First, let me get the basics out of the way. As all antispyware gurus will tell you, there is no antispyware program that is 100% effective (this holds true for antivirus programs too). Unlike antivirus programs however, it’s alright to install more than one antispyware program in your computer, provided that you adhere to the following:
- Have only one antispyware program provide real-time or resident shield protection. If you have more than one antispyware program doing this, you run the risk of your computer slowing down or behaving erratically.
- Run one antispyware scan at a time. Don’t multitask antispyware programs.
- Certain antivirus programs already have antispyware modules running or enabled, such as AVG Internet Security and AVG Antivirus. Check the program’s configuration settings or refer to their web sites.
I’ve been using Spybot 1.6 for some time as I’ve reported in previous posts. For the past week or so, I’ve downloaded and tested two other antispyware programs, namely Spyware Terminator and Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware (I’ll call it MAM from now on, that name’s too long!) The former is essentially free while MAM has free and paid versions. I tested the free version. Let’s get started.
SPYWARE TERMINATOR has a nice-looking and intuitive interface, and it’s very easy to navigate. The scanning speed is fast, and what I like is the fact that you can customize what you’d like to scan, down to adding your own files, folders, disks, whatever, and then save it as a scanning option. For example, if you download all your web stuff into a folder called Downloads in your C: drive, you could create a new Scan favorite called Scan Downloads, and direct Spyware Terminator to scan only the C:\Downloads folder. A file filter is also available where you have the option of scanning all files (slowest), all executable files, infectible extensions (fastest) or even create your own custom extensions. So there’s a lot of flexibility here if you want to go that path. If not, choose either the Fast Spyware Scan or the Full Spyware Scan (again you can customize some of the options).
The scanning speed is fast for the Fast Spyware Scan. It zipped through my C: drive (containing over 120,000 files) in under 10 minutes. Of course the Full Spyware Scan takes longer, taking about 25 minutes on my system. More screenshots can be viewed here.
Spyware Terminator also gives you the option of integrating Clam Antivirus into the package, if you don’t already have an antivirus program installed in your computer. I haven’t tested this, since I already have Avira’s AntiVir installed in mine.
All in all, Spyware Terminator is a nice antispyware program to have. With so many options available in the program, plus the fact that it’s free, makes me give it a two thumbs up.
MALWAREBYTES’ ANTI-MALWARE is another antispyware program I tested. The interface (very Windows 98-ish) is a bit more old-fashioned when compared with Spyware Terminator’s.
However, the tabs are easy to understand and navigate. The free version does not provide for scheduled updates and real-time protection. To obtain that, you have to make a purchase, costing $24.95 USD. It’s your choice. I opted for the free version. The quick scan as its name implies, is fast, which is useful if you like to do daily scans. The full scan is slower, on my system it took about 50 minutes. I should inform readers that MAM is one of the few antispyware programs to be able to clean out that awful Windows Antivirus 2008, a rogue program masquerading as an antivirus program, currently making its rounds on the Internet.
So which one should you choose? If you’re not planning to get the MAM paid version, you could download and install both, just as I did. Follow the caveats I listed at the beginning of this post, and you’ll be fine. Until the next post, let’s be careful out there in cyberspace.
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