jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I just responded to an Ad-Aware request to update and do a scan. The results after 4:27 of scanning. Nothing, absolutely nothing. That seems hard to believe.

Morning Star Loc: West coast, North of the 49th N.

Does Ad-Aware scan everything that comes into your computer as it comes in? If so, I'm not surprised you have a clean system.
I use Microsoft Security Essentials and that program has yet to find anything bad during its weekly total scan. It has picked up a few items as they came in though.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

No, since it is the free version. Looking back, I see that this is Ad-Adware anti-Virus, not the regular Ad-Aware. I seldom have a virus show up when I do a virus scan, but I was expecting adware to be found.

pixbyjnjphotos Loc: Apache Junction,AZ

I have had pretty good luck with Spybot, also free.

http://spybot.search-destroy.com/

Check it out.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I used to use Spybot, but it got to the point where it was just too slow - taking forever to do a scan.

Wahawk Loc: NE IA

MSE does a good enough job on the fly that you won't find anything doing a full scan later, UNLESS you go somewhere to download something and click a bunch of messages to let something get through! I use MSE plus Malwarebytes AntiMalware (pd version $25) that continuously scans also. It has also caught items coming in and stopped them. Haven't had a virus or malware on my computer in well over 20yrs!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

It sounds like you have a good system.

Wahawk Loc: NE IA

Developed the procedure and software choice working with a very good tech! He told me to use Malwarebytes free edition, but had to run it once a week to keep things clean. After I paid $25 a couple years ago it takes care of it automatically, updates, scans, etc and whenever I do decide to manually scan it never finds anything!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Is that $25 for a year or forever?

Wahawk Loc: NE IA

I have only paid once and it has been well over a year ago!! It didn't specify when I paid it, but even if it was $25/year it is definitely WORTH IT for the peace of mind!!

302photography Loc: Living in Tampa, FL

I have used Malwarebytes for a few years now. The Free version works
Pretty well. It catches the stuff that other programs don't. I am an IT guy. ;)

Kuzano

My tools and the tools I recommend in classes are:

MSSE (Microsoft Security Essentials) making sure it is the appropriate version for 32 bit or 64 bit, depending on the computer. Scans real time.... does a very good job. AntiVirus program.

MalwareBytes (DOWNLOAD ONLY FROM THE PUBLISHER SITE, any other site unsafe, as all are becoming so). There is a free version which is good, BUT the paid version has a memory resident function running real time and picks up incoming. I seriously recommend the PAID version to catch the nasties instead of hunting for them after the fact.

This program does not conflict with AV software.

DO not run more than one AV software. Conflicts occur. Malware is a bit different and multiple malware products can be used.

As a backup to these two software, which take care of 99.99% of my personal programs, I have some backups I use on client machines.

First there is a little DOS utility called Rkill.exe. Be sure to download it from a safe site. It goes into DOS and shuts down some windows processes that should be shut down before you scan in Windows for malware or virus entries.

As a backup, I use a program called HitMan Pro from a safe scandinavian site called Surfright.nl (again, only safe place to download it from). I used Hitman Pro years ago in conjunction with AdaWare and Spybot... two has-beens in spyware. HitMan Pro is manual scan, but effective.

I DON'T KNOW IF YOU SAW THIS FROM MY EARLIER POST:

If you are NOT aware, most of the traditional software download sites have moved to an "Installer" type of software download. Most of them are compromised with some pretty NASTY malware in those downloaders, in the form of search tools and toolbars.

Get your software, ONLY from publisher sites if you can.

Nasty, Nasty Nasty!!!!

I fought one for ten hours a couple of weeks ago. My client got it from downloading CCCleaner (which is good), but not from the CCCleaner site. He just pushed the button on one of the many software downloading sites. Check the green address closely on your hits for downloads.... Only use the publisher site if you can.

READ EVERY SCREEN IN A DOWNLOAD PROCESS. THIS IS WHERE THE TROUBLE LIES. DON'T SIGN UP FOR EXTRA PERK SOFTWARE, AND WATCH FOR FALSE POSITIVE LANGUAGE, WHERE YOU THINK YOU ARE SAYING NO, BUT YOU ARE AUTHORIZING THE PERK... EACH SCREEN, EVERY WORD.

OH, and I know it's coming, so let me say. The first tool in my bag for Malware is Malware Bytes. I must have used Malware Bytes at least a half dozen times on that ten hour job.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I know, and I hate that. You have to read each screen very carefully, and even then you can acquire unwanted junk. I prefer to get programs from the publisher's site, but they often refer you to download sites.

Going to msconfig and changing the Start programs is a good thing to do every so often.

n3eg Loc: West coast USA

I remember once getting some brand new malware in my computer, and having to manually remove it. I had to find the original bad .exe file and rename it to .doc, create a blank fake .exe file and write protect it, and delete all the crap .exe files it had created as they came alive in Task Manager. Spybot or Norton wouldn't touch it.

Wahawk Loc: NE IA

That is where Malwarebytes AntiMalware is so great!!
It will also run in Safe Mode and take care of pretty much anything!!
And the paid version is well worth the $25!! A lot cheaper than ONE visit to a tech!