Spy Sweeper with Spybot 1.5

(System: eMachines AMD Athlon XP 2800+, 2.08 GHz, 960 MG RAM Win XP SP2. Comodo Firewall, Spy Sweeper, Spywareblaster, Ad-Aware SE, a-squared free, AVG AS free version, Spybot 1.5. Need more info? Please ask!)

I recently installed Spybot 1.5 and I'm very happy with it. I've also used Spy Sweeper for a year or so, and I noticed that when I immunized with Spybot 1.5 for the first time, I suddenly started receiving the Internet Communication pop-up alerts from Spy Sweeper for the first time.

Those stopped after a while, and then I noticed that the Hosts File Shield Option in Spy Sweeper suddenly had a HUGE list of sites added to it (i.e.: 777search.com). Previously, the only entry in the Hosts File Shield Options was "localhost".

Does anyone know why these are suddenly listed, and do I leave that list intact, or delete it? The instructions with SS really don't explain much!

 

First, you have a little too much protection. If you have Spy Sweeper installed you do not need any other antispy program. Spy Sweeper is the best antispy application in my opinion and experience.

I would uninstall the others but it's up to you.

About Spy Sweeper, that's normal to popup when you Immunize because it's adding sites/entiries to the block list and Spy Sweeper doesn't know who is doing it, the program just sees there is modification being performed and you have to manually approve it.

As far as the HOSTS file, shut down Spy Sweeper and all of the other programs like Spyboy, AVG AS, and run the below to default the HOSTS file.

 

Too much protection? I wasn't aware that I could have too much. I always thought that only the active spyware scanners like SS were a problem when you ran more than one, kind of like running two antivirus programs simultaneously. The AVG AS I have is the free version, which has no shield. I use it only for manual scanning.

Do you know why I had never received the "Internet Connection blocked" alert from SS prior to installing Spybot 1.5? If that SS shield had been active for the last year, which it was, why didn't it give me those alerts from the very start after Spybot 1.4 immunizations? It was ONLY after I updated to 1.5 that I received them.

That alert isn't one that has to be approved or dis-approved, it just pops up and then disappears if it's not closed manually.

Thanks for the link! I'll give it a try and see what happens.

 

(System: eMachines AMD Athlon XP 2800+, 2.08 GHz, 960 MG RAM Win XP SP2. Comodo Firewall, Spy Sweeper, Ad-Aware SE, a-squared free, Spybot 1.5, no immunization.)

bjgarrick,

Wow, sorry for the delay. I did what you advised and uninstalled Spywareblaster, removed the immunization from Spybot (I use it for scanning only, now), removed AVG AS, and then ran HostXpert. Everything went smoothly, and my computer seems to be secure and running more quickly.

Thanks much!

 

Steve_East9,

I always thought that layers are safest, with only one real-time scanner (is that also referred to as a "resident"?) However, I did experience difficulty accessing certain sites through links.

For instance, I wanted to go to a sporting goods site using a specific link in a specific site, but every time I tried to access it, FF and IE said they couldn't access "clicklinksynergy.com" I tried picking and choosing what protection to un-check in Spywareblaster to access that site, but nothing I tried worked.

Once I uninstalled Spywareblaster I was able to access what I needed to through that website. However, I was also fairly sure I was sacrificing some security.

Spy Sweeper does seem a bit ponderous at times, and I've read countless threads about equally good free programs. I'll definitely try the others once my subscription runs out in June, '08! Until then, however, I would like to figure out how to get SS and SWB to work together. I would prefer both rather than just one.

 

Don't get me wrong, the Immunization is very useful because it protects you from a lot of bad sites however to use this you must shut down all antispy programs like Spy Sweeper because they go crazy when Spybot starts adding the sites to the blocked area.

 

You don't "see" the conflict, it's something that occurs when multiple applications of the same nature are installed. For example, if someone has an Internet Suite, there is no need for anything else because the Suite has everything you need. If someone has SS, there is no need for another antispy simply because SS does everything that other antispy applications will do and even better.

Spybot's immunation feature is good because it add's a ton of bad websites to the block list, however if you have SS installed and immunze it will display a window requesting permission to allow/deny.

Each system needs one firewall, one antivirus and one antispy program with the OS updated. Having one of each and common sense on the internet will protect you from everything.

 

I don't test each antispy, I don't know how different antispy applications react, that's why it's best to shut them down when immunizing. By shutting the applications down, you temporarily disable the shields that could block the changes.

I do know that Spy Sweeper pops up and requests permission to allow the changes Spybot is making as in adding the bad sites to the "block" list. If this were to happen to a "novice" user then they probably wouldn't know what to do and freak out because of the "warning message".