Commercial & Free Spyware Remover Evaluation

This spyware remover evaluation --using independent tests -- will provide you with information on the best-performing, reputable antispyware.

There's a good reason to install commercial and free spyware remover programs... spyware now surpasses viruses as the biggest threat to our PCs and personal information.

Various studies, like the AOL/National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) Online Safety Study and the Webroot/Earthlink Study, have found that between 75-90 percent of PCs are infected with spyware. What's more, over one-third of PCs contain serious monitoring spyware and Trojan horses.

Here, we're going to focus on and discuss what has been learnt from this spyware remover evaluation...

Commercial & Free Spyware Remover Evaluation Testing

Unlike anti-virus software, the development of anti-spyware programs is in its infancy and there is very little independent test data for commercial and free spyware remover evaluation. This makes it a little more difficult to cut through the marketing hype to select the most effective programs to guard privacy and online security.

To provide more current data on the performance of commercial and free spyware remover programs, I have tested eleven popular and reputable products.

There are also tests carried out by computer technical journals, but these tend to be limited in the number of spyware removers tested and the number and types of spyware components used as 'bait'.

As a result, each journal tends to recommend a different program as the most effective. However, there are a number of products that consistently appear in the top five, so this information will supplement the independent test data for my recommendations.

Some of you may want to read the test details, others just the recommendations -- so, just click on what you need...

1. Setting Up The Test -- the spyware blockers tested and the spyware used for infection


2. The Results -- what spyware each program detected and removed


3. Discussion Of The Results


4. Recommendations

1. Spyware Remover Evaluation... Setting Up the Test

The free spyware remover programs were...

1. Ad-Aware SE Personal
2. Spybot Search & Destroy
3. Microsoft Windows Defender

The commercial spyware blockers used were...

1. ParetoLogic XoftSpy
2. Tenebril SpyCatcher
3. Aluria Spyware Eliminator
4. eTrust PestPatrol
5. FBM ZeroSpyware
6. PCTools Spyware Doctor
7. Webroot Spy Sweeper
8. Sunbelt CounterSpy

My test computer had the Windows XP SP2 operating system, and was infected with 29 spyware/adware types. These are listed in the table below...

Spyware Used for Test Infection

3. Spyware Remover Evaluation... Discussion Of The Results

• PestPatrol detected and removed the highest number of spyware components, followed very closely by CounterSpy , and then, SpyCatcher .


• Although ZeroSpyware was equal third with SpyCatcher, it repeatedly failed to remove any of the spyware it detected.


• Even though it was the best spyware remover, PestPatrol, deleted only 38% of the spyware.

  You can see from the table that even running the top three spyware blockers -- PestPatrol, CounterSpy and SpyCatcher -- only 21 of the 29 spyware components were removed.



• Many vendors claim their software removes all spyware. These results don't exactly endorse those claims with any confidence, do they?

  The majority of programs in this commercial and free spyware remover evaluation detect less than 25% of spyware... with the bottom four detecting 1 or no spyware component.



• The free spyware remover programs currently provide minimal protection. However, because they detected a small amount of spyware that some other programs didn't, they shouldn't be discounted.

4. Spyware Remover Evaluation... Recommendations

This spyware remover evaluation supports the now widely recognized view that no one spyware blocker will remove all spyware... we need a combination of spyware removal to have any confidence of removing most spyware.

The more spyware blockers we have working on our computer, the more capable we will be of detecting and removing spyware.

However, because the free spyware remover programs may detect spyware that may be missed by some of the commercial spyware blockers, they still have a part to play in our arsenal against spyware infection.

With the above in mind, don't be surprised that I am recommending the three free spyware removal programs and a minimum of two commercial spyware blockers.

These recommendations are based on the results of my tests and a review of the awards made by computer technical journals...

Spyware Removal Evaluation... Recommended Free Spyware Remover Programs

Although the free spyware remover programs did not perform very well in this spyware remover evaluation, they are worth downloading to widen our net for catching spyware... and at no cost.

Also, there is a lot of leapfrogging in the effectiveness of spyware blockers as developers grow their spyware databases. So, it is possible that one, two or all of these programs could surge ahead of the pack.

Click on the links to download these free spyware remover programs...

1. Microsoft Windows Defender
2. Lavasoft Ad-Aware
3. Spybot - Search & Destroy

Spyware Remover Evaluation... Recommended Commercial Programs

From the evidence of this spyware remover evaluation and other reviewer recommendations, my advice is to install three commercial programs to have any confidence in keeping your PC free of spyware.

I run four commercial spyware blockers on my PCs, along with the free spyware remover programs above. With the additional practices I've described in Review On Spyware And Adware Removal... 5 Key Steps To Spyware Protection, this gives me optimal spyware protection against a spyware infection.

If three commercial spyware blockers are a cost hurdle, then go for two -- but that's the minimum I'd recommend.

The recommended commercial software programs are...

1. CounterSpy Free Trial
2. PestPatrol
3. Spy Sweeper
4. SpyCatcher (buy) and SpyCatcher Free Trial (direct download)

I've included Spy Sweeper at number three because, although it didn't perform well in this spyware remover evaluation, it continues to receive awards from a number of technical reviewers.

In addition to the independent test results, the track record of PestPatrol and CounterSpy is reflected in their continuing awards and adoption by Internet companies. For instance...

• PestPatrol's core technology is used by Yahoo! in its downloadable toolbar
• CounterSpy is recommended by Dell and ranked number one in PC Advisor. It was also awarded PC World - Best Buy and PC World - World Class.

Run one of your commercial and free spyware remover programs each day, put into practice Spyware Remover Evaluation... 5 Key Steps To Spyware Protection, and you have the best protection against spyware currently available to guard privacy and online security!

For additional tools and know-how, check out these other supporting articles...

5. Spyware Remover Evaluation... Supporting Articles

1. Comments And Reviews On Spyware And Adware Remover... What Is Spyware & How Does It Affect Us?
2. The Limitations Of Top Of The Line Spyware And Adware Remover Programs
3. Review On Spyware And Adware Removal... Surveillance Spyware
4. Review On Spyware And Adware Removal... Adware
5. Review On Spyware And Adware Removal... How PCs Are Infected & The Signs

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