Nifty Stopwatch

This is the first part of my strengthening windows segment and is focused around Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware/Anti-rootkit tools. The next segments are going to continue with the same theme but include different topics.  Currently I am planning on 3 to 4 parts but that could change.  Look for the remaining parts on Friday’s.

Anti-Virus

AVG Anti-Virus free edition by AVG Technologies is my top choice when it comes to Anti-Virus. For being free it has a good amount of features like on-access scanning of files. I have it set to perform a scan of my computer ever day, while for me that is a bit of overkill as I am not using my windows pc that often it definitely keeps my machine virus free. It also checks daily for updates, so your virus database is almost always current. I even have installed it on friend’s machines who were previously using norton and I have never heard any complaints from them.  Overall I would have to recommend AVG, while I usually dont get any viruses it has caught a few things.  It looks like it works on all major Microsoft releases from 98 onwards (supports x64 versions of XP and Vista), check their site for additional details.  You can find the application and more information on the AVG free site.

Avast 4 Home Edition by ALWIL Software  requires you to register the product for free once a year.  From looking at the page it seems to be the commercial version but for non-commercial use.  It comes with Anti-Rootkit and various other tools.  It looks like it supports all major Microsoft releases except server editions (doesn’t mention anything about Vista x64), check their site for additional details.  You can find the application and more information on Avast’s website.

Note: You only really need one anti-virus program on your computer.  I am not even sure if having more than one will work (I only use one).  If you are unsure if you have one check windows security center and it will tell you.

Anti-Spyware

There are actually two programs that I use for checking for spyware/trojans.

Spybot Search & Destroy by Safer Networking is also a free application.  Spybot incorporates some nice features, one of them is immunization.  What this does is it writes to your hosts file and protects you from certain cookies.  By doing that you are putting preventative measures in place to stop spyware at the browser level.  With Spybot you can have it search your computer for know spyware and other privacy things like logs.  When its finished scanning the choice is left up to the user on what should be removed.  As far as I can tell it doesn’t auto update, maybe its something that can be turned on and I just unchecked.  It is always a good practice to check for updates before running a scan/immunizing your system.  Something nice that Spybot does is it has an advanced mod where the user gets an even greater control over the program and what to remove.  This is something for advanced users so if you plan on using it it would be best to read up on it from their website.  I have been using Spybot for a couple years and it is an amazing product and I recommend it to all of my friends.  Looks like it supports all versions of Windows, check their site for additional details.  You can find the application and more information at the Safer Networking website.

AVG Anti-Spyware free edition is once again from AVG Technologies.  I am using this one in conjunction with Spybot and they work fine together.  AVG Anti-Spyware comes with a resident shield that scan’s files on execution, scans the memory of starting applications, and automatically removes tracking cookies.  Like AVG Anti-Virus I keep it running on my system at all times because of the resident shield.  It also allows you to set up automatic scan’s of your system and allows on-demand scanning.  This had actually found something on my computer the first time I ran the complete scan.  Overall it feels like a solid program and is somethign worth running.  It looks like the system requirements are the same as AVG Anti-Virus.  You can find the application and more information on the AVG free website.

Anti-Rootkit

AVG Anti-Rootkit free is the third free product from AVG Technologies.  For those of you who don’t know what a rootkit is it essentially is something that is running “under” the operating system.  AVG Anti-Rootkit free has the ability to search for rootkits and remove them.  I have yet to come across any on my machine so I can’t comment on how well it is at removing rootkits but it is always nice to know if your protected.  Once again it seems like it has the same requirements as the other AVG tools.  You can find the application an more infomation on the AVG free website.

RootAlyzer which is currently in testing is from Safer Networking, the same people who make Spybot S&D. From reading the SN forums RootAlyzer already blocks most if not all of rootkits currently known.  Since its still in development the detections should get better over time.  You can find the application and more information on the Safer Networking forums.

While there are many other applications dealing with detecting viruses/spyware/rootkits. These are the ones that I use on a daily/weekly basis and I feel are quality.

Stay tuned for part two as it is going to be centered around system privacy.