[Software] Microsoft Anti-Spyware or Windows Defender
Posted on March 12th, 2005 by fizzle in Reviews
Hello Kids, fizzle here with an exciting review on that wonderful little program known as: MS Anti-Spyware (hereafter known as MSAS). I know, you’re probably thinking, “WTF? Trust something from microsoft to take care of my spyware!? no way!”
Well I tell ya kids. Its not as bad as it may sound, and I am the number one hater of Microsoft. I know computers, it’s pretty much all I DO know, and thus I do my best to keep my computer clean of viruses, spyware, adware, garbage, junk, herpes, gastrointestinal disorders, and anything else that may come along. So when I heard about this new MS Anti-spyware program, I just had to try it out.
I had recently formatted my hard drive and had a brand new install of winXP pro, and I didnt even have internet for a week or so. But I finally got the internet hooked up, using earthlink dial-up :angry:, because dialup is the only thing available in this hick ass town I’m currently living in (Howell, MI). So anyway, what I’m getting at is this: I didn’t install ANYTHING, I didn’t go anywhere on the net, with the exception of a few places I know to be 100% spyware free (messageboards that I myself helped build). So I figured I wouldnt have any spyware for the MS program to catch. Holy cow was I wrong! Just a note for all you earthlink users, DITCH THAT GARBAGE NOW!! When I ran MSAS, over FIFTY registry entries came up. That leads me to believe one thing, and one thing only, earthlinks software is INFESTED with spyware.
OK, so, on to the point. MSAS is a decent program, compared to the other ones out there. It found the spyware, and removed it. However, after a few weeks of regular surfing (and keeping MSAS up to date and running it once a week) I came upon a huge problem. Apparently the earthlink shit was re-generating itself, and therefore MSAS COULDNT take care of it. But whenever I ran it, after supposedly “fixing the problems”, it would come up clean, even though I knew for a FACT that I had spyware and browser hijackers on my poor little computer. So, I went back to what I know and love, Spybot Search & Destroy. Spybot came up with about 30 items, about 20 of them not cookies. So I fixed them all with their utility. That leads me to believe that MSAS is NOT doing the job it’s supposed to. I’m not really sure WHY MSAS didnt pick it up after a few times, but Spybot did. But I must say, this IS the beta version that I’m running, and of course ALL things microsoft are buggy as hell, especially in beta version, so it MAY just be a bug. But I’m not so sure of that. All I know is, when I have a problem, my FIRST choice will continue to be Spybot. But overall MSAS is not a terrible program, and has proven to be effective for things OTHER than the stupid horrible god damned earthlink spyware. Which, by the way, even when I “fixed it” with Spybot, was still regenerating itself, and I ended up having to do about 3 hours of manual fixing. But Spybot at least recognized that there was a problem, while MSAS did not.
OK! I think I’ve rambled on enough here. My final Rating for Microsoft Anti-Spyware Beta1 is:
3/5
Tags: anti-spyware, microsoft, software reviews, windows defender
