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Free Spyware / Malware Software
There are numerous spyware and malware detection and removal programs. With so many choices, how do you decide which product to use to protect your privacy?
Many adware, spyware, malware detection and removal products offer a free download and scan of your computer to detect spyware but you must purchase the software to remove privacy threats. Some products offer a limited free trial before you must purchase the software to continue using it. The average cost is $30.
These are the most popular FREE detection and removal products.
Spybot
- Search & Destroy©®
Ddetects and removes spyware which silently
tracks your surfing behavior to create a marketing profile about you that is transmitted
without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies. If
you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you haven't intentionally
installed, if your browser crashes inexplicably, or if your home page has been
"hijacked" (or changed without your knowledge), your computer is most probably
infected with spyware. Even if you don't see the symptoms, your computer may be
infected, because more and more spyware is emerging. Spybot is free, so there's
no harm giving it a try to see if something has invaded your computer. 15.6 MB
download.
Ad-Aware
Free
Real-time protection against spyware, trojans, rootkits,
hijackers, keyloggers, and more! With the ability to scan your RAM, registry,
hard drives, and external storage devices for known data-mining, advertising,
and tracking components, Ad-Aware can clean your system easily, allowing you to
maintain a higher degree of privacy while you surf the Web. Includes an improved
threat detection, enhanced rootkit removal system, faster updates, Lavasoft ThreatWork
to submit suspicious files for analysis, and is now compatible with 32-bit and
64-bit Windows Vista. The latest version may include unspecified updates, enhancements,
or bug fixes. Free for noncommercial use only. Huge 87.1
MB download.
Malwarebytes'
Anti-Malware
Detect and remove malware that even the most well
known anti-virus and anti-malware applications fail to detect. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
monitors every process and stops malicious processes before they even start. The
Realtime Protection Module uses our advanced heuristic scanning technology which
monitors your system to keep it safe and secure. In addition, we have implemented
a threats center which will allow you to keep up to date with the latest malware
threats. 4.87 MB download.
TrendMicro™
HijackThis™
A utility which quickly scans your Windows computer
to find settings that may have been changed by spyware, malware or other unwanted
programs. HijackThis creates a report, or log file, with the results of the scan.
IMPORTANT: HijackThis does not determine what is
good or bad. Do not make any changes to your computer settings unless you are
an expert computer user. Advanced users can use HijackThis to remove unwanted
settings or files. Not an expert? Just save the HijackThis report and let a friend
with more troubleshooting experience take a look. A large community of users participates
in online forums, where experts help interpret HijackThis scan results to clean
up infected computers. Trend Micro provides HijackThis as a free utility, without
technical support. 1.33 MB download.