Free Anti-Spyware - How Good Is It?
If you are looking for some free anti-spyware, there is plenty on offer if you do a search on the web. But are they any good?
Not everyone starts their computer and internet experience with the finances to buy all the different types of programs they need. Since it is risky to surf the web "unprotected" you should have a least a good firewall, anti-virus and anti-spyware program installed and active. Many casual and non-business users rely on the free versions of the most popular and professional versions of such products but that is usually not enough.
With the price of a Microsoft Operating System being as high as it is, one wonders why Windows Defender is offered for "free" to licensed Windows customers. With the high incidence of security breaches in their popular Internet Explorer browsers, Windows Defender it is at least a first line defense for new users who might otherwise have not learned about the need for such products. Microsoft Defender, does work well with a Microsoft based system. While you can only run one anti-virus program on your machine at a time, several anti-spyware programs can be used as a method of double-checking each program against the other.
AVG Anti-Spyware Free Edition is one of the most popular of the many freeware/shareware trojan trackers available and can be downloaded and used for free. While there are extra features included in the commercial version, it is worth trying it out to see how big the problem is for your PC. The idea for most of the software makers is to provide a quality scan and clean for everyone to help cut down on the spread of malicious spyware. The free editions of AVG as well as PC Tools and Ad-Aware, all have simple user controls compared to the full blown commercial versions. The professional versions will offer the more computer savvy user many more options to custom configure the program for higher levels of protection.
It is a good idea to allow a "free" scan of your system from a reputable and trusted anti-spyware vendor to check if your system has a problem. But be very careful. Even McAfee, one of the best known makers of anti-spyware products, leaves a set of files on your system which may be used for other purposes. Always read the terms-of-use for any product that you download and use on you computer so you are aware of what it may be doing in the background. It has been reported that their popular "Site Advisor" has a backdoor method to access your PC with full permissions to whatever software command comes through the access URL. While they may mean no harm, all a hacker has to do, is to send their command through this unencrypted and unprotected executable file to cause your computer harm.
Many of the "rogue" spyware programs will actually install a program that shows you that you have spyware that can only be removed by buying their product. If that sounds like extortion that is because it is! So be aware! Read reviews by others about the anti-spyware product you are considering to gain confidence that you are making the right choice.
