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Malware, spyware, adaware


The Dude

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Does anybody have a recommendation for a good spyware, adaware, or malware remover.   For several months my computer has been running slow, I checked the memory and something like 70 -80 percent was being used.  I thought I needed more ram, but someone said for what I was doing I could have some malware or alike bogging it down.  So I went online and downloaded a free one and ran a scan.  Sure enough there were about 65 threats found.  So I deleted them, along with cookies, temp internet files.  My memory usage went down to 30 percent and thing seemed to run fine.  That was about 3 weeks ago, then about 1 week ago things started to run slow again.  Sure enough I am back up to 60-70 percent memory usage.  I ran another scan and this time nothing came up.  I figured I could try another malware remover, maybe one more recommended.  Or maybe you computer folks out there have a better idea. 

 

Thanks

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I use AVG. There are both free and paid versions. I have the paid on to get the PC tune up suite. I have used it fo rseveral years with good results; not resource hungry like McAfee or othe big names.

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I have used the free versions of AVG, Malwarebytes for years. Always done a good job. Spybot Search and Destroy is also good.

 

McAfee and Norton/Symantec really really eat up resources.

 

Bruce

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I used AVG for years with good results.  Like you, I had a really nasty problem that took me hours and several programs to remove.  I found it helpful to run the anti-virus/spybot programs several times.  All of the programs others have recommended directly upstream ^^^ are great suggestions.

 

I am currently using Avast.  It nags me about once per day to upgrade, so I may take it out as well and go back to AVG.

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Right now I have trend micro security for antivirus. I don't know how well it works. But haven't had serious issues until recently. I will look at AVG, and Spybot search and destroy. I figure I should try this first before throwing ram at it

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Does anybody have a recommendation for a good spyware, adaware, or malware remover.   For several months my computer has been running slow, I checked the memory and something like 70 -80 percent was being used.  I thought I needed more ram, but someone said for what I was doing I could have some malware or alike bogging it down.  So I went online and downloaded a free one and ran a scan.  Sure enough there were about 65 threats found.  So I deleted them, along with cookies, temp internet files.  My memory usage went down to 30 percent and thing seemed to run fine.  That was about 3 weeks ago, then about 1 week ago things started to run slow again.  Sure enough I am back up to 60-70 percent memory usage.  I ran another scan and this time nothing came up.  I figured I could try another malware remover, maybe one more recommended.  Or maybe you computer folks out there have a better idea. 

 

Thanks

 

 

KASPERSKY.... Hands down the best in the business. For less than a $100, you can install on 3 separate systems.

 

 

On the free end of the spectrum, SPYBOT, which someone else already mentioned.

 

 

Beware of SYMANTEC..... many, many years ago when Peter Norton ran the company it was different. SYMANTEC is some bad stuff, and will bog your OS down by trashing up the registry. To make matters worse, you'll never be able to completely remove it from the registry, not unless you're patient and very savvy at editing the OS registry. Not a feat for the faint of heart.

Edited by Gilbert
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On the corporate side, Kaspersky was awful.

 

We use Trend Micro at work, and it seems to do a pretty good job at balancing between doing the job and slowing everything down. However, any active monitoring of the system, email, browsing, etc., will tend to slow things down. Symantec was probably the worst at work, with Kaspersky coming in a close second.

 

Bruce

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KASPERSKY

 

I've heard bad things about that one, but I have no personal experience with it.  

 

I went to the AVG website, is this product more an all out Anti Virus protection service.  I ask as that is what Trend Micro is, so makes me ask.  Should Trend Micro be finding the Malware and what not?  I may have to do so more digging.  I will have to look at this spybot when I get back, UH1 might be on to something.  As that was something the fellow at the computer store recommended.  I might just have to really dig in and find this problem, and take care of it.  

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I use Avast, it is a nag sometimes, but will get everything,even start up issues. If you do use it, use the free version, then go to the pay one. The pay one does all the same stuff as AVG,Microsoft Essentials, Malware Antibytes, CCLeaner and does more than them with computer "grime". Also, download ABP, ad block up popper from their direct site, it stops ads and other malware from getting into the system.

