# Most Spyware EVER!! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 18, 2003, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-spyware-ever/189500 "2003-07-18T23:33:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-spyware-ever/189500/1 "2003-07-18T23:33:52Z")
Last week I was running all around town and stopped by my brother’s house to use his computer and check my email. (He still lives with his folks, so it’s basically a “family” computer.) Immediately, I noticed how badly the computer LAGGED, especially how each window opened or each link clicked caused about a 30-45 second pause, and even though he’s on DSL, the download rates were horrible. (Plus he’s still using IE…and I’d totally forgotten how BAD the pop-up ad situation was before I got Netscape 7.0) In fact, it felt like someone…or some THING…was monitoring every action on this computer. Hmm… So I asked him: “When’s the last time you scanned for spyware?” Brother: “What’s that?” Me: :rolleyes: So I downloaded & installed Adaware 6, and watch in morbid fascination as the “suspicious programs found” number went up and UP and UP…good LORD!! The final total = _556_ That has GOT to be a record, dontcha think?? Or can anyone else beat that total? BTW the computer ran significantly smoother afterwards. Frankly, I’m amazed it was able to function at all. ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-spyware-ever/189500/2 "2003-07-18T23:45:51Z")
I have personally seen 1700+. I probably don’t count though, as I admin around 100 machines that are staffed by email-forwarding, virus-getting, attachment-running, "yes-I-would-love-to-use-comet-cursor-a-free-10-second-download"ing monkeys. My life is a freaking CDW commercial. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-spyware-ever/189500/3 "2003-07-18T23:47:29Z")
Spyware? What’s that? (I have a Mac. 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-spyware-ever/189500/4 "2003-07-19T00:03:14Z")
Yeah, **rjung** , because there aren’t enough Mac users out there for companies to bother writing Spyware for them. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-spyware-ever/189500/5 "2003-07-19T00:09:28Z")
I’ve got you all beat. My mom said my sister’s computer was running funny. So I pointed her to Spybot. A few minutes later, she’d told me Spybot had found 17,000 pieces of spyware. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-spyware-ever/189500/6 "2003-07-20T05:00:05Z")
Y’know, if people stopped making porn clips using Real (crappy) Media, these numbers would be a lot lower… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-spyware-ever/189500/7 "2003-07-20T11:41:09Z")
Are there any free spyware detectors? I’m a State employee, therefore poor. ---
**Author:** ![NoGoodNamesLeft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8797f3/32.png) [@NoGoodNamesLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoGoodNamesLeft)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-spyware-ever/189500/8 "2003-07-20T12:48:31Z")
There is a decent free version of Ad Aware. Get it [here](http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/) . ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-spyware-ever/189500/9 "2003-07-20T13:03:54Z")
I use AdAware, and I find that I have to check every single box to get it to delete each piece of spyware. Did you have to click 556 boxes, or am I overlooking a feature here? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-spyware-ever/189500/10 "2003-07-20T13:11:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*I use AdAware, and I find that I have to check every single box to get it to delete each piece of spyware. Did you have to click 556 boxes, or am I overlooking a feature here? \*\* There is an option to automatically check all boxes, but it is disabled in the free version. Pay the bux, and save the clix. One solution: run AdAware more frequently, so it will find fewer items each time. BTW, FYI: Adaware groups all “malware” baddies and calls them “objects.” An object can be a program (real bad), a registry entry (maybe not too bad) or a cookie (not so bad). I practice very clean computing, and never find malware programs running, but there are always some data-mining cookies that get installed, maybe 6 a week. Of course, 70,000 cookies, as harmless as they might be, would probably have a speed effect on any computer. ---
**Author:** ![Toddly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@Toddly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toddly)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-spyware-ever/189500/11 "2003-07-20T15:34:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*I use AdAware, and I find that I have to check every single box to get it to delete each piece of spyware. Did you have to click 556 boxes, or am I overlooking a feature here? \*\* Right click on one of the boxes, there should be a Select All option under that dialog box. The new free version that is out now is way faster than the original AdAware 6. I use the free version by the way. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-spyware-ever/189500/12 "2003-07-21T01:18:31Z")
I have Norton AntiVirus 2002 running on my Winders XP laptop. Does Norton check for “crud-ware” along with checking for viri? ---
**Author:** ![Verminous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5e9695/32.png) [@Verminous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Verminous)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-spyware-ever/189500/13 "2003-07-21T01:57:54Z")
Most I’ve gotten is 76, so… ---
**Author:** ![D.E.S.K.Top668](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@D.E.S.K.Top668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D.E.S.K.Top668)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-spyware-ever/189500/14 "2003-07-21T02:01:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor \* > \*\*Are there any free spyware detectors? > > I’m a State employee, therefore poor. \*\* **Bosda** , I’ve been using [Spybot Search & Destroy](http://security.kolla.de/) for some time and have never had any problems. Just make sure you set it up for “Advanced User” and spend a few minutes checking off what you want excluded. If you don’t, it’ll clear your recently viewed documents and your internet history. Make sure you read the licence - best I’ve ever seen. I’ll suggest keeping the free AdAware and running it after Spybot; it occassionally finds something Spybot missed. Peace-DESK ---
**Author:** ![ladybug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@ladybug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladybug)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-spyware-ever/189500/15 "2003-07-21T02:19:35Z")
Well, I just downloaded Spybot on my desktop computer, which has been really slow lately. It found 232 pieces of spyware. I never would have thought of checking for spyware if I hadn’t read this thread. Many thanks to all who gave program/download advice! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-spyware-ever/189500/16 "2003-07-21T02:48:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ccwaterback \* > \*\*I have Norton AntiVirus 2002 running on my Winders XP laptop. Does Norton check for “crud-ware” along with checking for viri? \*\* No. The anti-virus companies take a very narrow view of what constitutes a worm or virus, and that doesn’t include the malware that AdAware or SpyBot root out. You can verify this by running a scan by Norton followed by AdAware. Anything AdAware finds has slipped thru Norton (or MacAfee). ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-spyware-ever/189500/17 "2003-07-21T03:43:08Z")
I have a friend who I recently helped—he as well was clueless about spyware (as I was not too long ago). I found somewhere around 500-700 objects; I forget exactly how many. Don’t forget SpywareBlaster—it blocks spyware from being installed. ---
**Author:** ![andygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@andygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andygirl)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-spyware-ever/189500/18 "2003-07-21T04:31:54Z")
In the realm of Really Dumb Questions, is there any kind of Mac equivilant? ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-spyware-ever/189500/19 "2003-07-21T05:27:08Z")
Here is another decent cite on the subject: [http://www.cexx.org/adware.htm](http://www.cexx.org/adware.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Ferris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ferris/32/11573_2.png) [@Ferris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferris)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-spyware-ever/189500/20 "2003-07-21T20:49:38Z")
Thanks for the link, **D.E.S.K.Top668**. Downloaded Spybot and found 40 objects - far fewer than I feared, but still 40 more than I’d want on my computer. Very easy to use, and I agree that the licence was excellent. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-spyware-ever/189500.md?page=2)