EmailBest Reviewed
Anti-Spyware
- Best anti-spyware software PC Tools Spyware Doctor 6.0 *Est. $30
- Budget anti-spyware software Sunbelt CounterSpy 3.1 *Est. $20
- Security suite with the best spyware prevention Norton Internet Security 2009 *Est. $45
- Free adware/spyware removal tool Lavasoft Ad-Aware Free Anniversary Edition *Est. $0
- Free real-time spyware blocker Microsoft Windows Defender 1.1 *Est. $0
Get info about new reports and updates
Free adware/spyware removal tool
- Free
- Decent spyware removal performance
- Real-time protection
- No real-time registry protection
- No automatic scans
- Can't scan networked drives
March 2009. Reviews say Lavasoft Ad-Aware Free Anniversary Edition does a good job of removing adware/spyware that's already on your computer, but not of preventing it in the first place. Additionally, you have to manually run a scan to find threats -- the free Ad-Aware doesn't scan automatically. If you want to go the free-downloads route for spyware protection, experts say you're going to need a bunch of them because none of the freebies do everything well. Most experts say all the freeware should supplement paid protection, rather than serve as a primary defense. At minimum, you should supplement this freeware with a free spyware blocker such as Microsoft Windows Defender 1.1, which is included in the Windows Vista operating system and is available as a free download to validated Windows XP owners.
Most professional reviews focus on the paid Lavasoft Ad-Aware versions. The best coverage of Ad-Aware Free Anniversary Edition is at Download.com, where there's an editors' rating as well as tons of input from users. PC World's German edition also provides coverage of the free version. PC Magazine and About.com touch upon the free version, but pay more attention to the paid Ad-Aware Pro Anniversary Edition.
Our Sources
1. Download.com
Download.com editors give the free version of Lavasoft Ad-Aware Anniversary Edition 4.5 stars out of a possible five, and the average rating of more than 170 user reviews and 10,000 ratings is 3.5 stars. Editors like the reasonably quick and accurate scans and the real-time defender; they don't like the lack of real-time registry protection, and the disabled scheduler.
Review: Ad-Aware Anniversary Edition 8.0, Editors of and contributors to CNet.com
This short review, translated from PC World's German edition, covers both free and pay versions of Ad-Aware Anniversary Edition. Benjamin Schischka says it has potential as "an occasionally used program to support [a] more full-featured antivirus software and a firewall."
Review: PC Welt Looks at New Ad-Aware Anniversary Edition, Benjamin Schischka, Jan. 27, 2009
3. About.com
About.com network security guide Tony Bradley says Ad-Aware Free Anniversary Edition provides "adequate protection against a variety of threats." He recommends upgrading to the Pro version for better protection and advanced features like scheduling and network drive scanning. (Note: ConsumerSearch is owned by About.com, but the two don't share an editorial affiliation.)
Review: Ad-Aware Pro AE (Anniversary Edition), Tony Bradley
Neil Rubenking doesn't go into detail about the free version of Ad-Aware, but he does test Ad-Aware Pro. Of Ad-Aware Free, he says only that it "continues to offer no-cost spyware scanning and removal with only basic real-time protection."
Review: Ad-Aware Pro - Anniversary Edition, Neil J. Rubenking, Jan. 23, 2009
Anti-Spyware Runners Up:
2 picks by top review sites.
2 picks by top review sites.
 |
||
|
|
