Microsoft Anti-Spyware Software (free)

[Flick]

Microsoft Anti-Spyware software:

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

[PrntRhd]

This is the beta version they are testing after their purchase of Giant Software's antispyware product.
They intend to make users buy it when it goes gold, IMHO.

[Flick]

I use Spybot S&D, Ad-Aware SE, SpywareBlaster and two other tools. This new Microsoft Anti-Spyware found 4 items on my computer that all the others missed! Another tool is welcome.

[PrntRhd]

The Giant program was good, just not free.

[Donn]

Associated Press
Originally published January 7, 2005

From today's Baltimore Sun


WASHINGTON - Microsoft Corp., whose popular Windows software is a frequent target for Internet viruses, is offering a free security program to remove the most dangerous infections from computers.

The program, with monthly updates, is a step toward plans by Microsoft to sell full-blown anti-virus software later this year.

Microsoft said yesterday that consumers can download the new security program from the company's Web site - www.microsoft.com - and that updated versions will be offered automatically and free each month. It will be available starting Tuesday.

Also yesterday, Microsoft offered a free program to remove "spyware," a category of irritating programs that secretly monitor the activities of Internet users and can cause sluggish computer performance or popup ads.

The company said the virus-removal program will not prevent computer infections and was never intended to replace the need for traditional anti-virus software, such as flagship products from McAfee Inc. or Symantec Corp.

But a senior Microsoft executive confirmed the company's plans to sell its own anti-virus software, which would compete against programs from McAfee, Symantec and others. Industry rivals expect Microsoft's formal entry into the market as early as the spring.

"We will have a stand-alone anti-virus product that is one of the things you can buy from Microsoft, but we're not announcing anything today," said Richard Kaplan, vice president for Microsoft's security business and technology unit.

The offers of free virus- and spyware-removal tools were intended to convince consumers that Microsoft is working to improve its software's security, Kaplan said.

Microsoft and other companies occasionally have offered separate programs to disinfect specific viruses. Microsoft promised that its new removal tool will target a variety of infections and will be updated each month to recognize new ones.

In a shift from past practice, Microsoft said it may charge consumers for future versions of the new protective technology, which it acquired by buying a small software firm in New York.

Kaplan said the free version of Microsoft's new spyware-removal software will expire July 31 and pricing for future versions is still undecided. Rival anti-spyware tools, such as Lavasoft Inc.'s popular Ad-Aware product, offer similar functions to Microsoft's, and many are free.




Copyright © 2005, The Baltimore Sun |

[Flick]

The Giant program was good, just not free.

Yes. The question is, is it worth it? To tell you the truth, I have not been at all impressed with Spybot S&D (except for the blocker) or Ad-Aware SE of late. I rarely use them now because they NEVER find any malware on my system. My other tools have made them obsolete. However, I keep them up to date and run them every so often just to see if they can catch anything. In my experience, neither has found any malware on my system for over a year.

I think that SpywareBlaster has done a great job in stopping most malware. I also use a program called Ultra WinCleaner One Click and it seems to catch a lot too.

So, I think I just need to run with the new Microsoft (aka Giant) Anti-Spyware for awhile and see what it catches. Perhaps I should visit a porno site tonight and watch the fireworks? ;)

[jlreich]

I have been watching a thread on this over at Spywareinfo forums. Some false positives, but not much other than that has been said so far. I don't think it has been tested on an infected machine yet. It will be interesting to see how it pans out.

[halovivek]

dear friend
thanks for your kind posting
i have downloaded and installed in my computer

[Donn]

Flick, you wrote: "my other tools have made them obsolete." What other tools? It's funny because Adaware used to catch things for me that SpyBot missed, now it's the other way around, and A-Sqrd has NEVER caught A THING on my machine, and there were times I ran it first and then ran SpyBot and Adaware and they caugh things. I pull something out of my Bulk Mail folder now and then and open it-- then run SB and Adaware, and A-Sqrd. Seems like it's always SpyBot or NOD32 that catches the Alexa and Gator and related stuff. . . .

