Frankly, I'm not sure I trust some of the "spyware" programs that are out
there right now. I am a subscription member of Stardock and one of my
anti-spyware programs *insists* that the .exe program for Stardock Central
(loader.exe) is a spyware program. Plus, it also insists that one of the
files in my Sims 2 games (don't remember which one it is off the top of my
head) is a spyware program. First time it came up on Stardock, I let it
delete, and ended up having to re-install the whole program! It is possible
that it was a coincidence that you got the spyware at the same time as
having the Wild Tangent. I've had Wild Tangent for several years without a
problem along with Stardock. I currently use AVG Antivirus, AVG
Anti-Spyware, Spybot, System Mechanic, and Ad-Aware. All of these programs
were recommeded to me by the computer guy that handled our computers at work
(and except for System Mechanic, they are all the free versions ~ can you
believe it? A professional computer guy recommending a *free* product??).
AVG runs daily, the rest run on a weekly basis..and since Windows Defender
came out, it was added into the mix too
. These are the same programs we
use in our office setup also. The only time we've gotten a virus was when
our boss (who is *NOT* computer literate) clicked on something that he
shouldn't have. It took me almost 8 hours to clean his hard drive. Sadly,
our computer guy passed away from a heart attack last year, so I no longer
have access to his help.