 

  The Avast scans for viruses, outdated software, network and safety issues. With my computer, it winds up scanning once a week when set up for updates, and will work to make sure they shut down malicious upgrades from Adobe, and Java which are 2 of the most attacked programs by malware,viruses,and adware. It gets into your system through them, so Avast blocks them from working with certain instances and will ask if you want to use them in others.

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Does anybody have a recommendation for a good spyware, adaware, or malware remover.   For several months my computer has been running slow, I checked the memory and something like 70 -80 percent was being used.  I thought I needed more ram, but someone said for what I was doing I could have some malware or alike bogging it down.  So I went online and downloaded a free one and ran a scan.  Sure enough there were about 65 threats found.  So I deleted them, along with cookies, temp internet files.  My memory usage went down to 30 percent and thing seemed to run fine.  That was about 3 weeks ago, then about 1 week ago things started to run slow again.  Sure enough I am back up to 60-70 percent memory usage.  I ran another scan and this time nothing came up.  I figured I could try another malware remover, maybe one more recommended.  Or maybe you computer folks out there have a better idea. 

 

Thanks

to answer your question correctly - what kind of pc do you use - how old is it -what brand/model/ram- etc - is a tower or a desktop or a laptop -

 

is it a n intel processor or AMD -

 

-what operating system are you using - -

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On the corporate side, Kaspersky was awful.

 

We use Trend Micro at work, and it seems to do a pretty good job at balancing between doing the job and slowing everything down. However, any active monitoring of the system, email, browsing, etc., will tend to slow things down. Symantec was probably the worst at work, with Kaspersky coming in a close second.

 

Bruce

 

Not sure what you mean about it being awful, be more specific, because I'm curious about this one. Are you referring to a software bundle, or did you configure it correctly.

 

With respect to their "Internet Security" software only (which comes with Antivirus protection), Kaspersky has a long history of being one of the best..... so I'll have to completely disagree.  It is highly customizable, not sure what your level of experience is with the software or how it was configured on your system(s), but I've used a number of them, and, well, no complaints. 

 

FWIW, I don't buy the bundled Kaspersky, which comes with assorted crapola that I know I don't need, and won't ever use. And my opinion is limited only to their "Internet Security" software, based on what I've read and my personal experience.

 

 

 

http://internet-security-suite-review.toptenreviews.com/kaspersky-review.html

Edited by Gilbert
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Gilbert,

It was at an institution, the college where I work. It was set up through a specific server and on all college owned computers, desktop/laptop, It may have been (at the time we used it) a problem with Active Directory integration, but the management wasn't very good and we just had problems with it. I can't tell you exactly what, because I wasn't one of the ones who implemented it. I mostly do workstation installs/setups and printer management.

 

I've had more involvement with Trend Micro, and they have a fairly nice management console for all the A/V installs. We can do different policies for different groups, i.e., having laptops/tablets in a roaming group, so they can still get virus definition/component updates when not connected to our network. Performance has been good, both as far as catching stuff and not being a huge resource hog.

 

It may work great as a single workstation install and it may be better for a company now that it has had time to mature. It has been a few years since we used it.

 

Bruce

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Shameless plug (to help boost the price of my stock holdings). As an Apple certified technician we advise running no anti anything software on Apple computers as it just adds overhead and does no good as there are No viruses in the wild for Macs. There have been a few recent malware and DNS changer items which had little impact and have been addressed. Better hardware and software are more expensive and as Klipsch users know, you get what you pay for.

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Better hardware and software are more expensive and as Klipsch users know, you get what you pay for.
You are making an assumption that it's better hardware, and it has nothing to do with this topic. Over the past 18 years I have supported both, and percentage wise, had way more failures with Apple hardware.

 

It's highway robbery, for one thing to have designed something that for most Wintel boxes wouldn't cost much to replace when out of warranty, i.e., the motherboard/mainboard, but on a 27 inch iMac, a bit past its 3 year warranty, that would cost us over $950. For that, I can buy a NEW, quad core i7 computer that will, if the past is any indicator, still be running in 5 years.

 

Yes, a shameless plug.

 

Bruce

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