Spybot vs Ad-aware?

Hi everyone. I tried Spybot and found some unwanted "stuff ". Then I D/L Ad-aware and found more tracking stuff. Aren't these two programs the same? Why did each find different stuff?

thanks..

 

No, they are not the same. Ad-Aware is the free version of a commercial program. Spybot was created by a person who is not looking for a profit. I am glad he has done this myself, and are thousands of others.
Different anti virus programs will identify different files as a virus, or a false positive. That is why it is recommended to use different AV scans.
This tracking stuff could be nothing more than cookies, or MRU [Most Recently Used] files, or something you looked at using Windows Media Player or RealPlayer [RealOne].
One thing could be said about Ad-Aware and Spybot, Spybot has not killed a internet connection while removing ad/spyware to my knowledge.
Although, there is a warning from Spybot that some programs [adware, not to be confused with Ad-Aware] that have been installed [Kazaa, Bonzai Buddy, Comet Cursor] will not work after using it.
In short, it all comes down to human error.

 

I run both on my computer and after a few initial finds with the first scan 'Alexia' and media player related (which I cleaned) I update and scan regularly with both and have a clean report each time for many, many months.

I have my browser well protected plus am very careful about any programs I choose to download; even with this I still feel the added security in having both on my computer. I also have my browser set to prompt when cookies are offered so I keep these to the very minimum.

Spybot has a few little tools which Ad-aware doesn't have eg 'Immunize' plus a few hidden ones but Ad-aware updates the reference files more regulary so both have the little extra touch and both have their detection methods.