Guest Victor Posted September 17, 2007 Posted September 17, 2007 Hi and sorry if this is not in the right group, but I couldn't find a forum specifically for Windows Defender. I have Defender installed, but I am beginning to wonder if it's even doing anything. I don't see any alerts and I never find any trace of it detecting spyware/tracking cookies. When I run a scan, it never finds anything, but when I run ad-aware, it will detect a bunch of stuff on my system. For anyone running Defender, is the program worthwhile or should I just dump it and run ad-aware/spybot s&d?
Guest Shenan Stanley Posted September 17, 2007 Posted September 17, 2007 Re: Does Windows Defender do anything? Victor wrote: > Hi and sorry if this is not in the right group, but I couldn't find > a forum specifically for Windows Defender. > > I have Defender installed, but I am beginning to wonder if it's > even doing anything. I don't see any alerts and I never find any > trace of it detecting spyware/tracking cookies. When I run a scan, > it never finds anything, but when I run ad-aware, it will detect a > bunch of stuff on my system. > For anyone running Defender, is the program worthwhile or should I > just dump it and run ad-aware/spybot s&d? It's beta still as far as I know - and I have not recommended it as far as I can recall - nor will I start yet. You downloaded it from: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=435BFCE7-DA2B-4A6A-AFA4-F7F14E605A0D&displaylang=en#RelatedLinks "Access to Newsgroups: In addition to phone support we also have newsgroups to help get your questions answered." On that very page, they point you to the proper newsgroup: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/newsgroups/reader/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.private.security.spyware.general&lang=en&cr=US&r=33d293cc-19b6-404b-865b-565a73822c7f -- Shenan Stanley MS-MVP -- How To Ask Questions The Smart Way http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
Guest VanguardLH Posted September 17, 2007 Posted September 17, 2007 Re: Does Windows Defender do anything? "Victor" wrote ... > Hi and sorry if this is not in the right group, but I couldn't find > a forum specifically for Windows Defender. > > I have Defender installed, but I am beginning to wonder if it's even > doing anything. I don't see any alerts and I never find any trace > of it detecting spyware/tracking cookies. When I run a scan, it > never finds anything, but when I run ad-aware, it will detect a > bunch of stuff on my system. Because you left Ad-Aware configured to list cookies in its scan results. Cookies are NOT spyware. Learn to differentiate between executable files and text/doc files. Cookies are not spyware. Read the following: http://www.edbott.com/weblog/?p=246 http://www.xblock.com/articles/article_show.php?id=64 http://thundercloud.net/infoave/answers/goodcookie-badcookie.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_cookie I bet you NONE of the anti-spyware tools that you use has yet to report the cookies (.sol files) left behind by Flash. Oooh, cookies, big deal. > For anyone running Defender, is the program worthwhile or should I > just dump it and run ad-aware/spybot s&d? Well, if you or software hasn't made any changes that the system agents are looking for then why would you expect it to issue alerts on events that have not occurred? Have you tried using msconfig to change your startup items, or edited the Startup group, changed the home page in your browser, or have you installed any BHOs (browser helper objects), like Adobe's Acrobat AX control? Would you trust a burglar alarm in your house that triggered when there were no burglars present? That would make it unreliable and very nuisancesome with tons of false positives more than for false negatives (malware not caught). One tool is not sufficient for protection. Besides anti-virus software, you need anti-spyware, anti-malware, firewall, and perhaps more security software to detect all pests. Not all need to run at the same time. I have several installed but they are not continuously running and instead used solely for on-demand scanning. I have: AVG AntiVirus AVG AntiRootkit (*) AVG AntiSpyware (*) SysInternals Rootkit Revealer (*) Windows Defender BOClean System Safety Monitor (+) Lavasoft Ad-Aware (*) Spybot S&D (*) SpywareBlaster (*) HijackThis (*) SuperAntispyware (*) Comodo Firewall (*) These are not loaded to run continuously. They are ran manually to perform on-demand scans or updates. (+) IPS (intrusion protection system) software. Definitely not for newbie or lazy users. SSM is the free version so some features are absent. AntiHook's prior version