Windows Defender

[Guest]

Do I need to download any spyware software when I already have windows
defender?

 

[Spirit]

Many would recommend it, I would just also SCAN with Spybot occasionally.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Do I need to download any spyware software

I strongly recommend *against* spyware software. Instead I recommend
that you use *anti*-spyware software. ;-)

when I already have windows
defender?

"Need" isn't the right word, but, yes, I recommend that you do not
rely solely on Windows Defender. Note what Eric Howes, who has done
extensive testing on Anti-Spyware products, states:

"No single anti-spyware scanner removes everything. Even the
best-performing anti-spyware scanner in these tests missed fully one
quarter of the "critical" files and Registry entries" See
http://spywarewarrior.com/asw-test-guide.htm

 

[Hank Arnold (MVP)]

Do I need to download any spyware software when I already have windows
defender?

It can't hurt to have one or more *manual* scanners available. SpyBot
Search & Destroy and Ad Aware are two good very tools.

Personally, I would look into another automatic Spyware scanner. I found
that Defender slowed down my Vista machine. I saw a major performance
boost what I disabled it...

I use Spy Sweeper from WebRoot. Not free, but it comes now with AV and
it is simply the bets spyware software on the market...

--

Regards,
Hank Arnold
Microsoft MVP
Windows Server - Directory Services