Microsoft has a Beta version of their own Anti-spyware product available for download. (You'll need to use Internet Explorer to download the thing, I'm afraid)


I'm interested to hear the experiences of anyone who has used it. How does it compare to the likes of AdAware and Spybot for ease of use? How does it compare for effectiveness?

What other matters are worth commenting about in relation to the product?

Dani AI

Generated

Short, practical background: Microsoft’s anti‑spyware beta in January 2005 was not a from‑scratch Microsoft product — it came from the GIANT AntiSpyware code base after Microsoft bought GIANT in December 2004 and published the first public beta on January 6, 2005. (news.microsoft.com)

Why it looked more powerful than the simple scanners of the day: the beta included always‑on protection agents plus a community telemetry feature called SpyNet, and it exposed a set of “Advanced Tools” that let a user inspect and act on deep system areas (BHOs, ActiveX, hosts/Winsock entries, startup items, etc.). Those advanced controls explain the hands‑on cleanup flow that described — the tool was designed for both on‑demand cleaning and more technical, manual repair. Some convenience tools from the original GIANT build (things like System Inoculation and Tracks Eraser) were later removed as Microsoft reshaped the product. (itprotoday.com)

About trust and bias: concerns like ’s are reasonable. Microsoft kept contractual and distribution relationships after the acquisition (for example, it honored prior signature‑update arrangements with a partner), and the company documented how updates and dispute handling would work — that context helps explain why a few vendor disputes and classification reversals showed up in early days. (news.microsoft.com)

If you land on this thread years later: don’t try to use the 2005 beta. The technology was rebranded and folded into Windows Defender and then into today’s Microsoft Defender platform; modern, supported Defender (or a current third‑party AV) plus periodic on‑demand scans is the safe route. Keep the OS and definitions current, avoid running multiple resident AV engines at once (they conflict), and use a current on‑demand scanner when you need a second opinion (Microsoft’s Safety Scanner is one option). If testing an old tool for curiosity, do it in an isolated VM not on a live machine. (itprotoday.com)

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I just installed it to-say nad unlike ad-aware and spybot .it can run in the sys tray and run a watch like spywareguard .so far it seems ok
Before i installed it i ran ad-aware pro ,full scan cleaned all ,then install microsoft and it found 2 more references something called SearchSquire .in the registry ,and 1 crack spider in 5 different ones from Crack sites hanging around in my links from earlier years . I has Autoupdates and something called advanced tools that looks interesting and gives lots of control.worth a install just to have a look .i have it setup to run in realtime right along spywareguard and norton antiviri .seems to be behaving ok

just one more

Regarding weatherbug's minibug active X component;

The "Minibug" component, which is the ad-serving component of WeatherBug, was classified as low-risk, and the Microsoft Spyware default is set to ignore it.

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1749409,00.asp

http://www.bbspot.com/News/2005/01/microsoft_antispyware.html

got to love microsft !
I just had some problems opening links ,but it ifxed it self .not sure if related ,but when they get the bugs out it should be a good program .it shows startup idems ,running processes and BHO,activeXs' installed and give one clik button to stop any .
one thing i noticed was when i first opened IE i had to click on a pop up warning to allow it because it saw it a being possiable spyware ,so i said yes ,maybe the ones who had it delete IE said NO !

Did you read my 2nd post caperjack?

Did you read my 2nd post caperjack?

Yes ,just did ,actually ad-aware and spybot both had simular problems with some company they considered to be spyware .

I would be suspicious from now of the M$ product, because if one company can twist their arm to have their product removed from the definitions, then who knows how many more can???

I would be suspicious from now of the M$ product, because if one company can twist their arm to have their product removed from the definitions, then who knows how many more can???

good point !
About the program ,with it you has the abiility to remove everything that we have people remove with hijackthis , .like BHOs' ,programs that startup,running processes ,016.activeXs' with out doing a scan just go to the section of the program Advanced tools. I think it will become a popular spyware removal tool ,it also has autoupdates ,im running it now just for the heck of it ,not promoting its use just playing around !I think I might be looking for a excuse to Format and realod my OS.

still playing with the program ,found it will show you host file and wether it bad and also LSPs if something is bad with it,I really think that microsoft is headding in the right direction with this program ,it covers all the places where the known spyware is hidden/or affecting / .

As it should, caperjack. After all, it is their Operating System! :D.

As it should, caperjack. After all, it is their Operating System! :D.

I agree .so who better to build a spyware blocker !:)

The problem how I see it is that we Windows users rely on 3rd party applications to secure our information. Why? Because M$ has done such a lousy job.
It looks to me like they cannot fill the holes fast enough, so they have to buy out another company and utilise their program to clean out the backwash :D. Can we trust an M$ security product??
If Windows were built with security in mind, there would be no need for the extraneous stuff.

The problem how I see it is that we Windows users rely on 3rd party applications to secure our information. Why? Because M$ has done such a lousy job.
It looks to me like they cannot fill the holes fast enough, so they have to buy out another company and utilise their program to clean out the backwash :D. Can we trust an M$ security product??
If Windows were built with security in mind, there would be no need for the extraneous stuff.

True enough !

Thanks for the comments so far, people. I'll get a chance to try it out myself sometime in the next day or two, soon as I get out of 'camping & fishing' mode ;)

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