is free, full feature set, but impacts my host's responsiveness way too much. The more security programs you have running, the more your host gets impacted and the less likely your OS and applications will behave. Every program running incurs losses in resources (CPU cycles, memory) and impacts responsiveness. You need to add enough to be reasonably safe, not unreasonably safe with severe loss of use of your own host. By the way, I don't run Windows Defender to catch malware. If it does, great. I primarily use it to monitor system changes whether they be made by malware or goodware because I want to be in control or, at least, notified of those changes, like a service being added or deleted, an entry added to the registry Run keys, home page changed for the browser, etc. That's also why I use an IPS program so I can regulate what can and cannot load into memory (programs can only run if they get into memory). Even the firewall I use includes IPS. If Comodo ever gets decent on-demand coverage for their anti-virus product then I'll use their free AV program which also includes IPS (but neither of their firewall or AV products with IPS match System Safety Monitor or Antihook). Remember the more security you have running on your host then the less responsive and the less usable it is. Find enough to feel comfortable without impacting the use of your own hardware.
Guest Kayman Posted September 17, 2007 Posted September 17, 2007 Re: Does Windows Defender do anything? On Sun, 16 Sep 2007 22:41:09 -0400, Victor wrote: > Hi and sorry if this is not in the right group, but I couldn't find a forum > specifically for Windows Defender. privatenews.microsoft.com Account name: privatenews\spyware Password: spyware microsoft.private.security.spyware.announcements microsoft.private.security.spyware.general > I have Defender installed, but I am beginning to wonder if it's even doing > anything. I don't see any alerts and I never find any trace of it detecting > spyware/tracking cookies. When I run a scan, it never finds anything, but > when I run ad-aware, it will detect a bunch of stuff on my system. > For anyone running Defender, is the program worthwhile or should I just dump > it and run ad-aware/spybot s&d? The effectiveness of an individual A-S scanners can be wide-ranging and oftentimes a collection of scanners is best. There isn't one software that cleans and immunizes you against everything. That's why you need multiple products to do the job i.e. overlap their coverage - one may catch what another may miss. SuperAntispyware - Free http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html Ad-Aware - Free http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10045910.html Spybot Search & Destroy - Free http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html Windows Defender - Free http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx Interesting reading: http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136195/article.html "...Windows Defender did excel in behavior-based protection, which detects changes to key areas of the system without having to know anything about the actual threat." Good luck :)
Guest baynole Posted September 17, 2007 Posted September 17, 2007 Re: Does Windows Defender do anything? On Sep 16, 10:41 pm, "Victor" <vic...@h-o-t-m-a-i-l.com> wrote: > Hi and sorry if this is not in the right group, but I couldn't find a forum > specifically for Windows Defender. > > I have Defender installed, but I am beginning to wonder if it's even doing > anything. I don't see any alerts and I never find any trace of it detecting > spyware/tracking cookies. When I run a scan, it never finds anything, but > when I run ad-aware, it will detect a bunch of stuff on my system. > > For anyone running Defender, is the program worthwhile or should I just dump > it and run ad-aware/spybot s&d? The October "PC World" rates Defender at a 72 (out of 100). They state it is good against adware but does almost nothing vs. spyware. SpyBot gets only a 59 ("poor"); in the "used to be good" class. Ad- Aware has been criticized as outmoded too, mainly good for finding tracking cookies.I will likely uninstall it. I use A-Squared instead. I have been using Spyware Terminator but it tested very poorly in a recent "PC Magazine" review. You might consider Spycatcher to augment the Google Pack version of Spyware Doctor, as the Google one actually disinfects, unlike other versions, such as the one at download.com. I also have BOClean as a final line of defense. Next time I see a sale, I think I will bite the bullet & buy the full version of Spyware Doctor.
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