one of the best.
My favorite anti-spyware program currently is Microsoft Anti-Spyware. It’s in perpetual beta, but it seems to do an excellent job and offers active protection, not just a scanner like the other free anti-spyware programs.
I always have peer guardian running too.
Handy for anyone who likes p2p.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer_Guardian
And there are updates daily.
got rid of a really stubborn adware recently with Hijack This. adaware etc. didn’t make a dent in it. was quite hands on but it worked
Peer Guardian’s lists are a bunch of crap. So-Net is owned by Sony, so they have all of So-Net blocked because someone from Sony might be spying on p2p. There are other examples of ISPs blocked wholesale for fairly weak reasons, not to mention a wide variety of other inaccurate listings. On the Wiki link you posted, scroll down and read the Criticisms section for more detail. In my opinion Peer Guardian is more likely to SLOW DOWN your downloads than protect you from the RIAA.
OK, looks like I went off a bit half-cocked. Things have certainly improved since I last looked at it. So-net is no longer listed, or at least my address is no longer part of the listings. It looks like they’ve opened up a site where people can give feedback on listings if they feel they are incorrect. Previously they pretty much ignored feedback. It’s probably improved now that the lists are better maintained.
When you re-install. Go through all the updates windows offers.
Screw IE… Use Firefox! Get some of the add-ons that are available like java blocker and add blocker. Firefox is very cool and also has some nice themes you can use for eye candy.
Microsoft’s Spyware is great. It has a function where you can completely reset your IE to default, getting rid of toobars and other nasty things. It also has real time support.
Ad-ware for the occasional scan that microsofts misses.
Also check your running processes (ctr-alt-del) and cancel things that look suspicious.
If your not playing games and still frustrated with windows, use a good Linux distro like Kumbutu or SuSE (10.0). It has everything you could possibly need plus more for free. Youll never have problems with spyware or viruses again. I use SuSE with the KDE GUI and have to say it’s very sexy. The GNOME desktop is also very user friendly. It’s very easy to install as well.