Can Pestpatrol's Pestscan REALLY be that good?

[Ant]

While looking at the Zonelab site yesterday there was an onsite ad for Pestpatrol, and I took the opportunity of having a free scan. Now, given that we run Zonealarm Pro, along with Spybot S&D, Ad-aware, McAfee and SpywareBlaster all up to date and run weekly, imagine my horror when the scan turned up 48 pests... including 2 keyloggers!! How on earth can this be? Either Pestscan is doing an extraordinary job of detection, or the other guys ain't up to the job. The results were specific to my machine as opposed to '..what a typical scan MIGHT find...' I'd really appreciate your thoughts here folks, particularly since we have 2 internet bank/saving accounts.

Edited to point out that you pay $44.95 for the prog. that removes what the free scan found.

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

Ant,

I do not see how all the other programs would miss all that.

Zone Labs does not make the Pest Patrol (http://www.pestpatrol.com/Products/PestPatrolHE/) program.

There are plenty of reviews which say it is a good program. I do not know if I would want to spend the money on it with all the other programs you already have to protect your system.

This article might shed some light on your situation:

As adware and spyware have spread, demand for applications that clean up infected hard drives has grown, drawing a large group of competitors eager to profit. More than 50 programs claiming to erase adware and spyware are available online, and many of these are offered as free downloads. Several major Internet service providers, including EarthLink and America Online, have also moved to provide spyware-removal applications to their subscribers.

But as these programs proliferate, some software makers face mounting criticism that their products install the very things they promise to defend against. Some anti-spyware companies have pointed fingers at rivals and have added competing programs to their list of applications that contain adware or spyware. These lists are used to identify and sweep out offending software during anti-spyware scans.

Spyware cures may cause more harm than good (http://news.com.com/Spyware+cures+may+cause+more+harm+than+good/2100-1032_3-5153485.html)

Take Care,

Richard

[nwaflygirl]

I have had this software for about 6 months now. I am extremely pleased with it. The main reason I purchased it at the time was it's BHO (browser helper object) capabilities. These BHO's hijack your browser and homepage, making web surfing a complete nightmare. In the event of installation of one of these, the program instanly alerts you and asks if you would like to remove it. It is a very powerful tool that in my opinion is unfortunately necessary for internet usage today. This company is also very diligent with news, information and an important leader in combating the spyware problem. It does also find adware and spyware that other programs seem to miss.

Spybot is an excellent program also, but is only as advanced as it's researchers. It looks specifically for the files by name, (ie: Brilliant Digital), instead of identifing a spy file itself. It is absolutely necessary to check for updates at least weekly and run the immunize feature a couple of times a month.

I have rebuilt at least 3 hard drives from scratch, and have run across every disaster you can imagine. It seems like more work to maintain a computer sometimes than it is worth.

Also, take a look at some of the Webroot products. www.webroot.com. I have also purchased the spy sweeper ( I personally think this is by far the best of the best out there, and I've tried them all), as well as the pop-up washer. They both have free trial periods of thirty days.

These products seem to have solved the issue for me. In total I believe I've spent maybe $150.00US on all. I've definitely received my money's worth and then some.

Lastly, Microsoft's web site has a feature called Microsoft Security Baseline Analyzer. It is located in the security section. I don't remember exactly where, sorry, but it's easy to find. It's free, very quick and it analyzes your whole system and shows you exactly where your hard drive weaknesses are. It's very informative and helpful. It thoroughly explains all it's findings and offers help and suggestions throughout.

Hopefully some of this will be of some help to you!! Best of Luck!!

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

nwaflygirl,

Another great program for finding BHOs in your system is Hijack This! (http://www.thespykiller.co.uk) I think you would find it very interesting. ;)

Take Care,

Richard

[Ausatco]

Zone Alarm and Pest Patrol are products from separate companies which seem to have partnered up. I've been using both for a few years and each has offered renewals or purchase of the other at licence renewal time.

My arsenal is ZA Pro, Pest Patrol, Spybot S&D and AdAware. Antivirus is Trend Micro's PCCillin. I use Slimbrowser with its pop-up killer switched on and Mailwasher to screen suspected nasties in email. Am thinking about Benign from the Mailwasher people as an extra level of protection against embedded nasties in HTML emails, but feel that with all the foregoing it might be a bit OTT!!

Anyway, it all seems to work and I freely recommend it if anyone's searching for an effective setup .

AA

[nwaflygirl]

Richard,

Thanks I do have this as well. I actually forgot I had it as I've used it only once. It was extremely helpful also.

Donna

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

Ausatco,

I would say you are well set. :ok:

Take Care,

Richard