Well...I was using Pest Patrol....but my subscription is up in 46 days and Pest Patrol is no longer available. The company that bought Pest Patrol (which in my opinion is the worst Anti-Spyware program man has ever created) is offering their own software now called CounterSpy Enterprise. It looks like it is a nice setup and the consultant I use for in-depth network assistance is a huge fan of it. I am just curious as to what you other gurus tend to use.

 

There is no need for such software. Locked down desktops & a DNS server or host(s) file(s) that contains all the entries for known sources of the crap are usually more than adequate to fight the stuff. Since moving to XP a couple years back and tweaking the user rights & DNS I've had zero issues. None. Zip. Nodda. And I even have IE running on all those desktops..

This is a couple hundred desktops, btw.

 

Yea, we dont use spyware programs either. Well, the GM does, cause he has a Laptop which he uses here and at home. I put Spysweeper on it. They're a local company here and a good friend has worked there since they were a startup.

 

We also use etrust Pest Patrol. It's an alright program. I wouldn't recommend it solely on the user interface and the hassle it takes to deploy it. I'm not really sure if there is a good spyware program out there. Seems like I can run one program and it catches all it can find and I can run a second program and it'll find more than the first one.

 

I just dont have the time to spend locking down the PC's and monitoring the different sites....other than PestPatrol being very user un-friendly....it worked well....My IT hat is only "part-time" and is only worn because it just is not cost effective for me to hire a consultant or another person full-time to keep track of our network when I can do it but just spending a few more hours a week in addition to my normal duties.....so I do like to use different packages that would help me reduce my efforts...

 

Locking down PCs can be done easily with a tool, and if you have folks logging into a domain your really golden as you can just lock their profiles down tight and never worry again. I find taking the time upfront with the PCs or profiles means little to no maintance in the long run, unlike updating software and crap like you end up doing (your case is a perfect example). what ever you choose, good luck!

 

As much as I hate doing the maintenance every so often, I do not want to make things feel too much like a prison here as far as computers go....my users know that I do not think twice about formating their PC's as soon as the F them up.

 

Not to beat a dead horse, but locking crap down is usually transparent to the user. Our company policy is no software w/o proper licensing and IT approval so locking a system up so they can't do it is no biggie. A few folks beeyatch about the lack of being able to customize their desktop and stuff, but those are the folks that need the most babysitting as they like to tinker. Personalize your friggen' cube/office or whatever, and use the PC for what it was intended for - productivity and truck forum surfing. I've only done a few reformats in the past year, all due to hardware (HD) failure & replacement.

 

The free programs (ad-aware, spybot, MS-Antispyware) are all decent but usually need to be used together.

SpywareBlaster modifies the host files to block the known websites.

I've got to agree with the others, the spyware programs are ok but a simple tweaked hosts file that is loaded/downloaded upon login is what we use. I update one host file for my NT/XP clients and then the login process/policies update the local hosts files. They don't even realize they have a problem. Ads etc just link to host 127.0.0.1 and get a page cannot be displayed error where the ad/spyware use to be.

 

Yeah.....I know that it would make my IT hat sit on the shelf a little more if I were to lock things down.....but we do have a nice "family" atmosphere here and I would hate to hinder that by screwing with peoples PC's.....I may spend a weekend tinkering with different policys so that I "secretly" lock them down. I do have issues with some users installing shareware and other programs that are not needed....so I may just have to end up becoming more of a hardass as far as IT goes.....

I am sure you would get a kick out of one of my users......while most all users have personal pictures of kids/family on their desktop (other than me with a plain Blue screen), she has an advertisement for the TV show Everwood.

 

Try this....

http://www.everythingisnt.com/hosts.html

Install it on each computer. It isn't sneaky, causes no "you are locked out errors" and helps with security.

 

I've been using the Spybot/Adaware approach as needed, but even both of them can't get rid of some things. We're still predominantly Win 2K, but when we look at upgrading PCs this year, you know what we'll be getting...

 

Typewriters?

 

Sometimes I wish, but then I'd be out of a job.

 

You and me both....course chaning ribbons, typeface *****, and that every tricky correcting tape might be something IT peeps could do.