We all know how irritating spyware is once infected on our computer. Your computer responding very slowly, your hard disk LED never goes off like as though some activity is going on every second, you get popups every minute, and your browser is impossible to use anymore! Cleaning them is NEVER easy because the developers of spyware no longer makes it easy. I’ve seen spywares that disabled msconfig and regedit. They modify part of your Windows to disallow basic manual way of removing the spywares from autostartup. What I find it hard to believe is, spyware can even load in Safe Mode!
Spyware has became so widely spread that there are so many Anti Spyware programs are out for you to BUY. Instead of spending your money on Anti-Spyware programs, why not try cleaning it with FREE Anti-Spyware programs first? Here I have tried my best to include as many free Anti-Spyware programs. Because Anti-Spyware programs can’t clean all spywares, most probably you’ll need to try all of the Anti-Spyware programs below but please do it one at a time and not simultaneously.
1. AVG Anti-Spyware Free
Notes: AVG Anti-Spyware is previously known as ewido. Ewido was very famous in
removing spywares and AVG has acquired ewido. No doubt it’s one of the best but unfortunately Free version doesn’t allow automatic online-update, no Real-time monitoring of the entire system and no Self-protection at kernel layer guaranteeing gapless monitoring. It’s good to scan and
remove spywares.
[ Download ] 2. Spybot – Search & Destroy
Notes: One of the best free Anti Spyware! I have it with me all the time in my USB thumb drive!
[ Download ]
3. Microsoft Windows Defender
Notes: Don’t like the online update. Have report saying that it’s a resource hog. Well, don’t expect too much from Microsoft.
[ Download ]
4. Ad-Aware SE Personal
Notes: Another one of the best FREE anti spyware scanner. The newer version 2007 is still in Beta and believed to be the best when it’s out!
[ Download ]
5. Doctor Alex
Notes: I rate this one 5 out of 10. It’s not that good but it’s not that bad either. The database is around 5MB and it only has updates once in a while. I also carry this around my thumb drive because it’s portable.
[ Download ]
6. SUPERAntiSpyware
Notes: Looks superb! Real time protection is only available for PRO/paid version. Scanning and cleaning spywares is still available for FREE version.
[ Download ]
7. Spyware Terminator
Notes: Quite good antispyware program. Able to integrate FREE ClamWin antivirus and has powerful real-time protection.
[ Download ]
8. Semellone
Notes: From the interface, it doesn’t give me a sense of security. Looks like a novice programmer did this. Don’t know why the author decide to use a skull icon to terminate a process.
[ Download ]
9. 1-2-3 Spyware Free
Notes: Update function is not smart. Every time you click on the Update button, it will just
download the latest signatures. It doesn’t identify if you already have the latest signatures. Easy to use but full of ways trying to promote their other sharewares.
[ Download ]
10. Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner
Notes: Takes seconds to complete scanning with Bazooka. Bazooka doesn’t scan all your files as it only scans for 603 known objects.
[ Download ]
11. EMCO Malware Destroyer
Notes: Very BIG file size. 28MB to download. Has over 10000 target signatures. Able to scan spywares, adwares, dialer, virus, trackware, worms and trojans. Scanning takes not more than 20 seconds. A bit bulky program for what it does but still a good one.
[ Download ]
12. Arovax AntiSpyware
Notes: Release date on 24-Jun-2006 which is quite old. Ran the LiveUpdate and detected no new signatures. Totally outdated and I suspect that this project has been stopped. It’s a waste because I like the clean interface. No harm trying. Might remove old spywares but of course not the newer ones.
[ Download ]
13. Evonsoft Advanced Spyware Remover Free Edition
Notes: Just like what the software says, it’s pretty advanced! It has liveupdate, and lots of tools such as Active Ports, Net Sniffer and etc incorporated in it.
[ Download ]
14. Flobo Free Anti Spyware Clean
Notes: Have to wait 30 seconds for the program to launch. It is fully functional but you can remove the 30 seconds waiting time by paying USD19. Very basic interface.
[ Download ]
15. ZoneProtect AntiSpyware
Notes: Tried updating but got an error message saying “Invalid Update, please check our customer support”. Might be temporary problem. I don’t have a good impression on this antispyware.
[ Download Link Removed (contains adware) ]
16. a-squared FREE 2.1
Notes: FREE version doesn’t contains background guard, auto updates, scheduled scans and hijackfree. Contains only the basic scanner. Easy to use and able to scan more than 600,000 malwares! A very good one, thanks to Teddie for suggesting.
[ Download ]
With 14 of the free anti-spywares, any tough ones are bound to be removed! After trying all the above free Anti-Spywares, I have to say that some are good and some are bad.
The worst one is ZoneProtect AntiSpyware. I said that because after trying out all the anti-spywares, my computer got infected by AdBlaster adware! Every few minutes I would get a popup bringing me to www.adblaster2.info website. I was able to manually remove the adware and I checked each anti-spyware program again. Right after I
install ZoneProtect AntiSpyware, I found that there’s “adprot” values injected into my registry and it’ll autoload when Windows is booted up. Why would a software developer include adware into a antispyware
freeware? Just doesn’t make any sense! I’ve created an
auto cleaner for AdBlaster.
