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<B>Intro</B>:
Spyware is one of the biggest problems facing Windows PCs today. The term 'spyware' is a generic term to encompass software that either tracks online usage or shows pop-ups or advertisements in any way. The majority of programs that are deemed spyware have drive-by installs or are piggy-backed with other programs. <a href="http://www.fbmsoftware.com/pmain~sid~7967186~bttn~211~id~3.html">ZeroSpyware</a> is a program that hopes to help alleviate this modern computer menace. Let's find out how well it does its job.
<B>The Test PC</B>:
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I once again installed Virtual PC and went around downloading things such as KaZaA and other common software known to have lots of spyware tacked on. Here's a list of what I actually installed: 'KaZaA 3.0', 'Integrated Search Technologies', 'Certified Software', 'WinFixer 2005', 'Popular Screen Savers', 'Spyspotter', 'Searchassistant', 'Mymail', '888.com'. Many more spyware programs piggyback on top of these. I had already patched the PC with all critical updates as well as Service Pack 2. As with my previous articles on spyware, a good 15-20 minutes online was all it took to get the thing trashed. With Service Pack 2 installed, it IS a bit more difficult to install Spyware, but it still works
. SP2's security additions do help, but many internet websites still coerce the user to install to everything anyway - most average users are unaware that they are installing something that is invading their privacy and hurting their computer's performance.
<B>Zero Spyware</B>:
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Now that the Test PC had a large amount of spyware on it, I set out to install ZeroSpyware from Windows as a normal user would. After wading through pop-up after pop-up, I finally downloaded the installer, and it downloaded the program. I chose to use the recommended settings and refrain from doing anything advanced. Most people using this software would not be knowledgable enough to do anything advanced in the first place (nor would they have this much spyware installed, if they knew better).
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The program and its screens are all Flash-based. I consider this highly unfriendly, and the program doesn't 'feel' the same as other common Windows apps: the buttons look like the common Windows buttons, but do not behave quite like 'normal' buttons do. I'm going to go off on a bit of a tangent here: a spyware removal program should install painlessly, and, once installed, should have a button that says 'Find and Remove Spyware'. Unaware computer users that have to sift through all the settings and flashy interfaces will be overwhelmed and confused. This is the wrong philosophy behind user interfaces: "no-frills" is the wiser approach.
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One very good thing about ZeroSpyware: it's that it is <a href="http://www.fbmsoftware.com/pmain~sid~7967186~bttn~211~id~3.html">free to try for 15 days</a>. This trial is good enough to remove anything currently on your PC and give you a nice demo of what the software can do. I suggest you try it out for yourself since it is free. I'll tell you up front that this program is not like those other phony pieces of garbage that say they fix your computer (like 'Winfixer' or 'SpySpotter'), ZeroSpyware does actually help.
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After the initial installation, the first screen you'll see is the 'Begin Scan' screen. I didn't get an option to update the definitions, so I scanned immediately. It turns out the definitions where from the 20th of July: not THAT old, but it wasn't exactly current. ZeroSpyware would do better to try to update the definitions automatically before the first scan.
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A scanning window pops up showing the progress of the scan. This window is jammed full of information. It may be a bit overwhelming to see. The scans take about 10 minutes or more depending on how much software/junk is on your computer. The scan is thorough, going through drives as well as the registry.
<B>Intro</B>:
Spyware is one of the biggest problems facing Windows PCs today. The term 'spyware' is a generic term to encompass software that either tracks online usage or shows pop-ups or advertisements in any way. The majority of programs that are deemed spyware have drive-by installs or are piggy-backed with other programs. <a href="http://www.fbmsoftware.com/pmain~sid~7967186~bttn~211~id~3.html">ZeroSpyware</a> is a program that hopes to help alleviate this modern computer menace. Let's find out how well it does its job.
