Malwarebytes & others like it

[Thanas]

Ok. I think it is time I look at some new anti-malware programs. I already run malwarebytes religiously. Are there any other recommended anti-malware programs? I previously used Spybot S&D.

[White Haven]

Malwarebytes and Spybot are a good pair, certainly. Combofix is an industrial flamethrow on a problem, but certainly less convenient to run regularly. I use it as a tool for cleanup, but not something I recommend to customers for regular maintenance. Microsoft Security Essentials is pretty effective as an antivirus, certainly on the free spectrum.

In my experience, anything that gets past that quartet has entered the realm of 'you need to go in after this shit manually, have fun kid.'

[montypython]

I'm currently running superantispyware alongside malwarebytes and spybot, it covers most types of spyware I've seen.

[White Haven]

SAS is a great scan, or was, I haven't used it recently. The problem is that it suffers from Norton Syndrome, in that it bogs down startup times on marginal systems badly enough to be a burden.

[Dragon Angel]

ComboFix can actually damage even an uninfected computer under the right set of circumstances...I've seen it happen more than once in my job. That is why they give you a huge cautionary warning when you start it.

I would only use it if a Malwarebytes, Spybot, or your antivirus scan detected something bad as your next step, or if it's blatantly obvious that you have been infected...

I also think having Malwarebytes, Spybot, and your antivirus should be ok enough for you.

[White Haven]

Eh, Combofix is usually the first thing I run on a system I know is infected. It just breaks the backs of so many bits of malware.

[Dragon Angel]

Ohh, yes, definitely! I didn't mean to say "never use ComboFix", but rather "don't use it as a regular scanning tool" like you would with everything else. It is great as a cleaning tool, of course!

[Edi]

Spywareblaster does not offer scanning, but it does offer passive protection and it plays very well with Spybot S&D, Malwarebytes, Microsoft Security Essentials, Avira, Avast and almost any other AV program I can think of.

I haven't had an infection in years running Avira + Spywareblaster + Spybot S&D on a birdged connection, though I ditched Avira for Microsoft Security Essentials after they added even more nagware.