Spybots be gone

[skywalker]

It's getting really old having to check for spybots everytime I am on the net.

Is there a program that will will tell you what sites
are placing spybots on your computer as you visit each site. ?

I suppose I could run Spybot to clear em out,
then visit one site and re-run it and then
see if any were added. But there should be
a better way.

Maybe a program idea for someone who is looking for a
challenge. :-)

Thanks.

[John]

Just use a real browser like Firefox and then turn off Java.

Oh, and stay away from the pr0n and warez sites too :p

[skywalker]

Just use a real browser like Firefox and then turn off Java.

I can do that with Netscape. Doesn't that turn off some useful features that some sites use
for legit purposes ?

Oh, and stay away from the pr0n and warez sites too :p

Don't lump everyone in with what you used to do. :-)
Why go to warez when you have freeware also referred to as betterware.

Have a good Christmas.

[sluggy]

Why go to warez when you have freeware also referred to as betterware.

Therein lies the problem: it is rare these days to get free software that doesn't have spyware or malware built in.
Four options:
- run a minimum of WinXP with SP2, that blocks a lot of crap, Win2003 is even better because it is secure by default.
- use SpyBot Search and Destroy, and make sure you have the TeaTimer component installed, it monitors your registry and notifies you whenever the Run/RunOnce keys get altered or whenever a new BHO tries to be installed
- don't use IE, although that advantage will soon disappear as exploits are actively found in the other browsers
- use a separate machine/device as a firewall, that way only the traffic you permit can get out. If you use a decent firewall (i use MS's ISA server) then you can even lock down port 80 to a large extent

[MichaelW]

If by spybots you mean tracking cookies, you can get rid of them by simply deleting the offending cookies and restarting Windows. If you mean spyware that was installed without your knowledge and consent, you can stop most of this by disabling JAVA. Up until I switched my primary system to Windows 2000 Pro, I had run for several years using IE and Windows 98 SE with no spyware problems . I always keep Windows and IE updated (by installing all of the Critical Updated from the Windows Update site), I disable install on demand and completely disable JAVA in the IE advanced and security options, and I run a good firewall.

Disabling JAVA will prevent some sites from working correctly, and will make a few sites completely unusable, but IMO this is a small price to pay to maintain control over what gets installed on your system. And if you need for JAVA to work for a trustworthy site, you can always temporarily re-enable it.

A good firewall can make your system invisible to port scanners, and it can alert you when any program that you have not given permission to do so tries to access the Internet. A free version of ZoneAlarm is available here.

[petezl]

thought I'd add my experiences to this thread. I think Windows is fundamentally a very integrated system so enevitably it starts playing up as soon as you start inhibiting various features in an effort to minimise intrusion. As far as the web is concerned, I floated along in total ignorance with spyware/viruses accumulating on the system until I got wise to it.
Things really started to get bad when I changed to broad band and even a good firewall (properly configured) was letting stuff through. Antivirus programs and all the other stuff you can get was just slowing the system down and was mainly ineffective.
I now only use a minimal XP installation for windows applications (with no internet connection). All internet work is done on a linux box with a simple firewall which has seemed to have solved all the previous problems.

The safest windows system on the net was probably win98 se with alternate mail and browser, antivirus and a good firewall.

The point of this post is not a cheap chance at slamming windows but bringing to light that I found that it's far from the ideal system for internet work and that using on-computer firewalls, although good, are less than ideal, especially if your connected to broadband.

Peter.

[skywalker]

Why go to warez when you have freeware also referred to as betterware.

Therein lies the problem: it is rare these days to get free software that doesn't have spyware or malware built in.

That's a myth. Screensavers do have a large percentage of them though.

Four options:
- run a minimum of WinXP with SP2, that blocks a lot of crap, Win2003 is even better because it is secure by default.

- use SpyBot Search and Destroy, and make sure you have the TeaTimer component installed, it monitors your registry and notifies you whenever the Run/RunOnce keys get altered or whenever a new BHO tries to be installed

Tried Tea Timer, didn't see any reduction in "bogeys found."

- don't use IE, although that advantage will soon disappear as exploits are actively found in the other browsers

I haven't seen that and I have been using NS for at least 5 years.

- use a separate machine/device as a firewall, that way only the traffic you permit can get out. If you use a decent firewall (i use MS's ISA server) then you can even lock down port 80 to a large extent

Firewalls have their own issues.

I am evaluating Spyware Blaster now.

[Statix Star]

Hey I use spybots and it's great, my friend has windows server 2003; I think I'll switch to 2003 in 4 months. Just one thing;
Mcafee is much better than Norton. I never trust like hutch saids an av 100 percent but, I use spybots and mcafee for security.