>Hi Anand:
>
>>Download BETA
>>
>>http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
>
>Thanks for taking the trouble to reply but the MS product you refer to is most definately the weakest tool out there. I finally downloaded the two products that Jos recommended and between them they found some 300+ spyware infections. The MS software didn't identify a single one found by the other two products!
>
>Go figure.
>
>Thanks.

It's interesting that everyone is sure that the MS product is no good. Here is a portion of a newsletter (independent) that says that it is the best product out there (if we are talking about the Giant product that MS has purchased recently) :

Giant AntiSpyware catches 63%, tests say

Howes's tests were conducted before the Microsoft Corp. announced in December that it was purchasing Giant Company Software outright. For that reason, the tests use the version of Giant AntiSpyware that was available in October and not the newer Microsoft beta version that's currently available.

Even so, with Giant's application removing 63% of a PC's adware components, and its nearest competitor, Webroot Spy Sweeper, removing less than 50%, it's clear that Microsoft has a potential winner on its hands.

In the following table, which was reviewed by Howes himself before its publication here, the Adware Fixed column represents the percentage of critical components successfully removed, not just detected, by each product (higher percentages are better). The False Positives column shows the number of benign Windows files that were incorrectly reported by a product as adware (lower numbers are better):

Product Adware Fixed False Pos.
Giant AntiSpyware 63% 0
Webroot Spy Sweeper 48% 0
Ad-Aware SE Personal 47% 0
Pest Patrol 41% 10
SpywareStormer 35% 0
Intermute SpySubtract Pro 34% 0
PC Tools Spyware Doctor 33% 0
Spybot Search & Destroy 33% 0
McAfee AntiSpyware 33% 9
Xblock X-Cleaner Deluxe 31% 1
XoftSpy 27% 3
NoAdware 24% 0
Aluria Spyware Eliminator 23% 3
OmniQuad AntiSpy 16% 1
Spyware COP 15% 0
SpyHunter 15% 1
SpyKiller 2005 15% 2