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Spybot Search & Destroy v1.4
Price: Free

Features
Performance
Ease of use
Value for money
Overall

Reviewed By: Neil Mohr

This review updated: 13/09/2007
Featured in magazine:
Issue 170
Manufacturer Contacts:
Web Address: www.safer-networking.org


Consistently praised for good performance, Spybot S&D has been around for almost as long as spyware itself, and has always been a freeware product. With one of the more intensive installations, we were hoping it would deliver comprehensive protection and we weren't disappointed. In both the real-time and scanning tests it detected every threat we exposed it to, providing detection for malicious tasks, start-up protection and removal of the many Internet Explorer exploits around.

Speed-wise, Spybot is a mixed bag. Its quick-scan option is certainly that – one of the fastest in the test. A full scan, however, takes an absolute age, leaving you hanging around, but on the flip-side it is certainly comprehensive if you are able to leave it running overnight. It also has the advantage that it provides comprehensive information on detected threats, keeping you informed as it goes along.

Our main problems lie with the user interface and the alert methods, both of which lack refinement and are rather obtrusive. Certain alert buttons had their text hidden, making it initially difficult to know which option to choose, so a smartening-up of the interface could be in order.

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