[PrntRhd]

Regards Budfred's post about false positives, I just read a post on another forum where MS Antispy triggered an alert for McAfee, saying it had WebHancer. They even included a screenshot.
Of course it is better than what MS had before, but will it still detect the Hotmail cookies like original Giant AS did?
:rolleyes:

[Flick]

What other tools?


The "other tools" are SpywareBlaster, Ultra WinCleaner One-Click and RegSeeker and Startup Control Panel 2.8. SpywareBlaster blocks a lot of bad stuff using kill bits so the junk never gets on the system in the first place. Ultra WinCleaner is neat because you can program it to remove only those items you wish to clean and it will leave the other items alone. It cleans the registry, cookies, privacy items, junk files, history files and general Internet clutter. RegSeeker does a great job in getting rid of "dead wood" in the registry. Startup Control Panel 2.8 runs in the background and protects against unwanted programs from getting into the msconfig startup files.

[Donn]

I have RegSeeker (I like it!) and Spywareblster (don't enter cyberspace without!) but the others I don't have and will look into--thanks, Flick :cool:

[Paul Komski]

I think it's all a money-making business. I haven't installed or used any antispyware or anti hijacking applications on my own system in over 12 months and have never to my knowledge been infected. Education is the answer not layers and layers of unnecessary protection. Well that's my humble opinion.

[Donn]

Might be so Paul, but all the anti-virus and anti-malware I have working on the PC now is free-ware. so, if it's education--educate away, I'm here to learn.

[Reid]

I haven't installed or used any antispyware or anti hijacking applications on my own system in over 12 months and have never to my knowledge been infected. If you do not have a program to detect spyware, you usually would not know they are there, since there are often no obvious symptoms. I ran Microsoft's AntiSpyware on four systems, and only one previously had indications of spyware or a trojan (a dialer) that I knew about. I had run AdAware and Spybot and found nothing, but Microsoft's program found about four problems on each system, and finally removed the dialer.

[Flick]

I think it's all a money-making business. I haven't installed or used any antispyware or anti hijacking applications on my own system in over 12 months and have never to my knowledge been infected. Education is the answer not layers and layers of unnecessary protection. Well that's my humble opinion.
I agree with you Paul, however I think it's worth testing to evaluate its value. Just a few short years ago I thought Norton Firewall and NAV were all that was needed to safely move about on the net. I learned the hard way (from experience) that these Norton products cause far more problems than what they cure. As you know, I now use Zone Alarm and Avast.

I view Microsoft Windows as a very good OS, but it has many, many holes. Using Windows, I often feel like the little Dutch boy who has to plug the dike with his finger. Windows has so many holes it's hard to plug them all. In addition to my firewall and AV programs, I have also turned off DCOM, Windows Messenger and Universal Plug and Play. I have IE 6 set up so that my home page can't be remotely changed. Frankly, Paul, I can't remember all of the fixes and patches I've used over the years to repair Windows.

Anyway, I think this new AntiSpyware program maybe good. It seems to take care of several issues I mentioned above. I'm going to wait and see and evaluate. This could also be the wrong approach to the problem. Perhaps in a few years when Longhorn comes out, we won't have to worry about this at all.

[classicsoftware]

I think it's all a money-making business. I haven't installed or used any antispyware or anti hijacking applications on my own system in over 12 months and have never to my knowledge been infected. Education is the answer not layers and layers of unnecessary protection. Well that's my humble opinion.

I rarely if ever disagree with Paul, but I do here. Not only is my business booming from this stuff, we have an entire forum dedicated to it and Budfred is heading towards 20,000 posts.

Education will not be able to prevent all of this slime. It can prevent alot, but not all of it.

I also do not expeience malware, but I attribute this to the use of FireFox and the elimination of Internet Explorer. I admit to using Spyware Blaster and I scan with Adaware once in a blue moon just to be sure. It rarely finds anything.

