Greg said:
First let me say that I've been a Microsoft beta tester
since Windows 98SE.
Observations:
1. The program has never removed anything since I
installed it upon its first beta release.
2. I use four other spyware programs. Three FREE and
one I paid for (SpyDoctor) all of them are constantly
notifying me of downloads to the database. Weeks go by
and no new updates to the database.
3. All of the other programs found lots of stuff after
MS Antispyware did not find anything. I used the Restore
feature to test after using each of the other programs.
Microsoft should be embarrassed to have its name attached
to this program.
Greg Gallagher
MSAS doesn't remove cookies. Cookies are text files, not spyWARE.
Cookies might get added later but they aren't detected now. Since you
never bothered to identify WHAT was getting reported by the other
products, presumably you chose to hide what they were to bias your
opinionated report.
Have you actually downloaded the latest version (which expires in
December 2005)? You never identified WHICH version of MSAS that you
are/were using. The MSAS update problem is known. Has been known for
quite some time. Lots of posts, some with answers, are here if you
bothered to search before posting. That's how I figured out how to get
around the update problem (which took only once to fix it and it worked
okay thereafter). Search for posts that mention the fix by "Robin
Walker".
Lots of anti-malware products generate false positives. I don't think I
have once trialed PestPatrol without it generating a false positive but,
at least, they provide a database and manual removal instructions so you
can see what they think you need to remove (so you can determine if you
have the pest that they claim you have). There are other online sources
telling you how the pest infects your host so you can determine if you
really have it or not. Since apparently you never bothered to confirm
whether or not the alert was a false positive or not, your report is
again biased because you don't really know if you had the pest. I've
also used SpyDoctor and it, too, generates false positives everytime
when what it claims to have detect on cannot be found (i.e., what it
says should be there is not there so who knows how they trigger). I've
also had SpyDoctor false trigger on PUPs (Probably Unwanted Programs),
like SysInternal's PsTools psexec and Foundstone's Attacker (a port
scanner). Since this is a biased list which the author(s) deemed in
their decision were *probably* unwanted, this list varies by
anti-malware product. It means you probably have tools that they
considered too powerful for the casual user.
Using the System Restore function in thinking it returns you to some
snapshot of the system exhibits your ignorance as to what this feature
actually does. It does not restore a snapshot of the system. You will
NOT get back to the exact same state as before. It saves a snapshot of
system files, registry files, the SAM database, and other critical
system files but it does not create a snapshot and it does not save the
state of your machine. None of the user data, of which the malware
would be included, gets saved. Restoring the registry doesn't remove
the malware. It just means nothing in the registry points to the
malware anymore.
Since you didn't bother to identify anything of what you claim were
found by the other products, what use is your so-called review of MSAS?
Brand X tires won't survive some road obstacles. Okay, so what?
Without identifying what are those road obstacles, the statement is
worthless. No tire is going to survive driving through lava flows
despite what you see in movies, so the claim that "some road obstacles"
will cause Brand X tire to fail is actually misleading because the same
event will cause all tires to fail, including Brand X.
You are familiar with where Microsoft got the anti-spyware program,
right, and that the majority of the code therein wasn't theirs, right?
So go bitch to GiantCompany about all the failings, per your
requirements, that they coded into their product. I'm still waiting
until a version shows up that really looks like a *Microsoft* coded
product.
