Hi, Sloth_Loves_Chunk. Welcome to LandzDown Forum.
There are various sources of scanner comparisons, just as there are for antivirus software and firewalls. However, from what I have seen, they do not compare "apples to apples". As long as you keep that in mind, you may get some insight on which scanner(s) you want on your computer.
Truth be told, no one anti-malware scanner will be able to detect everything. One reason is that they have different rules for how they identify spyware. Another is that different scanning engines have capabilities for accessing different areas of the computer. Some companies support the identification and removal of tracking cookies, whereas others don't scan for them.
<start Commentary>1. Always stay up to date with Windows Updates
2. Have a good firewall
3. Keep your antivirus software updated
4. Install and keep updated SpywareBlaster --
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html 5. Install SpywareGuard --
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html 6. Select a software with "real-time protection" -- i.e., Microsoft's Windows Defender (Note: Window's Defender is still Beta, but doesn't seem to cause any problems and has good support)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=435BFCE7-DA2B-4A6A-AFA4-F7F14E605A0D&displaylang=en7. Consider
WinPatrol, which includes the features described
here.
</end Commentary>That said, see the following:
Ben Edelman's report on
Cookies Detected by Anti-Spyware Programs: The Current StatusEric Howes' Anti-Spyware Tests & Other Works as well as his
Thoughts on Anti-Spyware Testing (eburger68 is Eric Howes username at Spyware Warrior)
In PCWorld:
Antispyware Software -- Five antispyware programs focus on tackling the latest threats., by Narasu Rebbapragada, Friday, August 25, 2006, 02:00 PM PDT