[Paul Komski]

I should clarify that I always keep my Windows system patched, use a firewall and an antivirus and that I'm not really concerned with trackng cookies. It's all the gunk installed by ActiveX controls that no longer concerns me since I too use firefox (mostly) and have all ActiveX prohibited in IE for general surfing (but add domains such as microsoft.com to the trusted sites for those safe sites that require them).

I knew I was being somewhat provocative but that was intentional. I was in no way deprecating freeware applications because they were free but rather the time an effort to constantly reinstall, run and update such applications. ClassicS makes the very point I was talking about with respect to "a money business" because he makes money from the "uneducated".

I'm also deeply cynical as to why such spyware has become so "invasive"; that seems to defeat the very point of being a spy. However there are many companies and individuals making bucks (and even some very big bucks) from "cleaning programs" and "cleaning up infected systems" and it looks as if M$, having been the main culprit in allowing these modern day diseases to become commonplace, is now setting up its own stall to be able to profit from them.

Thus after cleaning-up a client's PC I will spend time explaining how they got infected and update their systems to minimise the chances of contracting "an ActiveX acquired infection". I may be cutting my own economic throat but it is no more than I would expect if I acquired a communicable disease and went to a doctor or hospital for treatment.

Zero day exploits (such as the chm, mht and hta vulnerabilities) are of a different dimension and the protection here is to keep Windows updated and possibly use a script sentry; they are a grey area with regard to having a spyware status being more of the nature of system hacks.

[malcore]

Oh, the irony!!

A company that until very recently turned a blind eye to the average user's (consumer's) security and continues to implement inherently insecure ActiveX technology, now "purchases", not "develops", an application (soon to be a "product") to "patch" the problems that arise due to their own software's shortcomings. And only for their "latest" software, as this "antispyware" application will only run on 2K, XP and 2003 Server.

Instead of improving and refining (granted XP SP2 was a small step) their own software, they have bought another's to "fix" their own mess. Offering such a "fix-it-after-the-fact" software for free is laughable enough, but to (ultimately) charge for it and make a profit is a complete farce and raises the cynicism of this company to a much higher level. I find it outrageous!!

We all have our own methods to protect ourselves from and fight the garbage on the net. I tend to take an approach very similar to that outlined by Paul. I run a "paid for" firewall and a "free" antivirus, keep Windows updated and use Firefox also. I too have not bothered with any of the antispyware, antihijacking applications, free or otherwise, for over a year.

Just for so, I downloaded and installed this "altruistic" application from MS, and ran a full system scan, deep registry scan, and as suspected, nothing was found. Then uninstalled, never to be even considered again. A typical MS app, everything set to run automatically, one needs to dig about to disable the functions one does not desire.

What a shame if many (or any) actually pay for this ironic offering!

[jlreich]

Oh, the irony!!

A company that until very recently turned a blind eye to the average user's (consumer's) security and continues to implement inherently insecure ActiveX technology, now "purchases", not "develops", an application (soon to be a "product") to "patch" the problems that arise due to their own software's shortcomings. And only for their "latest" software, as this "antispyware" application will only run on 2K, XP and 2003 Server.

Instead of improving and refining (granted XP SP2 was a small step) their own software, they have bought another's to "fix" their own mess. Offering such a "fix-it-after-the-fact" software for free is laughable enough, but to (ultimately) charge for it and make a profit is a complete farce and raises the cynicism of this company to a much higher level. I find it outrageous!!

What a shame if many (or any) actually pay for this ironic offering!
I must agree with Malcore on this. After Microsoft fails to secure it's own program, I find it appalling that they now want to charge users to clean up after the very program that they failed to secure in the first place. :mad:

Further more, without a doubt, many will purchase this program with the logic, "Microsoft makes Windows, they must know best how to fix their own program". LOL. If they knew how, there would be little need for any anti-maleware program, especially one of their own.

It as though we are watching one of those shows where a hidden camera shows a mechanic punching holes in a radiator, then charging a $1,000 to fix it.

[classicsoftware]

I dislike MS as much as the next guy, but this is a FREE product...........