<B>The Test PC</B>:
<center>
</center>I once again installed Virtual PC and went around downloading things such as KaZaA and other common software known to have lots of spyware tacked on. Here's a list of what I actually installed: 'KaZaA 3.0', 'Integrated Search Technologies', 'Certified Software', 'WinFixer 2005', 'Popular Screen Savers', 'Spyspotter', 'Searchassistant', 'Mymail', '888.com'. Many more spyware programs piggyback on top of these. I had already patched the PC with all critical updates as well as Service Pack 2. As with my previous articles on spyware, a good 15-20 minutes online was all it took to get the thing trashed. With Service Pack 2 installed, it IS a bit more difficult to install Spyware, but it still works
. SP2's security additions do help, but many internet websites still coerce the user to install to everything anyway - most average users are unaware that they are installing something that is invading their privacy and hurting their computer's performance.<B>Zero Spyware</B>:
<center>
</center>Now that the Test PC had a large amount of spyware on it, I set out to install ZeroSpyware from Windows as a normal user would. After wading through pop-up after pop-up, I finally downloaded the installer, and it downloaded the program. I chose to use the recommended settings and refrain from doing anything advanced. Most people using this software would not be knowledgable enough to do anything advanced in the first place (nor would they have this much spyware installed, if they knew better).
<center>
</center>The program and its screens are all Flash-based. I consider this highly unfriendly, and the program doesn't 'feel' the same as other common Windows apps: the buttons look like the common Windows buttons, but do not behave quite like 'normal' buttons do. I'm going to go off on a bit of a tangent here: a spyware removal program should install painlessly, and, once installed, should have a button that says 'Find and Remove Spyware'. Unaware computer users that have to sift through all the settings and flashy interfaces will be overwhelmed and confused. This is the wrong philosophy behind user interfaces: "no-frills" is the wiser approach.
<center>
</center>One very good thing about ZeroSpyware: it's that it is <a href="http://www.fbmsoftware.com/pmain~sid~7967186~bttn~211~id~3.html">free to try for 15 days</a>. This trial is good enough to remove anything currently on your PC and give you a nice demo of what the software can do. I suggest you try it out for yourself since it is free. I'll tell you up front that this program is not like those other phony pieces of garbage that say they fix your computer (like 'Winfixer' or 'SpySpotter'), ZeroSpyware does actually help.
<center>
</center>After the initial installation, the first screen you'll see is the 'Begin Scan' screen. I didn't get an option to update the definitions, so I scanned immediately. It turns out the definitions where from the 20th of July: not THAT old, but it wasn't exactly current. ZeroSpyware would do better to try to update the definitions automatically before the first scan.
<center>
</center>A scanning window pops up showing the progress of the scan. This window is jammed full of information. It may be a bit overwhelming to see. The scans take about 10 minutes or more depending on how much software/junk is on your computer. The scan is thorough, going through drives as well as the registry.
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After the scan is completed, you are shown the total amount of spyware components found on the PC. My test computer had about 4,500 traces of spyware on it, which is a bit overblown. From my experience, I'd say that Ad-Aware or Spybot would have listed this particular infection at under 1,000. Regardless, this screen shows too much information and the options don't make much sense. Quarantine? Why? I want to delete this stuff! The scroll bar is a bit buggy as well (again, Flash!). You can click on a piece of spyware that's listed and it pops up with more information and describes what it does, which is nice (if you're the curious type).
Shown below is 'Alexa' which is the browser bar that tracks the URLs you visit for statistics on site traffic. This is a common piece of spyware and should be removed. Do not be fooled by websites that ask you to install the toolbar, it helps their own traffic rating and shows they don't care about their users' privacy.
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After the known spyware is confirmed, you are shown some 'Grayware' apps that have also been given the option of removing. The default is set to ignore, but I set it to quarantine them. Grayware apps should really be removed as well. KaZaA, for example, will break after disinfection, because when removing the spyware from the app, you are removing a piece of the program it needs to function.
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Once you hit next, the program starts to remove all of the crap it found. This takes a bit of time to do as well.
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You are given another popup that shows the results of the scan and removal. In total, I had 29 garbage programs installed that it was able to remove. The program also asked for Windows to be restarted so it could clean up some things that were running. It didn't shutdown Windows, so I did it manually. When Windows came back up, the program didn't run automatically like Adaware or Spybot would.
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</center>
While the program cleaned much of the spyware on the system, it missed programs that are labeled as spyware removers but installed via drive-by. Realistically, these should also be considered spyware as well. To the program's advantage, it cleaned the browser and Windows itself to the point where simply going into Add/Remove Programs would finish the job. I did run Adaware and Spybot afterwards, and they both removed about 100 more minor traces of spyware each. Lesson learned: when dealing with spyware, try to use as many removal programs as possible... they all catch different things. ZeroSpyware is also "resident" and protects you from spyware in realtime, which is good if you install it BEFORE you start heavily using the internet.
