When you install SpyBot Search & Destroy, you are immediately given the choice to update, which is of course all important when dealing with the various forms of spyware that you want to be protected from. Unfortunately, when updating, progress can seem rapid and then stop for no apparent reason, for several minutes before finishing off the job.

Once you get over that small hiccup, you are prompted to create a system backup, just in case SpyBot Search & Destroy happens to remove something that is actually quite important for the smooth running of your system. It should go without saying that making this backup is recommended after which you may finally immunize your system with SpyBot Search & Destroy from a growing database of malicious processes.

SpyBot Search & Destroy has plenty of options for tweaking and customizing scans as well as some unrelated functions like the secure shredder and a start-up manager.

Although SpyBot Search & Destroy is a powerful piece of anti-spyware software, it may be better to see it as part of your security solution. For example, team this up with Ad-Aware SE and you should be covered from practically every form of threat to your online safety.

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The Malwarebytes Anti-Malware definitions are constantly updated, so you'll always be fully protected. Updates may slow down your PC momentarily, but it's obviously worth it to keep up to date. You can also allow updates to happen automatically, leaving you free to get on with other tasks.

What Malwarebytes Anti-Malware does

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware doesn’t offer real-time protection, but you can scan your machine whenever you like. There are two scan settings with the free version – Full and Quick. If Malwarebytes detects an infection, it will alert you and you can decide what action needs to be taken – or let it make the decision itself. There’s also an Ignore list feature, so the program will know which files, if any, to skip over. The program also blocks known risky websites.

How does the program perform?

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is a very solid product. It includes some useful extras, such as context menu integration, and a locked file deletion tool called FileASSASSIN (as demoed in the video above). Even so, you do have to remember to run it if you fear an infection - if you want realtime protection, you’ll need to pay for a Malwarebytes Anti-Malware license.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is a powerful, quick malware scanner that’s perfect for the casual – but savvy – user.

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Full virus and malware protection

Beyond this eye-catching interface, Ad-Aware offers some interesting tools, such as comprehensive protection against viruses and malware, full integration with Windows Security Center and Windows Explorer, and automatic updates that help you keep on top of any known threat.

The new version of Ad-Aware offers a significant increase in performance and a completely new malware detection method. That said, keep in mind that Ad-Aware keeps some functions reserved exclusively for the Pro and Plus versions and that, despite improvements, it’s still pretty heavy on resources.

Ad-Aware is a reliable anti-malware tool that will locate and eradicate threats to your PC, even if it's a bit of a resource hog.

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With SuperAntiSpyware you can detect and remove spyware, trojans, dialers, worms, hijackers and rootkits. At the same time, it's very light on your CPU and won't slow it down while scanning so you can work comfortably at the same time.

In addition, SuperAntiSpyware has a special repair utility that tries to fix broken internet connections that have been damaged due to spyware or malware. It also carries out a "pre-emptive" scan which scans 50 critical points of your system during system start-up and shutdown.

On the downside, although the professional version of SuperAntiSpyware protects and blocks in real time, this free version does not provide real-time blocking or scheduled scanning. Also, note that this program doesn't protect against viruses.

SuperAntiSpyware is a powerful Spyware detector and scanner that will ensure that if anything has rooted itself onto your hard drive, you have a good chance of finding it.

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Spyware Terminator includes all the options you expect to find in such a product including those to manually carry out or schedule scans as well as options to deny or allow access to certain programs to your PC.

But Spyware Terminator is not just a spyware scanner. It also includes an antivirus scanner powered by the ClamAV engine. The developers have also seen fit to include a "Web Security Guard" which carries out the the job that most anti-phishing and pop up blockers in Internet Explorer and Firefox already carry out.

Some of the features in Spyware Terminator include shields for unauthorized access, auto-start entries an, downloaded files and browser add-ons among other elements, configurable system scans with support for scheduling, and black and white list for programs you don't want to be analyzied.

Spyware Terminator is a comprehensive security solution that has all avenues of attack covered, as long as you use it in combination with a good antivirus solution.

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In a nicely designed interface, IObit Malware Fighter includes all the tools you need for a safer browsing experience. The Overview window lets you check the computer’s status at a glance; the Scan module offers three types of scan (Smart, Full and Custom); the Protect area includes eight real-time system shields; and finally, the Cloud tab, which allows you to analyze suspicious files online.

The eight shields included in IObit Malware Fighter protect the computer’s startup, currently active processes, cookies and other elements. Should the program find any dangerous activity going on, the potentially risky files will be immediately quarantined.

IObit Malware Fighter is generally easy to use, though having a bit of documentation and more configuration settings would have been great. Also, it seemed a bit overzealous during our tests, marking standard ads as spyware. Then again, better safe than sorry!

IObit Malware Fighter is a nicely-designed security tool that offers real-time protection against spyware.

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At first glance, it would seem so. Spyware Doctor is a simple-to-use and efficient program that scans quickly and smoothly and turns up a lot of nasty little surprises that other security tools might miss. The Spyware Doctor scan itself is fast, and plenty of detail is provided about the threats it finds. Given how speedy and subtle it is, there would be no problem running it on start-up to ensure everyday protection. It also seems to co-exist peacefully with other security programs already installed.

Spyware Doctor also hides a few features beyond scanning. The Intelliguard feature is included, although it is limited in the trial version. This tool provides real-time protection against a variety of threats and includes Start-up guard, to prevent malicious programs adding themselves to start-up, and Network Guard, to prevent changes to your network settings. Spyware Doctor also has a comprehensive configuration area where you can tweak the usual suspects such as scan schedule and update options.