They are not charging for it.........

They are doing it to hurt Symantec and Network Associates.....

[Reid]

there would be little need for any anti-maleware programSexist spyware? ;)

[Donn]

Perhaps in a few years when Longhorn comes out, we won't have to worry about this at all.

Well, either that, or a few years after when they fix the holes in Longhorn. :D

[jlreich]

Reid, oops!

Classic, it won't be free after the beta is done. They didn't buy Giant to give it out for free.

[Fruss Tray Ted]

They are doing it to hurt Symantec and Network Associates.....
Maybe they're trying to run them out of business? Wouldn't be wise in my book. It would be like biting the doctor's hand who is trying to help their consumers.


Kaplan said the free version of Microsoft's new spyware-removal software will expire July 31 and pricing for future versions is still undecided.

I wonder how much that's gonna be :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[ErnieK]

I have, out of curiosity downloaded and installed this. At initial scan it found two threats. "StartNow Hyperbar" And "SearchSquire" Both indicated as high risk. Ad-Aware/Spybot/A2 etc scans (run regular every two days) show nothing. I have quranteened them both for the moment. I will be leaving it running alongside my existing progs to see what happens. I HAVE disabled auto-update on principle (see below)

"Fred Langa" (in his latest newsletter) states that during the installation it installs a sniffer app and checks to see if you have a legit copy of your OS, and refuses to install on pirated copies. My question here is does this sniffer disable itself after installation or does it sit in the background continually sending out info to MS when auto-update runs?

As a free program it looks like it might be worthwhile using. I do not know so much about paying for it. This thought is is as much due to my inherant mis-trust of MS as much as being tight fisted

[Quantax]

I use Spybot S&D, Ad-Aware SE, SpywareBlaster and two other tools. This new Microsoft Anti-Spyware found 4 items on my computer that all the others missed! Another tool is welcome.
Same experience with me!

[pop pop]

Not Uncle Bill!! He wouldn't install a sniffer!

Seriously, M$ could install a sniffer on any little old update. It would seem kind of dumb to do it on this. Butcha never know.

[ErnieK]

Well no problems with the computer yet, so it looks as though there are no conflicts with other Spyware/Antivrus programs.

When I did a manual update it seemd to take quite a while to do. In fact it took so long that I thought that it had crashed or frozen up. I wonder if this is because update site was busy or is this the fault of the program.

Re Fred Langa's remark about a sniffer being instaled: Is there any way that someone can check EXACTLY what is happening when doing the update? (What - if any - info is being sent out)

[Reid]

When I did a manual update it seemd to take quite a while to do. In fact it took so long that I thought that it had crashed or frozen up. I wonder if this is because update site was busy or is this the fault of the program.I manually updated three times, and it was a bit slow once, but otherwise it was about as fast as an Ad-Aware update. I would like to see a progress bar to show that something is happening.

[Fruss Tray Ted]

Either a progress bar or a download speed display

better yet, both.

[Flick]

I have mine set for auto update. It updated the new definitions for me on January 15 at 7:56 PM. A litttle window pops up in the lower right hand corner of the screen. I'm on dial-up and it only took about 2 minutes for the entire update.

[Abbadon]

Mine keeps starting up during boot. I checked the startup folder and services, and the options in the program itself are set to "no upstarty during booting" .

Anyone else have this problem?

[jlreich]

Yeah, I had that problem Abbadon. I disabled it through Spybot's startup list. That took care of it.

It seams like a decent program to me, but I still have problems paying MS for it. Certainly when the best programs out there are free. I would rather send a donation to the makers of those programs, than give money to MS.

I think MS should offer a light version to validated windows users for free. With the option to upgrade for a discounted price. After all, it is their program it is trying to fix. ;) IMHO

[pop pop]

I'll throw my 2 cents worth in now that I downloaded and ran this.

Nice enough looking interface. Functionality looks pretty good. I try to keep my systems pristine and it did find that "SearchSquire" Internet Exploder Sidebar mentioned above. That's all it found.

