posted on August 19, 2005 04:58:31 PM
ok, I'm a sucker for PC World and when I picked up a copy of their magazine at the library for 50 cents I read the article on Spyware.
THEY recommend Sunbelt CounterSpy over Spybot so I downloaded the free trial.
I'd just run Spybot and always always have Spyware Blaster running on my computer - and what did it find?
ab system spy.
"Official Description: Program designed to monitor user activity. May be used with or without consent.
Because it is sold commercially, most anti-virus vendors do not detect it.
Comment: From their site.
It allows you to record any activity on your computer. The log file can be saved in TXT or HTML format. It will record the window name which got focus and/or all the keys pressed and/or the window image. The picture can be saved as BMP or JPG."
posted on August 19, 2005 06:24:13 PM
Kripes, I now have four spyware etc. programs running. Downloaded CounterSpy -- sometimes my fingers just itch to click and try!
This one found one keylogger -- but it turned out to be the software fonts I use in my auction program (not Vendio). Otherwise, nothing unusual. Since I dumped IE, I have virtually no popups, spyware, adware, etc. Or else it's the inoculations that help. Whatever it is, it's a blessing.
By the way, why does that person in the blossom (above) look like poor Alton Brown in Cheap Eats on the Food Network? Fried squash blossoms it is.
posted on August 19, 2005 07:14:51 PM
When I run Spyware Doctor on mine the first time,it found 347 problems. I had always used Adaware and Spybot which didn't find any of those problems. I have not been bothered with hardly anything since.
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Two men sit behind bars,one sees mud the other sees stars.
posted on August 19, 2005 07:25:40 PM
Thank You glassgrl !!!!
here is the site:
www.sunbelt-software.com
I thought I was pretty well protected. I have avast antivirus and spywareblaster running all the time. I run adaware daily.
I just finished running CounterSpy and had 9 programs that were effecting 130 plus files. DANG!!!!!! All but one of those bad boys was classified with an elevated risk/security threat rating. That is too scary.
I will look at this program closely during the next 15 days. It may be worth $19.95
posted on August 19, 2005 07:53:46 PM
I think alot of these programs may also return false/positives so you buy their software, too. But I also think its good to try different ones occasionally as I think some of the spyware programs have created work arounds, or some abilities to have detection disabled. But that said, I had one return such and such and when I looked up the bug and then searched the registry, none of the entries for it were there that was supposedly associated with this trojan/virus.
posted on August 19, 2005 08:13:52 PM
One thing you don't want to forget, is to check periodically for any updates for your present spyware programs. They don't update automatically, you have to do it yourself. Just the other night, I checked for a Spybot update, and there was a sizeable one that I downloaded. If you are not properly updated, then any spyware detection program you try for the first time will find problems that your outdated one won't detect.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on August 19, 2005 08:27:06 PM
I just downloaded and tried it. It found 1 Microsoft media cookie (marked low risk) so I deleted it.Guess Ad-aware is working pretty good , I don't think it's worth paying 20.00 a year for but it was worth a try for free to give you peace of mind.
posted on August 20, 2005 01:28:42 AM
I ran this program and it found several spybots. When it was done, I updated my Spybot S&D and ran it, it found 4 or so that this one missed. Nothing is perfect. The only way to be safe is to DL them all and run them all. I liked how this program told you what each one was for. Kinda nice feature.
posted on August 22, 2005 07:30:08 AM
I run Adaware, Spybot and Norton and we not seem to have any problems. We also run ZENU, which will show any broken link/links within your web sites.
I'll give Sunbelt CounterSpy a test.
I agree with the other poster, that said you HAVE TO keep these programs updated. We have Norton, and Windows, set for automatic updates. I run a couple of the programs every day.
PTL we have never had a virus, and seem to catch the tracking and such programs, also.
My VERY FAVORITE new program is: 1-Step Maintance it is like running Norton on steroids. I run it several times a day and normally bind abnormalities in some programs, which 1-Step immediately corrects.
~"It does not matter what I think, it does not matter what you think. The only thing which matters is: What is the TRUTH!"~
posted on August 22, 2005 08:02:06 AM
It IS a huge resource hog so I've only run the spy scan a couple of times. I've got a HUGE hard drive and very little space used on my computer and after it ran all day one day and one night total - I got up the next morning to see my computer say it was "low on resources" or something like that. I think that's the blocker or something that keeps you from going to bad websites or links but I don't need that as I already have it.
I'm still just amazed that I had a keylogger. I've only had my computer up and running for a couple of weeks with a brand new hard drive.
posted on August 22, 2005 08:05:04 PM
A keylogger is, by definition, a Trojan Horse and it's not the job of a spyware program to detect them. That Trojan should have been detected by your anti-virus program. It should have displayed a warning screen giving the name, location and definition of the Trojan along with a prompt to delete it immediately and scan your hard drive. You got lucky if your AV missed it and a spyware free trial picked it up. The question I would be asking now is what else my AV program missed. I would run Housecall right now, just to keep your AV program honest.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on August 23, 2005 07:35:48 AM
What is the effect of running this new spyware if you already are running several spyware programs? I have Panda Security Suite, spybot search and destroy, Microsoft anti-spyware and Spyblaster (recommended by Spybot S&D for java control). Also, I run a trend-micro once and awhile just to see. And, I also have a router in front of my cable connection. Should I try and run this program or will it just mess up the security I already have? Opinions?
Thanks
Beth
www.vintageads4u.com
posted on August 23, 2005 08:06:34 AM
I downloaded "Sunbelt CounterSpy" yesterday after reading about it here on the board. I ran it twice during the day. I compared it to my Adaware, Spybot, and Norton, and do not really see a great deal of difference, at least not yet.
My Norton runs all the time in the background, but I manually run the others, as running all those programs is too much drain on my RAM, and since e-commerce is my business, and I am often working with pictures, with multiple screens open, I do not need the RAM eaten up by constantly running programs.
I have 1000 RAM; my husband upped my RAM almost immediately after we got my last computer because of the work we do.
I will have to test "CounterSpy" more to get a real feel of it, and see if I feel it does a lot more than all the spyware we run now.
1-Step-Maintance is the only program that I have tested in many a year that immediately impressed both my husband and me.
Let you know later what I think about "CounterSpy” after I have tested it a few days.
~"It does not matter what I think, it does not matter what you think. The only thing which matters is: What is the TRUTH!"~