There is no doubt that when we tested Spyware Doctor, it found a large number of threats in record time. It was easy to use, and worked smoothly and quietly. The only problem? The trial version only finds your problems; it doesn't actually get rid of them. Since getting rid of these threats is a major part of the program's functions, not showing us if it works or not seems like a major fail. Spyware Doctor may work wonders, but users of the trial version will never know if it's worth the expense.

Spyware Doctor - a seemingly smart program let down by an inadequate trial version.

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Luckily there are tools like SuperAntiSpyware Portable Scanner that make the job easier for you. As you can infer from its name, SuperAntiSpyware Portable Scanner is a portable app you can run from any removable device to find and remove spyware. It's fast, efficient and really simple to use.

All you have to do is double click the executable file and select the area you want to scan (drives, memory, Registry, etc.). SuperAntiSpyware Portable Scanner looks for any suspicious element such as Trojans, dialers and adware, and lets you choose between putting them into quarantine or deleting them straight away.

That said, SuperAntiSpyware Portable Scanner has a couple of annoying features. First, it doesn't have real-time protection; and second, this free version doesn't support scheduled scans. However, being a portable version, SuperAntiSpyware Portable Scanner has an advantage over the standard desktop version: it doesn’t require installation, and can be stored and run anywhere.

With SuperAntiSpyware Portable Scanner you can easily scan removable devices and other drives in search of spyware, adware, dialers, Trojans and other threats.

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It does this by monitoring the behaviour of your PC in real time to check for strange or irregular behaviour.

However, ThreatFire can interpret any kind of new behaviour on your PC as a threat and it can be rather annoying to get warnings and prompts every time you install a new piece of software.

However, you can configure it to "trust" certain activity so you can minimise annoying messages in this way.

Note that because this program is designed to protect your PC, it can be hard to fully close it down. Even when you've closed the window, it will run in your taskbar and even closing it from there is not clear.

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Security is the most worrying aspect of computers for most users. We're all afraid of having an unwanted visitor in our system, spying on us and stealing our data. But worry no longer. Spy Sweeper 2011 can take care of all those threats. It does so by using what it calls shields: security filters adapted to specific areas such as a web browser, network connections, the Windows system, start-up programs or e-mail attachments.

Each one of these shields can be configured separately according to your needs. Thanks to an extensive and constantly updated database with more than 375,000 entries, Spy Sweeper 2011 can perform exhaustive system scans and find any unwanted computer elements. You can choose between three types of analysis: full, quick, or custom.

Unfortunately, all of Spy Sweeper 2011's scan take about the same amount of time. And it's not a short time, which might be frustrating for some users. As a consequence, Spy Sweeper 2011 is not a program for users who want a quick fix before trying to meet a tight deadline, for example. Instead, plan to wait between fifteen and thirty minutes for your scan to be completed, depending on the size of your PC's hard drive and how much data you have on it.

Once the scan is finished, Spy Sweeper 2011 will move any potentially infected files to quarantine, where you can decide which action to take. Nine times out of ten you're going to want to delete the file, but it's nice to have other options nevertheless. Spy Sweeper 2011 also gives you the chance to schedule scans, so they start at the same time and on the same day automatically every time you want to run them.

Spy Sweeper 2011 is a complete spyware removal tool that protects your PC from online threats.

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Upon installation, Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus will perform an 'Intelli-scan', which is a preliminary check of your system for bad files. This is surprisingly fast, and gives excellent results. If you want to fix the problems it finds, you'll need to purchase a registration key.

Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus can also perform a deeper, full scan, although in our tests, the Intelli-scan was thorough enough. Scans can be scheduled automatically, and after fixing problems, your computer will be rebooted and scanned again.

To reduce irritation, Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus halts all interruptions if you're playing a full-screen game. On a laptop it will postpone resource-hungry tasks when on battery power. It also installs a range of effective guards, to protect against malicious websites, downloads and attacks.

If you're looking for an effective anti-spyware and virus protection application, Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus 2010 is an excellent choice.

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Most importantly, this program is completely free, simple to setup and and very straight-forward to use. It works by preventing the installation of adware and spyware by blocking them at source. In this way, you prevent attacks rather than having to scan for installed diallers, trojans and bots later with something like Ad-Aware. Of course, this is no easy task. One annoying aspect used to be that there was no auto update function but this has thankfully been solved in this latest version. Via these updates, the program is constantly updated with a blacklist of potential threats that the program monitors for. However, you do get the slight impression that nothing much is going on when it's installed. It doesn't seem to issue any update messages or warnings although it seems to be doing it's job properly. As a result, for many people, this program may seem a bit too flimsy to trust 100% but if run alongside something like Ad-Aware as a backup tool, you don't have much to lose by trying it.

A valient effort although I still wouldn't change it for the trio of Ad-Aware, SpyBot, and Spyware Terminator.

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These and other IM clients have become an important source of virus propagation, thanks to their popularity. With MSNCleaner you can not only detect if you’ve been infected, but also fix any problems caused by spyware in your web browser and system tools.

MSNCleaner doesn’t require installation and is very easy to use. Simply run the EXE file and click the Analyze button. MSNCleaner will scan the system and clean any suspicious item it finds. The program currently features a spyware signature database of more than 2,600 elements.

Scan results will be displayed on MSNCleaner’s interface and can also be exported to a TXT report. Remember that MSNCleaner doesn’t protect the system in real time – you’ll need a full antivirus app for that.

MSNCleaner performs a quick system scan in search of potential spyware coming entering through your IM client and gets rid of it.

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