Ad-aware Utility: Cold War Shifts To Bits & Bytes
Written: Feb 28 '04 (Updated Jan 13 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy to install and operate, detects known spyware, many options
Cons: Some files may be system related and should not deleted, basic computer knowledge required
The Bottom Line: A must have utility in the fight against spyware.
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| Dbbum's Full Review: AD-Aware |
This review pertains to the current version of Ad-aware 6.0 Personal Reference 01R263 27.02.2004 Build 190.
Purpose Of Ad-aware:
Ad-aware is software utility developed by Lavasoft that scans your computer for spyware and adware. How does one get spyware you might ask? Spyware can sometimes be included in software by third party companies. For example: kazaa, imesh, gozilla, download accelerator, gator, and more... Spyware and adware are not necessarily viruses, or harmless trojans that can infect and disable your computer. Most spyware track your surfing habits, use your internet connection to send data to a third party, hijack your browser start page or pages, alter important system files, and can do this without your knowledge or permission, Most adware simply display unwanted advertisements or links within specific software programs or in other unwanted places like your Internet Explorer browser.
What Ad-adware Detects:
As mentioned above ad-aware detects files on your computer that are used for the sole purpose of spying and adware delivery. Some specific files that have been found on my system are: Gator, Comet Cursor, Alexa, Cydoor, eZula, SaveNow, HotBar, and several others. However with my personal experience these files were found after installing peer 2 peer programs such as imesh and kazaa. Since using Ad-aware I no longer relay on these peer 2 peer programs for they may contain other files not detected by Ad-aware. Better to be safe than sorry!
Ad-aware In Action:
Downloading and installing Ad-aware couldn't be any easier. Once you get the program installed and running, the user menu is really simple to navigate. If you're like me and don't want to fiddle with 100 options, you can simply use the default scanning options which will do a deep system scan of your entire system including memory, registry, and C: drive. Depending on your size of your hard drive, and the amount of files you have, the default scan will take anywhere from 1-5 minutes. After the scan is over a list of spyware and adware files will appear. From here you can check off the files to be deleted, view more information about each file, copy files to your clipboard, and even quarantine files for backup purposes in case something goes wrong.
A Caution To Rookies:
While Ad-aware is a great utility for detecting spyware, it should be used with extreme caution. Typically 99% of the detected files can be removed without doing any real damage to your system, which include cookies and data miners. However some spyware is known to alter required system files which should not be deleted. My basic rule of thumb is, don't remove anything unless you are 100% sure you know what the file is and know that it's safe to delete.
Reliabilty & Effectiveness:
I have been using Ad-aware for over a year now and it's never failed me once. Lavasoft always keeps an updated reference file on their website for download, which makes for easy updating. It should be known that Ad-ware does not detect or eliminate viruses and trojans. Ad-ware is not something you keep running in the background to keep your system free of spyware. It's merely a utility that should be run once or twice a month (or more) to keep your system clear of spyware. As mentioned above the default scanning options are very effective. However many user selectable options are also included: scanning other non C:\ drives, scan within archive zip files, scan favorites for banned urls, automated scanning options (similar to automated maintenance wizard in Windows), etc... Again these options are more for experienced users, but the default scans are good enough.
Overall Ad-aware is a really useful utility everyone should have lying around somewhere. Best of all Ad-aware is 100% free for personal/residential use. If you haven't tried it out at least once, then I suggest you do. You'd be surprised how many spyware files are found on a typical computer, even a computer with a strong firewall and active virus detection running in the background. Obviously the best defense against spyware is personal downloading habits. Never download programs that are known to include bundled software, spyware, or adware. If a program or package is not from a well known professional company, chances are it includes some type of spyware.
Are you using Kazaa? If so, you have at least 10-15 spyware files on your system right now. Bet ya didn't even know it!
Recommended:
Yes
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