[holymoly]

Are the spyware and anti-adware programs worth it? How long before they are obsolete?

Check my FR homepage.

"Ad-Aware SE" and "Spybot Search and Destroy" are free. Ad-Aware SE is an on-demand scanner. Spybot offers both on-demand and full-time protection.

Both update in a manner similar to anti-virus programs.

If you're unfamiliar with Ad-Aware SE and/or Spybot - Search and Destroy, I suggest you read the "Using..." tutorials (under "How-to and Tutorials").

[digger48]

Thanks! I knew someone here would have some info, I was glad to see a related thread to post on.

[Terpfen]

IMO, Webroot Spysweeper and MS Anti-Spyware should be added to everyone's reflexive impulse to recommend Ad-aware and Spybot. It takes more than one program to catch everything, and even though Spysweeper is a 30-day trial and Anti-Spyware is in beta, they'll still catch whatever filters past Ad-aware and Spybot.