Drop, charge, and lose the cords
- Average user rating:
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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18 out of 27 people found this review helpful
0.5 stars
"Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware Beta1"
Pros: Nice Interface, Easy to use
Cons: Does not find any Spyware at all
Summary: "I have installed Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware Beta and have used it several times. It takes about from 10 to 16 minutes to scan the C: hard drive and not does not find any spyware at all.
By comparison Spybot Search & Destroy took about 4 min.36 secs. to scan the identical C: Drive and it found spyware I then run AdAware SE Plus and it also found spyware however I did not clock the scan duration.
I have used Spybot Search & Destroy and AdAware SE Plus for a long time and they have always found Spyware.
Since Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware Beta1 is not finding any Spyware at all I can only conclude that is not doing its job.
Has anyone else experienced the same thing that I have
Arthur Billy
- 19 replies to this review
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Windows Defender will get out anything that's going to hurt you, and it's automatically maintained: the end user doesn;t need to understand any more than to simply install it.
Ad-Aware and SpyBot will ALWAYS find "something". They have to, otherwise people would not be encouraged to buy them. But what they find are usually tracking cookies. Such as the one that remembers my user name and password for this site.
Getting rid of them often causes more nuisance than it's worth.
However, SpyBot prevents legitimate writes to the registry. It will eventually gum up a Windows XP system so badly it won't run properly. -
For the million people who "can't update spyware definitions" --> You can do this via Microsoft Update, or in the HELP options, click "About WD" and then click "Check for Update." If you have Automatic Updates turned on, it'll notify you approximately every 3 or 4 days to install new updates for WD.
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I also have the same problem. This Bata version finds nothing. And I run it once a day. This is just wasting my time.
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Other anti-spyware apps were way more successful at catching unwanted crap that found its way onto my hard drive.
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enough said
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well, i have both adaware and MS antispyware beta 2. adaware is always updated to latest definitions, and it found NOTHING on my system. MS Defender immediately found iDonate BHO, which for some reason or another adaware did not although it should be in its reference file SE1R68 28.09.2005.
anyway, i like Defender for one simple reason: it is so damned seamless! -
Are you sure you have spyware to begin with? Because if you don't, then, umm, it won't find any. Its a good thing.
It takes longer because looks more carefully. -
After disabling the spyware detection and cookie control for ZA Internet Security, not to mention turning off cookie blocking in IE and doing some random surfing, I can say that Authur Billy is right in that Microsoft Antispyware does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
Zone Alarm's anti-spyware (which ain't that good to begin with) found 7 instances of spyware, and Ad-Aware found 11 cases. Microsoft Antispyware: Zero.
And that's all I've got to say about that. -
If configuired correctly (yes, read tutorial), complete control over unwanted ActiveX downloads, running processes, start-up programs, IE BHO's, Winsock LSP's, Shell Execute Hooks,
ultimate track eraser--used carefully are all available.
I did not rate as a 10 because you do have to do some reading and put in effort to configure correctly.
Hopefully, you do have it at least to update it's definitions 30 minutes before the deep system run. -
The tutorial for all features and actions done by the software needs to be read and understood.
If the software is to work properly, it needs to be configured correctly.
The purpose of the software is more for control over Active X items, BHO's, rougue programs, etc.
It can be used to be only moderately effective on data miners and less dangerous items. -
I liked it at first as it removed some tool bars, but like everyone else I am finding Spybot and Adaware are really showing more action and got things more under control. I am at the point of removing it.
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Further to my previous comments on the dependability
of Microsoft AntiSpyware (Beta 1) version., I agree with Arthur Billy.
Since 28AUG that I had decided to download and Install
this programme, ..............
I had nothing but troubles. ! ! !
Until today when I tried to perform a system scan
by Spyware Doctor to find out that a dll was missing
and could not perform.
My System froze and I had to close down manually.
When I tried to reboot my system was critically damaged
and was asking to reset or press F1 button to continue.
When finally I managed to recover and restore my files
from back up system, I immediately Uninstalled
MS Antispyware (BETA 1).
Now my system back to normal. Works fine as usually.
Such a bloody experience never again.
Needless to tell you that when I scanned my system with
Spyware Doctor I have found 36 infections, out of which
15 elevated affiliated with Browser Hijacker
5 Block checker
7 Known bad sites.
These for your knowledge and compliance.
I presume MS AntiSpyware not compatible
with Spyware Doctor ( PC Tools ) v. 3.2.0.342,
and useless to block coming-in
Hi-jack , and other threats.
aaltinalmazis -
Following your comment about Microsoft AntiSpyware (M-A-S),
1) depending on how large is you drive C, but yes it took about 10 minute for drive C of about 80GB
2) I found that the combined power of M-A-S & ADAWARE, both together did wonders, it is most most important that they are both updated to the last updates
3) However, the war against spyware is on and hot but I don't think that right now it is a winable war, you can try all the antispyware that are out there, one will found something that other cannot find.
4) I have tried almost everything & @ the end, I have had to install both AdAware 6.0 & M-A-S together on a large scale of about 2000 computers in my office to fend off Spywares. The only problem is that the M-A-S expires every 5 months or so.
GOOD LUCK -
It rarely finds anything even though I keep it updated and it runs in the background. I leave it installed and running because it does not slow down my computer and MAYBE someday it will detect something that SpywareBlaster, Spybot, AdawareSE, etc. does not find. I cannot figure out why so many people think it is GREAT.
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When using MSFT antispyware beta it found some spyware the first time I ran it. After that,nothing. I believe it finds just enough to make sure that windows remains stable, nothing more, nothing less. I uninstalled it after a few scans. Takes too long to scan. I'll just stick with adaware and spybot. They scan quicker and find more stuff. I actually prefer spyware doctor or spy sweeper but now they won't remove anything unless you pay for the program.
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I have been using Ad-Aware and Spybot for some time and they seem to help a great deal. I tried Microsoft's beta and it never found anything. It consistantly upgraded its spyware files, but never found a single case of spyware on my computer.
In Addition, it slowed my computer down to a crawl. I removed it and my computer came back to normal. It was very frustrating. -
As I mentioned in my summary above I have used the MS Antispyware since it came out in Beta 1, now moved to Beta 2, and have been lessed than impressed with this product. However, this is a free Microsoft application and we all probably know how well those work out.
I will say that I continue to use it in hopes that in some time it will prove me wrong, still hasn't after almost 2 dozen scans. I have even gone as far as to intentionally infect my machine with spyware that I know Spybot and AdAware can detect and MS Antispyware looks right over it.
So sorry folks, take this one back and start over. -
After a 6 month trial, I use the MS product exclusively. I find it catches all "significant" spyware.
Why are you getting so much spyware?? -
I've been using Microsoft AntiSpyware for about four months and I don't think it works It never found any spyware. After experiencing problems such as system lockups and random freezes I went back to spybot and my problems are solved.
