have to charge for any licensed software, and the $$$s are already pretty high, we can't put anymore payware into the standard build.

[Poppa_Meth]

Since I'm setting up a whole new computer system at work I think I'll put Ad-aware Plus on all of them and see how well it's ad-watch feature does. Then I'll upgrade my own if I'm happy.

[mike1061]

Would you let us know how it goes?
I take it the adware watch is a blocker.
Thanks Mike

[Poppa_Meth]

I've got ad-aware plus installed now. I like it a lot better. It behave just like normal ad-aware with the addition of a program called ad-watch that sets in the system try. It blocks intrusions in real-time (such as tracking cookies) depending on the level of realtime blocking you specify, high medium or low, and actually gives a report of exactly what is being blocked. It's much more customizable that MS was. I'd certainly recommend it. It's stopped several cookies already at work. Cheapest I found it was a download at newegg.com for $20. You can also install the personal edition and then upgrade from the ad-watch link in the program with about a $4 discount wich takes the price to $22 I believe on the lavasoft site.

[burnman99]

I just use Windwos Me. When the virus/malware looks to see what OS I'm using they run away scared! Remember kiddies, you can't download virus if you're computer is always on the BSOD

Later!

Roger