Your Favorite Anti-Spyware?

[quote]pookie wrote:
My favorite is Microsoft’s Safer API. >>>[/quote]

My favorite is Linux, but this is a great solution for Windows environments. In all truthfulness for the non tech head, just not getting spyware is the only lasting solution, but the other edge to that sword is that non tech heads are also the least capable of doing that. Some of this shit embeds itself in essential system files where removing it is damn near a practical impossibility even for tech heads never mind Wilbur and Wilma user.

ANYTHING can be fixed, but at some point it just makes more sense to slam the drive and start over. I have almost no problems with viruses or spyware even on my Windows boxes so it can be done.

My new avatar? :stuck_out_tongue:

[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
My favorite is Linux[/quote]

You could also run AmigaOS 4 and be even safer.

For many people, especially businesses, using Windows is often a non-negotiable point.

For all it’s warts and problems, there’s something that Windows has that Linux and Mac OS don’t: Marketshare.

I’d contend that it’s THE solution for all environment. Linux and OS X simply work like that from the outset.

Running Windows as a non-admin user would be the perfect solution, but unfortunately, there is so much stuff that breaks, doesn’t work or makes you jump through ridiculous hoops when you try it that most people simply go back to running the admin user after a few days.

My solution above (sort of a “reverse sudo”) has been the best way I’ve found of making Windows machine stable and infection resistant. I’ve done that setup on the PC of many relatives, and their infection problems went from weekly occurrences to never. Except for the rare cases when they did extra work to infect themselves, but no OS protects against user ignorance.

That’s the main problem. Setting up the machine the first time is somewhat time consuming and complex for someone not familiar with Windows.

Maybe I should write a program to automate it and sell “Pookie’s Permanent Crapware Vaccine”… The main problem would be to make sure you do it on a clean machine.

It only embeds itself where it has the permission to embed itself. No permissions, no infection.

The best fix is the one you don’t have to make. I’m running on a three year old installation of Windows. It hasn’t needed to be reinstalled once, nor has it ever been infected. I also don’t have to waste memory, CPU cycles and disk I/O by running an anti-virus, an anti-spyware and the rest of the usual “fix it after the fact” battalion of crap most Windows installation sport these days.

ubuntu

[quote]pookie wrote:
<<< A buncha good stuff >>>
[/quote]
Microsoft does get blamed for more than it’s share of problems though it certainly hasn’t and continues to not do much to improve it’s public image. Of course you are absolutely correct about the world of permissions. How well I know having done corporate support for the last 8 years. The biggest problem in that environment is the wide range of users. Some will do just fine with a user account and some app level tweaking while others can’t work without full time admin rights. The load developers of course do not take this into account and leave us with a one size fits all (which doesn’t) situation with hardware being the only difference between images.

I have one XP box that is a part time file server and full time TV Capture machine that I never even upgraded from SP1 and it still runs fine.

If you’re a programmer which I suspect you may be on to something about writing a wizard driven protect-o-matic outfit though unforseen issues may rapidly transform something like that from a cool project to something I though about doing once. Who knows though the OEMs would be interested in a package like that for factory loads.