Evaluation: Looks pretty good and it's always good to have another good weapon in the war. If they charge, I will not pay.

[jlreich]

That's funny you should say that pop pop. That is exactly what it found on the two computers I have run it on. "SearchSquire" and nothing else.

[ErnieK]

Just downloaded and installed this onto someone else's computer. Prior to doing this I ran all full scan with installed software and using on-line facillities as well. These all showed clean. After installing it I then ran full scan with it. It found 4 (four). 3 of these were termed critical. One of them was LOP. (I will check the actual names later when I go back round to Peters to check his computer is still working correctly.

So yes it does seem as though it is a good program. MS seems to have got its act together with this (at the moment) I only hope that they DO-NOT muck it up.

[ErnieK]

The four iems found were
c2.lop (in c2media program files) - StartNow Hyperbar - Messenger Plus (Adware Bundle) - Search squire

As previously stated full scans had been run with Ad_aware - A2 - SpybotSD - Bazooka - SwatIt plus a couple of on-line progs.

I know that some progs find things that others don't but at the moment it seems that MS's venture into this seems to be very effective.

[pop pop]

I wouldn't go so far in heaping on the M$ praises. The original company (Giant?) developed a good product, M$ just bought it. We'll see what the future holds. The writing is on the wall--or on the main screen anyway--which says, "This Version Expires on July 31, 2005". After giving its subjects a taste, M$ will want their Money. I think the point was well made sometime ago by the president of Brazil(?), the eighth most wired country. I read a recent article that said he was sued by M$ because he said the company was like a drug dealer who got his victims hooked for free and then started charging them. M$ has now dropped the suit, and Gates is lobbying for an audience with the Brazilian Prez because he is moving the country's gov't offices, businesses and private citizens to complete open source (Linux and the like) and the Brazilian government will pay for or subsidize it all.

Bill doesn't like it when someone tries to take the $ out of M$.

[jlreich]

Bill doesn't like it when someone tries to take the $ out of M$.
LOL :D :cool: :D

[ErnieK]

As you said Pop Pop MS bought the program and they have made some changes to imprint the MS name onto it. As I said earlier it does SEEM to be a fairly decent prog, even with MS's mucking about with it, but I have no idea as to how effective it was prior to MS obtaining it so can make no comparison as to the before and after.

BUT! even as I say that I know that they are trying to impose]/b] thier own products onto the user by setting certain restriction into the program. They are doing this by restricting browser safety to IE and no other browser. Also the program DOES NOT get rid of tracking cookies.
[b](see link below)

The opinion that cookies are not harmful or dangerous is a few years out of date in my opinion. Five years ago I spoke to others about the danger from cookies and I was told "You are an idiot - cookies are harmless" My thoughts or opinions have not change since then. Tracking Cookies (unless I give explicit permission for the installation of each of them) ARE spyware.

(MS is one of the worst offenders for inserting cookies, some of them with a life span of 20-30 years and when you visit any MS page try counting the number of cookies they set, of which I am quite certain a few of which will be trackers - in other words spyware)

http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/05/01/18/100bus_mossberg001.cfm

With that said I try to keep an open mind on all occasions and in all events. I am willing to "give time time" and wait and see. If they do not make the neccesary changes to the prog I will be one of the first to dump it.

[pop pop]

I don't think I could agree with you more, Ernie.

IMHO cookies are spyware by definition, tracking cookies more so.

As for the browser restriction, uncle Bill's Internet Exploder is finally facing some good competition. The Redmond, WA corporate suits poo-poo it, but I'll bet behind closed doors they sing a somewhat different tune. If they weren't concerned at all about the browser competition, and if they were really altruistic (albeit capitalist) with regard to protecting us from spyware, why would they restrict the browser safety? Only one answer. M$ has the midset that the world is their oyster and everyyone must play the game by their rules and using their toys.

Like I said, it's always good to have another good weapon in the war. The market and the consumers will have the final say on this product based on what M$ does with it