Microsoft AntiSpyware

Has anyone downloaded this yet from http://www.microsoft.com/
It's just a beta right now but I think I already like it more than lavasoft's ad-aware. It even has real time protection and a ton of other tools with it. This should have come with sp2 but I guess their way of thinking is better late than never. This would be nice to stick on corporate computers because nothing is more annoying than getting rid of spyware, well except for script kiddies with port scanners.

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Comments

chancec

Does it have alot of bugs? If no then I might try it

Silver Bullet

I have used it for a pretty good while now and it seems to do a good job. I have used it on some customers computers and have only had one issue which I didn't get the opportunity to go troubleshoot. They were not able to print to a dot matrix printer through a print server. They uninstalled and got things back to normal but will go back out to see what it was blocking.

All in all though it is pretty good. Microsoft actually purchased this software from Giant Antispyware.

RussS

I have been using it for several months now in preference to Adaware and SpybotSD - when doing XP machines as I find that it is picking up stuff that are no longer picked up by adaware and Spybot.
I still run those two for Win98 boxes, but shoot I hope those court cases are through soon and they once again have their full array of spyware detected like they used to.

filkenjitsu

what court cases are holding them back from deleting software off of a computer? The customer has the right to delete any software off their computer that they want and can use any tool they want to do this.

that is a strage court case!

/usr

It's a nice tool and seems to clean items better than Ad-Aware or Spybot.

jmc724

Its been working very well combined with ms popup blocker, dont get as many as with google and still run lavasoft every once in a while...

RussS

filkenjitsu wrote:

what court cases are holding them back from deleting software off of a computer? The customer has the right to delete any software off their computer that they want and can use any tool they want to do this.

that is a strage court case!

That is true. However the people who make certain spyware programs are fighting back at having their software called spyware.

http://castlecops.com/article-6044-nested-0-0.html

http://news.com.com/Court+gives+adware+maker+WhenU+green+light/2100-1030_3-5766583.html?part=rss&tag=5766583&subj=news

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/202969_adware09.html

As you will see - it is not only Sypware companines against AntiSpyware companies, but Spyware company against Spyware company. Why?
Because these leeches make millions of dollars by infesting users machines and they will do whatever they can to continue that.

filkenjitsu

Yea man, I know all about these companies... I worked at an ISP help desk for a year......

Plantwiz

RussS wrote:

I have been using it for several months now in preference to Adaware and SpybotSD - when doing XP machines as I find that it is picking up stuff that are no longer picked up by adaware and Spybot.
I still run those two for Win98 boxes, but shoot I hope those court cases are through soon and they once again have their full array of spyware detected like they used to.

I've had the exact same experience!

I have found it works extremely well, haven't a single problem with it, and side-by-side, it picks up more malware than any other program I've tested it against.

JDMurray

Microsoft's AntiSpyware app also has a very nice "clean" feature called Tracks Eraser that will remove information form a Windows machine, such as MRU files and folders lists, history lists, cookies, cached forms information and passwords, etc. You choose what information it will delete.

You can find Tracks Eraser in the Advanced Tools section.

Plantwiz

http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/2005/01/11/antispyware.html

qsub

It's an alright program. I used a blocker that blocked Trillian Pro from adding context/menu's to my right click menu. I noticed it made trillian load alot slower. That's about it. Otherwise, I think it's up to par with Spybot/AdAware, no batter, no worse.

Just let's keep in mind, Microsoft didn't come up with this brilliant piece of software, they just bought someone out and slapped their own label on it

Plantwiz

spfdz wrote:

Just let's keep in mind, Microsoft didn't come up with this brilliant piece of software, they just bought someone out and slapped their own label on it

Hence the fact that is a good application to run

mikey_b

I like it! Works great for me. Then again, I have no legacy hardware/software and a pretty new system (<1month) so I never have a problem with it. Microsoft made a good move by buying up an aready decent product, with MS's insight into their own OS it might prove to be the superior product once it hits final.

I also like the fact that MS is taking on these leeches, spyware is a big problem and costs them a lot in tech support calls and whatnot. To hell with the "little guy", let the titan crush 'em.

Then again I've been happy with MS products lately (XP SP2, Office 2K3, AntiSpyWare, Server 2K3, XBox, etc...). When IE finally incorporates tabbed browsing, I might be in "MS heaven", although it feels wierd to admit it. They've come a long way since DOS 6.22 and Windows 3.11...

/usr

When IE finally incorporates tabbed browsing