The protection offered is good. It catches things running on your computer as well as things you install. It doesn't block them, it tells you that something is installed and then does a full scan to remove everything. I would have liked the program to block things automatically, but this is better than nothing. The program also has a helpful 'process viewer' that shows unknown and known spyware processes: a useful feature for advanced users.
<B>Conclusion</B>:
<a href="http://www.fbmsoftware.com/pmain~sid~7967186~bttn~211~id~3.html">ZeroSpyware</a> is a good alternative (or, even better, ADDITION) to removal programs such as Spybot & Adaware. Those two programs may be great, but do not offer the realtime protection that ZeroSpyware offers. <a href="http://images.aselabs.com/adlink.php?do=adlink&id=5">For $30, you get a nice removal program and decent realtime protection at the same time</a>. I think the price is worth the piece of mind you get. Make sure to install <a href="http://www.lavasoftusa.com">Adaware</a> & <a href="http://www.spybot.info">Spybot</a> as well and use them weekly.
I'd like to thank Tracy from <a href="http://www.fbmsoftware.com">FBM Software</a> for making this review possible.
<center>
</center>After the scan is completed, you are shown the total amount of spyware components found on the PC. My test computer had about 4,500 traces of spyware on it, which is a bit overblown. From my experience, I'd say that Ad-Aware or Spybot would have listed this particular infection at under 1,000. Regardless, this screen shows too much information and the options don't make much sense. Quarantine? Why? I want to delete this stuff! The scroll bar is a bit buggy as well (again, Flash!). You can click on a piece of spyware that's listed and it pops up with more information and describes what it does, which is nice (if you're the curious type).
Shown below is 'Alexa' which is the browser bar that tracks the URLs you visit for statistics on site traffic. This is a common piece of spyware and should be removed. Do not be fooled by websites that ask you to install the toolbar, it helps their own traffic rating and shows they don't care about their users' privacy.
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</center><center>
</center>After the known spyware is confirmed, you are shown some 'Grayware' apps that have also been given the option of removing. The default is set to ignore, but I set it to quarantine them. Grayware apps should really be removed as well. KaZaA, for example, will break after disinfection, because when removing the spyware from the app, you are removing a piece of the program it needs to function.
<center>
</center>Once you hit next, the program starts to remove all of the crap it found. This takes a bit of time to do as well.
<center>
</center>You are given another popup that shows the results of the scan and removal. In total, I had 29 garbage programs installed that it was able to remove. The program also asked for Windows to be restarted so it could clean up some things that were running. It didn't shutdown Windows, so I did it manually. When Windows came back up, the program didn't run automatically like Adaware or Spybot would.
<center>
</center>While the program cleaned much of the spyware on the system, it missed programs that are labeled as spyware removers but installed via drive-by. Realistically, these should also be considered spyware as well. To the program's advantage, it cleaned the browser and Windows itself to the point where simply going into Add/Remove Programs would finish the job. I did run Adaware and Spybot afterwards, and they both removed about 100 more minor traces of spyware each. Lesson learned: when dealing with spyware, try to use as many removal programs as possible... they all catch different things. ZeroSpyware is also "resident" and protects you from spyware in realtime, which is good if you install it BEFORE you start heavily using the internet.
The protection offered is good. It catches things running on your computer as well as things you install. It doesn't block them, it tells you that something is installed and then does a full scan to remove everything. I would have liked the program to block things automatically, but this is better than nothing. The program also has a helpful 'process viewer' that shows unknown and known spyware processes: a useful feature for advanced users.
<B>Conclusion</B>:
<a href="http://www.fbmsoftware.com/pmain~sid~7967186~bttn~211~id~3.html">ZeroSpyware</a> is a good alternative (or, even better, ADDITION) to removal programs such as Spybot & Adaware. Those two programs may be great, but do not offer the realtime protection that ZeroSpyware offers. <a href="http://images.aselabs.com/adlink.php?do=adlink&id=5">For $30, you get a nice removal program and decent realtime protection at the same time</a>. I think the price is worth the piece of mind you get. Make sure to install <a href="http://www.lavasoftusa.com">Adaware</a> & <a href="http://www.spybot.info">Spybot</a> as well and use them weekly.
I'd like to thank Tracy from <a href="http://www.fbmsoftware.com">FBM Software</a> for making this review possible.