Ad-Aware vs Malwarebytes

[trapper]

After hearing that Ad-Aware was no longer so great, I replaced it with Malwarebytes recently (on one of my Computers). Now I'm wondering if I should have left Ad-Aware on this machine as it used to at least find tracking cookies, while Malwarebytes came up with nothing. I do still run Spybot periodically but it seldom finds anything. Perhaps, that is good.

So, is finding tracking cookies ( to delete) something that is usefull? Your comments please.

Thanks.

[BigToe]

Originally Posted by trapper

After hearing that Ad-Aware was no longer so great, I replaced it with Malwarebytes recently (on one of my Computers). Now I'm wondering if I should have left Ad-Aware on this machine as it used to at least find tracking cookies, while Malwarebytes came up with nothing. I do still run Spybot periodically but it seldom finds anything. Perhaps, that is good.

So, is finding tracking cookies ( to delete) something that is usefull? Your comments please.

Thanks.

Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware is designed for finding and removing trojans and other malware, not cookies.... You should have your browser(s) set to not accept 3rd party cookies in the first place to prevent tracking cookies...
FF3 ... http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/...+party+cookies
IE7 ... http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/cookies.htm
An excellent companion program to go with MB A-M, is SuperAntiSpyware (SAS at http://www.superantispyware.com/download.html) recommended by most of the knowledgeable folks here and at other forums. Most are recommending getting rid of AdAware2008 due to bloating and very poor performance (I quit using AdAware back when it was called AdAware SE as it was poor performing even back then)....

AdAware has a tendency, or did with earlier versions, to identify MRU's and first party cookies and lead you to think they had found a real villan when really it just identified introduction cookies (1st party cookies - harmless and needed for smooth Internet enjoyment) and Most Recently Used or visited sites.... that was a really strong false sense of security....

You should also be using SpywareBlaster which blocks over 11,000 bad guys and sites and uses zero resources of your computer.....http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/sbdownload.html

The free versions of SAS and MB A-M do require manual updating, and usually updates occur daily. SpywareBlaster can be updated manually on a weekly basis or so.....