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This post has been edited by arijitsinha99: May 28 2006, 01:36 PM

I feel the points you've mentioned above are great for detecting and removing adware and spyware. I also use the same program for adware (ad-aware) but use a different one for spyware.
Instead of using Windows Defender, I use Spybot, but they're probably both good.

Another way you can protect computer or help protect from spyware or adware is by using a firewall, you can detect and block connections to your computer from unknown/untrusted sources.

Hope this helps

I would highly recommend both Windows Defender and AVG (which is IMO the best anti virus available, and that includes commercial anti virus software). Personally I don't really like Spybot, theres no real reason for it I just really didn't like it, I'm sure it does a good job though, I just had a lot of trouble updating it, however Windows Defender updates using Windows Automatic Updates so you don't really need to worry about it.

Also if you're looking for a decent firewall I would recommend Agnitum Outpost, there is a free version of that available from www.Agnitum.com (it takes some finding though), However I think it is only free for personal use, so if you are using it in a cyber cafe situation you may need to pay for the pro version. I would recommend any firewall as long as its not Zone Alarm, which has been known to render network connections unusable when it has been uninstalled (and even then it doesn't uninstall fully)

I use ad-aware, and AVG. Both are good at their mentioned jobs of scanning for spyware or viruses, while at the same time its the best software possible from a poor student's budget! (it's free )

I am using the integrated spyware protection from Symantec Antivirus at the moment. It comes with a firewall that is quite decent and is effective in blocking unauthorized internet access from spyware and alike (including the big spyware, WGAtray thing). It is also not as resources hungry as other spyware detectors.