Microsoft AniSpyware beta saved the day

[WorkForFood]

My son told me that he was having problems on his PC. I
looked at it and it was popping up DOS command prompt
windows every 10 seconds. I could not start IE and most
other programs crashed before they could get started. I
ran ad-aware and search & destroy and found over 300
spyware / adware / malware programs and succesfully
removed them. I ran a Norton anti-virus scan and it
found 11 viruses. Norton removed 7 of them and I was
able to remove 1 of them manually using procedures on the
Norton website. That still left 3 viruses on the PC and
I wasn't sure what to do. Overnight Microsoft
AntiSpyware beta ran a scheduled scan and identified 7
more problems including the 3 viruses that Norton could
not remove. Microsoft AntiSpyware removed those three
and the other 4 that it identified and now my system is
clean as whistle and running smooth. I don't know if
anyone else has a similar story but I thought I should
mention a success since I did not see many when browsing
the newsgroup.

Thanks Microsoft, much appreciated!

 

[Bill Sanderson]

That's a terrific story--thanks for posting it.

If you're reading this and wondering about the issue of viruses versus
spyware--please don't depend on Microsoft Antispyware as an antivirus.
There are areas of overlap, as this example shows. Antivirus apps are
detecting and cleaning more spyware, but sometimes in an extra cost edition.
You still need the antivirus application--Microsoft Antispyware does not
substitute for any of the three security legs covered here:

http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[Guest]

Similar thing happen to me -- all the other prgms would
not remove and MS worked...however, these guys come back -
- even when you think their gone...beware. lI glad MS is
taking this on -- hopefully they'll do a thorough
job...they probably see this as a potential revenue
stream and are looking to erode Symantics customer base --
which is fine with me -- because Noroton does't do as
much as I had hoped it would...

D

 

[Ron Chamberlin]

Great report!

< I don't know if anyone else has a similar story but I thought I should
mention a success since I did not see many when browsing

the newsgroup. >

I think that you'll often see NG's as places that folks go when the program
doesn't work as expected. Last I heard, there were about 7 million downloads
of the beta, and fortunately they haven't all shown up on our doorstep here.
It's till nice to see a win against the bad guys tho!

Ron Chamberlin
MS-MVP

 

[Ron Chamberlin]

Hi D,

<they probably see this as a potential revenue stream....>
Microsoft has announced that the release version of MWAS will be available
at no additional cost to licensed Windows customers.
They've also announced that a product suitable for the Enterprise will be
available at some future time, and will have a cost associated with it.

Ron Chamberlin
MS-MVP