Spybot - www.safer-networking.org

This is one of the worst programs you can get. This is at best a second-rate antivirus and malware fighter. This will not protect you as well as other more reliable programs.

As a security enthusiast (and a Web Developer), I would recommend an Antivirus such as Avast, Kaspersky, Comodo or even AVG. I would then pair it with two anti-spywares such as SuperAntispyware and Malwarebytes. Afterwards, I would use a firewall like Comodo or ZoneAlarm (I prefer Comodo). OR, you could go with a combo such as Comodo antivirus AND firewall.

If you know what you are doing, you can enable two antiviruses at the same time. HOWEVER, you have to be careful. One of them MUST have its real-time protection disabled or else you risk a bsod and/or antivirus conflicts. I recommend either Comodo and Avast or Comodo and AVG.

some months ago I was attacked by a violent hacker I had a mcafee "protection" program and SPYBOT the hacker tore through mcaffe who stuck up a silly message saying you are being attacked big deal it brought down my othe computer but he coudnt get by spybot!! theballoon vibrated many times but spybot stood fast! he used sisisandra program to hack me with/ I was so impressed I sent a donation to the Ireland office and cancelled my mcafee contract today I downloaded the DRIVER max 6 program I assumed it was only that program no chance various browser programs tried to install themselves on my computer in exactly the same way as the hacker! but GOOD OLD SPYBOT came to my rescue and wouldnt let them pass! GET THIS PROGRAM ON YOUR COMPUTER it makes other security programs look stupid I will be giving another donation later in the year/duncan

Spybot isn't pretty, but it does the job, and is absolutely essential as a preventative measure against all kinds of spyware, browser hijacks and other nasties. When I install Windows on a new machine, the first things on the checklist are.. 1. Install AVG, 2. Install Spybot

For advanced users, there are plenty of extra tools which give deeper control over your protection, and it's fairly unintrusive, unlike some of the alternatives, which tend to hog system resources.

SpyBot S&D has in my mind been one of the more reliable FREE anti spy-ware utilities. It has over the years that I have used it, come a long way to finding and successfully removing most internet born threats. However I have also tested many other scanner/removers and found that SpyBot S&D has not always found or removed some infections. But hey we cannot expect just one scanner to remove all threats. I haven't found one yet! SPYBOT S&D does however rate highly in my recommendations, as long as one knows what combination of scanners are best suited together. One downfall I have noticed is that in attempting to recognise and remove the virtumonde threat, the SpyBot signature database has dramatically increased, making the overall scanning time quite a bit longer. Please don't get me wrong, this is not a bad thing, you don't want the virtumonde threat on your system, the average scan can take hours to complete (depending on your system speed) In conclusion: BRILLIANT FREE DEFENCE AGAINST NET NASTIES!

I have used Spybot on every PC I have owned and have installed it on my friends and family PC's to help protect them. For a free program it does better than most paid programs I have used over the years and I have used a few. There's not not much else to say really apart if you don't have this program on your PC, WHY?

Spybot protects from vulnerable and most common spyware and malwares. I'm still using it and fully satisfied with its performance and results. Better than the paid alternatives.

Easy installation. Good use of system resources. Frequent updates via its interface. Registry back up of installation. Detects and deletes most common threats. Free to use and doesn't charge for anything.

Some vulnerable threats are not deleted and it requires boot time scan.

Without realising, I recently accidently let a Trojan into my PC, which attacked various files. I'm not sure of the name, but it disabled any security updates for McAfee Internet Security, Windows Update (Vista) and Defender, System and Program updates etc. It also disabled various Helpdesk websites such as Dell's Virtual Technician, McAfee Technical Support and Customer Care and various other sites. Initially I thought the McAfee website and update web pages were too busy or unavailable for whatever reason. But after two weeks I became concerned and tried to contact McAfee; which is virtually impossible, especially regarding the fact that my Virtual Technician was disabled by the Trojan. Windows Defender also came with various error messages. I could also not update Defender manually as it came with a 'web page unavailable' message! I decided to re-install McAfee Security Center but to no avail. I then started searching various forum sites and typed in the error messages etc. I realised some sort of Malware could cause the problems above. Having used Spybot Search & Destroy before I decided to download this freeware to see if anything could be found: it found 3 Trojans and a couple of tracking cookies! I tried to delete these but Spybot could not delete all Trojans! There was one file called Win32.Agent.sd in c:\resycled\boot.com. Again I was stuck, until I looked at a Spybot Forum and typed in the file location to see if anyone else had the same problem: Bingo. Shaba (username), a security expert from Finland resides on a forum site of Spybot Search & Destroy, suggested to download Malwarebytes' Anti Malware. You can find a detailed guide on this page: http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=36353&highlight=resycled%5Cboot.com

