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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.
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. Version 1.5 is a 7.27 MB download.
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 124.32
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.