i use malwarebytes.
www.malwarebytes.org
you can get it for free and i think of it as one of the best anti malware/spyware programs.
i use it with search and destroy to make sure nothing slips by.
if someone has an infection i use them and most of the time it has got rid of all infections
MalwareBytes isn't free any more and it still requires you to run a scan with it.
Download Avast Anti virus for home edition, requires a registration of email address only but well worth it.
It detects everything, including malicious websites which many free ones do not. It also detects rootkits and does boot time scans which again hardly any AV software does these days.
i still use Malwarebytes for free, when did they change over to a paid service?
/Kade
WRONG!
look at www.malwarebytes.org
the free download is in blue on the left
its still free and still very good. no anti spyware will ever be 100% effective for everything but MBAM does a darn good job
knew that it was still free >.< . Spybot S&D is also a very good program, although its update system is somewhat buggy on occasions.
/Kade
spybot S+D is good
i also use superantispyware
3 of them can do a very good job of clearing the system
also. i use Ccleaner to clean temp files and rubbish and it has a registry cleaner that i've never had issues with and you can disable startup items with it so it disables viruses starting up
Hijackthis may be a little bit complicated for your average user. All 3 anti-spyware programs mentioned are good though, could be a thought to have all 3 if you really are worried about spyware.
/Kade