Step 5: Choose tools to clean up spyware

Step 5: Choose tools to clean up spyware

The good news is that since spyware has become so prevalent, so have a great many antispyware tools. Even better, the best such tools are free for personal use and they are kept up to date thanks to the tireless work of many contributors.

Spybot - Search & Destroy

    Requires Free Membership to View

    Login

    When you register, you’ll also receive targeted alerts from my team of editorial writers and independent industry experts with the latest news, tips, and advice to help you do your job more efficiently and effectively. Our goal is to keep you informed on the hottest topics and biggest challenges faced by IT professionals today working with desktop management and security technologies.

    Margie Semilof, Editorial Director

    By submitting your registration information to SearchEnterpriseDesktop.com you agree to receive email communications from TechTarget and TechTarget partners. We encourage you to read our Privacy Policy which contains important disclosures about how we collect and use your registration and other information. If you reside outside of the United States, by submitting this registration information you consent to having your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States. Your use of SearchEnterpriseDesktop.com is governed by our Terms of Use. You may contact us at webmaster@TechTarget.com.

was one of the first and is still among the best antispyware tools. Aside from scanning for and removing thousands of known spyware applications, it also has a slew of utilities for locking down the system against future attacks. Beginners can clean their system with the push of one button, and expert users can pull detailed information about what may still be hiding and use that to do further surgery.

Lavasoft's Ad-Aware exists in both free and payware versions, but the free personal edition is widely regarded as the "other" best antispyware tool. It doesn't have the breadth of tools that Spybot - Search & Destroy does (at least not in the freeware version), but it generally cleans a broader range of problems and its scanning engine gets updated more frequently.

If you're a novice user and just want to do some kind of cleanup, use Ad-Aware first. If you're more experienced, or have the support of a computer guru, get Spybot. Use that in beginner's mode first to do a basic cleaning, then switch to advanced mode to see what else you can uncover.

Microsoft has also released a beta-test version of its AntiSpyware, which has a number of systems analysis and cleaning tools, and allows the user to submit suspected spyware to Microsoft for analysis.

Finally, a number of antivirus packages now recognize and deal with spyware as a subclass of virus -- a movement which has frankly been long overdue. (Check out Norton Internet Security 2005 AntiSpyware Edition and Trend Micro Inc.'s PC-cillin.)


How to remove spyware

 Home: Introduction
 Step 1: Get familiar with spyware now if not already
 Step 2: Know where spyware comes from
 Step 3: Recognize how spyware acts
 Step 4: Understand what damage spyware can cause
 Step 5: Choose tools to clean up spyware
 Step 6: Use these advanced techniques to clean up spyware
 Step 7: Install service packs to prevent spyware infections
 Step 8: Take additional initiatives to prevent spyware infections
 Step 9: Plan ahead for new spyware tactics

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Serdar Yegulalp
Serdar Yegulalp is the editor of the Windows 2000 Power Users Newsletter. Check it out for the latest advice and musings on the world of Windows network administrators -- and please share your thoughts as well!
Copyright 2005 TechTarget

This was first published in June 2005

Join the conversationComment

Share
Comments

    Results

    Contribute to the conversation

    All fields are required. Comments will appear at the bottom of the article.
    Back to top