Ad-Aware

from what i read here, it seems that not many people would be happy with win-defender alone - am i right?

Anybody tried the lattest version of Ad-ware 9.5, Which claims many under the hood improvement. Waiting for cnet to do a full review

I agree with the others - Lavasoft Ad-Aware used to be good, but that was long ago. It became so bloated and slow that I gave up on it.
But back in the days when it was a trim and slim fast thing, it caught a nasty trojan which had infected my Windows Media Player and generated ad popups, but could not remove it. On this occasion, I would like to thank Corrine who helped me get rid of that Trojan when I posted to the Lavasoft Support Forums; thanks to her, Ad-Aware was updated with a definition file which was able to remove the little beast. It's a small world sometimes ;-D She was very patient with panicky me and got my computer cleaned up perfectly back in 2004 (I printed out the whole thing as a souvenir). Thanks, Corrine

jmm said:

from what i read here, it seems that not many people would be happy with win-defender alone - am i right?

Hi, jmm. Windows Defender is an anti-spyware program and does not include anti-malware detection. If you use MSE, the Windows Defender engine is incorporated. I suggest you consider Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware or SUPER Anti-Spyware. (Personally, I would also include WinPatrol.)

gautam7 said:

Anybody tried the lattest version of Ad-ware 9.5, Which claims many under the hood improvement. Waiting for cnet to do a full review

Note this report by Bill Pytlovany about C|Net downloads: WinPatrol PLUS available for $9.99 while CNET Annoys Users.

Someone reported elsewhere that "The free version will update 2 times a week if you're online at the right update time - forget it". Can anyone confirm? That would really be totally useless if true.

PallasAthene said:

I agree with the others - Lavasoft Ad-Aware used to be good, but that was long ago. It became so bloated and slow that I gave up on it.
But back in the days when it was a trim and slim fast thing, it caught a nasty trojan which had infected my Windows Media Player and generated ad popups, but could not remove it. On this occasion, I would like to thank Corrine who helped me get rid of that Trojan when I posted to the Lavasoft Support Forums; thanks to her, Ad-Aware was updated with a definition file which was able to remove the little beast. It's a small world sometimes ;-D She was very patient with panicky me and got my computer cleaned up perfectly back in 2004 (I printed out the whole thing as a souvenir). Thanks, Corrine

Wow! After all these years, you actually remember me helping you. That is probably the nicest compliment ever.

Someone reported elsewhere that "The free version will update 2 times a week if you're online at the right update time - forget it". Can anyone confirm? That would really be totally useless if true.

If this is true then i must say lavasoft and ad-ware dev have gone mad. Really two update a week..... i mean come on.......

Also have not downloaded from cnet from some time but i have used them from many years but if they continue in this path that is bundling adware (i.s toolbar) through installer then i must say goodby to cnet. Time to look for alternet download site.

I don't know if it is true, gautam7. It is just what someone reported elsewhere. Also, please remember one very important thing. It is no longer Ad-Aware by Lavasoft. As I indicated above, Lavasoft was purchased by Lulu Software in January.

Corrine said:

Windows Defender is an anti-spyware program and does not include anti-malware detection.

thanks corrine - i believe avast is antimalware - would a defender + avast combo be enough for protection?

Avast is an antivirus software. Keep Windows Defender as real-time protection. However, I would still recommend including the free version of either MBAM or SAS plus WinPatrol.