I followed his link, downloaded the freeware and to my amazement, the program found another 4 infected Registry Keys, 6 Registry Data Items, 3 infected folders and 4 infected files all with Trojan.DNSChanger and Trojan.Agent

I was able to get rid of all problems, by re-booting the PC when prompted. Brilliant. Although it changed some of the desktop layout, by moving quicklaunch icons around and deleting recent items, I am very happy that this problem is now resolved. I immediately updated Security Center, Windows Defender and other programs to make sure I had the latest security updates, as I wasn't able to do them for over three weeks!

To me, this makes Malwarebytes' Anti Malware a must-have for every PC, as even Spybot did not detect all malware and McAfee Security Center was unable to detect a major attack by Trojans and other malware. I am very disappointed with McAfee and if it wasn't for its free subscription with the Dell Vostro I bought, I would probably have gone for Kaspersky, which is installed on my laptop. That occasionally alerts attacks and seems more secure than McAfee. I have now managed to set up Virtual Technician for McAfee, which works well. I was also surprised Spybot (Safer Networking Ltd.) could not remove all Trojans and malware.

So, Malwarebytes' Anti Malware is the one for me. Try it, use it, keep it and be happy. And it's free!!

Malwarebytes' Anti Malware lets you do a quick scan, which will take about 5 minutes or a thorough scan, which took just over 2 hours to do 300,000 items/files. You can visit them at www.malwarebytes.org

My browser was hijacked so I couldn't get to a lot of websites, but I got to AdAware and ParetoLogic AntiVirus Plus, Webroot Spysweeper, and Spybot. Although I could download these programs, They wouldn't all install because of all the trojans on my computer. But I was able to install and run AdAware, Antivirus Plus and then Spybot (in that order)and it solved a lot problems. I was surprised because my $30. ParetoLogic AntiVirus Plus program missed a lot of junk that Spybot found, so it was only after Spybot's search and destroy that I got my browser back. My understanding is that no spyware will ever be able to get it all, so use a couple of programs. Antivirus will conflict, but spyware can work together with a little understanding of what might make them conflict (old quaranteed files).

This FREE download and FREELY updated software is the ONE application That seeks out and destroys malware on my PC's reliably and efficiently. It is an excellent program with an easy to use interface, as well as a more advanced level of tools, if you understand systems on a deeper level and know what the tools are used for...

Overall an excellent program with great support and FREE updates. You are asked to donate something if you are happy with the product...and I have! If only there were more software companies that asked you to pay for what their products are actually worth to you as the consumer/user. Not sure if some of the 'big boys' would actually survive.

Spybot S&D has been very helpful to me over the years, I first found it out when one of the first version's was released so I have it a go and found it to be magnificent. I have to be honest it isnt the only spyware piece of software that I have used but I have found myslef coming back to it time and time again. Simply because of the ease of use this Spybot search and destroy has to offer, it easily detects spyware and gives you quick and simple instructions and options. One of the other main positive aspects that this has, which I inform people on when I recommend this piece of software is the spybot free download. I am glad to say that it's free and very cool!I currently have Spybot 1.5 and am glad to say its only bettered the previous spybot versions of spyware detectors, not only this but in my opinion betters every other detector I have used before simply because of it's features!I would well recommend spybot search and destroy to anyone who needs this type of software, go for the spybot download and you will see what I mean. I actually have nothing bad to say about this spybot search destroy...