Pest Patrol finding spyware not found elsewhere?

Discussion in 'Malware Help - MG (A Specialist Will Reply)' started by dc47, Jul 5, 2004.

  1. dc47

    dc47 Private E-2

    I've been finding a large discrepency between Pest Patrol and two other anti-spyware programs (AdAware and SpyBot). I run the updated versions of AdAware and SpyBot without finding any bad programs. Then I run the free version of Pest Patrol which tells me I have 29 bad programs (e.g., Bingo, Bonzi).

    How can I determine if Pest Patrol is really finding bad programs not identified by the other two, or if this discrepency is either due to PP false positives? I note that Pest Patrol requires a purchase in order to get the software to remove the bad programs the free version locates.
     
    dc47, Jul 5, 2004
    #1
  2. Eely

    Eely Private E-2

    The free version of a lot of adware/spyware removing programs include more instances of malicious programs than you really have. That doesn't necessarily mean the paid versions are untrustworthy, though.
     
    Eely, Jul 5, 2004
    #2
  3. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    None of the spyware scanners are absolutely perfect. They all can find things the others miss. As a double check, try downloading and running (make sure you do the one time free update first) SpySweeper: http://www.majorgeeks.com/download3263.html

    I find it to be very good too. And the free version will even block cookies, protect your home page, and scan memory for problems, as well as clean up what it finds.
     
    chaslang, Jul 5, 2004
    #3
  4. dc47

    dc47 Private E-2

    I downloaded SpySweeper about 3 weeks ago. Is it the case that I can't update it again without paying to subscribe?

    However, with the version I have, SpySweeper too finds none of the 29 items shown in the Pest Patrol scan.

    If these are valid items of spyware, I suppose I should buy the Pest Patrol version that is said to remove them. However, I find it suspicious that AdAware and SpyBot (both current updates) and SpySweeper (update 3 weeks old) don't find a single one of the 29 items. I realize that no two programs are going to have identical results. But this appears to me - albeit, a novice at Windows security issues after 20 years using DOS machines and 1 year on a Mac - to be a pretty large discrepency. And it's 3 programs saying "clean" versus 1 saying "29 problems".
     
    dc47, Jul 5, 2004
    #4
  5. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    No! Only one free update is possible.

    I believe my Spy Sweeper (registered & also unregistered) version has found in the past on my kids PCs Bonzi Buddy, Bargain, Gain, WildTangent, and don't rememeber Bingo. It also cleaned them all up.

    And while it does seem suspicious that PP finds things the others do not, it is still a matter of how they search and what they are searching for. For example (this is an example it is not a reflection on what any of the programs mentioned really do), let's say that Ad-aware finds any actively running aspects of Gain and that it fixes registry settings but it is possible that it does not cleanup any files that could be left laying around related to Gain. On the otherhand PP my find all these files and give a message about them. The software is no longer running or causing any problems but it is on your system.

    I'm not trying to argue that anything is wrong or right with what you are experiencing, I just telling you what I have seen myself first hand. I use Ad-aware, SpyBot, and SpySweeper and each always find things the others miss or don't consider to be a problem.

    One final note: Spy Sweeper currently scans for about 30,000 know issues. I sure the others are simliar. A difference of 29 is 29/30000 = 0.001 Not that big a difference.
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2004
    chaslang, Jul 5, 2004
    #5

MajorGeeks.Com Menu

Downloads All In One Tweaks \ Android \ Anti-Malware \ Anti-Virus \ Appearance \ Backup \ Browsers \ CD\DVD\Blu-Ray \ Covert Ops \ Drive Utilities \ Drivers \ Graphics \ Internet Tools \ Multimedia \ Networking \ Office Tools \ PC Games \ System Tools \ Mac/Apple/Ipad Downloads

Other News: Top Downloads \ News (Tech) \ Off Base (Other Websites News) \ Way Off Base (Offbeat Stories and Pics)

Social: Facebook \ YouTube \ Twitter \ Tumblr \ Pintrest \ RSS Feeds