Not bad for a free app, you say? Consider this: The free scan-only version of Ad-Aware 2007 managed 5.9 on the same test, and CyberDefenderFREE scored 6.5 against an earlier set of samples. Spyware Terminator scored a mediocre 5.7 out of 10 on my standard malware-removal test. Terminator definitely doesn't perform as if it's armed with, say, a phased-plasma rifle in the 40-watt range. Unfortunately, a number of my malware samples resisted both deletion methods (or totally escaped being noticed). If you tell it no, it will just delete them after reboot, but if you say yes, you may save yourself some trouble. When possible, it identifies the processes that a particular threat has infested and offers to stop those processes to permit deletion. Spyware Terminator does its best to save you the aggravation of restarting the system. Many antispyware programs simply mark such files for deletion on reboot and then require a reboot. If a malware threat has hooked its files into system processes or other running programs, any attempt to delete those files will be denied. Say no and you'll definitely have to reboot say yes and reboot may not be necessary. Rather than always requesting a reboot, it offers to terminate a list of specific processes. Spyware Terminator takes an interesting approach to removing malware that has hooked its virtual claws into elements of the operating system. They recommended a manual removal technique that put this system back on track. But Spyware Terminator's tech experts identified the problem by rooting through a crash-dump file. Incomplete malware removal put another system into a blue-screen death spiral, crashing and rebooting over and over. I took the product's advice to scan in Safe Mode in case of trouble, which solved that little problem. On one test system, the scan repeatedly got stuck while scanning for malicious toolbars. One rabid malware sample tries to kill the installer process for most security products and usually succeeds, but Spyware Terminator powered right past that one with no trouble. I installed Spyware Terminator on ten virtual machines to test how well it could wade in and terminate the malware infesting those systems. So Spyware Terminator's spyware-only scan isn't especially fast.- Next: Spyware-It'll Be Back… Both STOPzilla and AdAware scanned the same system for spyware in about 12 minutes. That's about the same time Spy Sweeper needed to scan for spyware and viruses. And you can schedule a single selected scan either daily or once a week.Ī full scan on my standard clean system took 30 minutes. It does a fast scan by default, but you can configure it for a full scan instead, or create up to five custom scans. Instead of the typical green/yellow/red color-coding for status it uses blue/orange/red-you get used to it quickly. The main "Spyware Terminator Center" window displays program status and offers quick access to configuration, a layout I've come to expect in modern security products. Out of those components, both these products include only antispyware.ĭuring installation, Spyware Terminator offers to install and integrate the free ClamAV antivirus, but since I'm not evaluating ClamAV here, I opted out. I also look for antispam and some degree of parental control or privacy protection. A true security suite has at an absolute minimum antivirus, antispyware, and firewall protection. Both are simply antispyware products with security-related add-ons. In reality, neither product comes close to my definition of a security suite. The question is, will this reprogrammed Terminator eliminate your spyware problems? I put it to the test to find out.Ĭrawler caused a bit of a dust-up by touting this product as "the industry's first totally free, full Internet security suite." Competitor CyberDefender countered that its CyberDefenderFREE 2.0 released last November, was actually the first all-free Internet security suite. Crawler's Spyware Terminator 2.0 offers free spyware removal, spyware blocking, and protection against undesirable Web sites, as well as a multifunction toolbar for Internet Explorer and Firefox. The well-regarded watchdog site verifies that the adware connection has been thoroughly severed. It just didn't seem like a logical candidate for review. A few years ago the good people at Crawler LLC got a little too friendly with a major adware distributor other security utilities even started flagging Crawler's own products as adware. I haven't reviewed Spyware Terminator before. Best Hosted Endpoint Protection and Security Software.
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