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Best Free Adware-Spyware-Scumware Remover
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Introduction
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The internet is a dangerous place to be in the 21st century, with many people using increasingly ingenious ways to part you with your hard earned cash, whether it be by exploitation, surreptitiously harvesting your credit card and bank details for their own nefarious purposes, or tempting you to spend money on products and services that you neither need nor want. During the latter years of the 20th century, and the early years of the 21st, Spybot S&D and AdAware were kings, protecting you from all manner of malware that tried to infect your computer with the sole intention of parting you from your wallet. But as technology improves, so do the malware writers, and the kings of yesterday in terms of protection may no longer be up to the job. With every new generation of malware, there will be a new generation of software to combat it, and in my own tests, these are the best free products I recommend. |
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Discussion
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Top of the list is Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free (MBAM). MBAM is a top notch and reputable product. A fairly lightweight download (just over 10 MB) and simple installation means this is not a burdensome product. In my testing, even when the PC was severely infected with many nasties running, it started without any problem and scanned and removed those nasties effectively. The interface is very simple, the scans are very fast and detection is first class. A reboot to complete cleaning was still required for some malware, though this is a minor inconvenience, and required by most programs of this type. The only downside is it has no portable version, and if there is no working network connection in the infected PC you won't be able to download the latest virus definition updates. Second is SUPERAntiSpyware (SAS). Once upon a time this was a good product but recent releases have not been up to the mark. The interface is simple, updates are speedy but it still installs a start-up item which doesn't actually do anything at all. The scan speed is twice to thrice that of MBAM and the detection is less than half of it. The removal also left a lot to be desired. It left a few nasties running even when it showed them as removed. SAS also requires a reboot to complete the removal process. The upside is, it has a portable version which will help with the removal of infections from computers without a working network connection. I hope version 5 brings improvements. ~~~~~ Below is the old review which is still going to be updated ~~~~~
Top of the list once again is SuperAntiSpyware, which successfully detected and cleaned 121 threats on my test system. A fairly lightweight download and simple installation (5.99 MB) mean that this is not a burdensome product. If anything the general package whilst aesthetically similar, has improved, managing to detect and clean after a single scan rather than the two scans required previously. A reboot to complete cleaning was still required, though this is a minor inconvenience, and required by most packages. If I had to raise a criticism, it's that the freeware version still installs a start-up item which doesn't actually do anything at all. In the paid version, it loads the always on protection which is not available in the freeware version. This minor annoyance aside, it remains my top recommendation.
Promoted this time to joint second place is Emsisoft Anti Malware free edition, and let me be very clear that it is ONLY the free edition that I am able to recommend. Emsisoft Anti Malware was able to identify just 43 infections; though some of the more serious threats identified by SAS were included in these. If we disregard tracking cookies, then the margins narrow. However, detection rate is only half the battle, and unfortunately EAM was unable to automatically clean some of the more virulent infections found by itself. Nevertheless, it helpfully provides a link to forums for manual removal instructions.
The downside of EAM is the download size, being a huge 91.69 MB, immediately followed by further updates. Anyone on restricted bandwidth or dial up may be advised to look elsewhere, but for an average broadband connection this should not be a factor.
Separating A2 and MBAM is almost impossible. I found them to be on a par with each other regarding their scans, but both require a technical proficiency that many may not possess; A2 requires manual removal of many threats, whilst MBAM forced me to jump through hoops to get it working.
PCTools SpywareDoctor SE also performed well in scanning, finding 24 threats (excluding cookies). Unfortunately, cleaning the system proved more problematic. Despite reporting successful cleansing, SD failed to terminate processes already running, and did not in fact clean some of the more annoying infections. It would also be useful if SD prompted a reboot after cleansing, though it did not do this, and only experience dictated that this would be a good idea.
SD does, however, include real time protection, which most other products don't, and this protection did block those infections that it had failed to clean. Nevertheless, a further scan and clean with SAS was needed to fully clean my test system. A fine effort, but sadly falling short of the mark. Do note that the free version is no longer available from the PCTools website. It can be obtained as part of the Google pack, or from *here. *Warning: This is a Cnet download link. Downloads from Cnet (Download.com) now require the use of a proprietary installer.
Old timer Ad-Aware, coming in at 35.7MB performed reasonably, if not exceptionally, finding a further 24 infections even after cleaning with A-squared, 4 of which represented real threats, whilst the remaining 20 were cookies.
Doing less well in on demand tests were Spybot S&D, and The Cleaner 2010. Spybot was the other program that was actively blocked from running, and nothing I tried could overcome this. It does come with an on demand file scanner which can be run from the command line and set to scan your entire drive. However, after letting this run for over an hour and noting that progress had barely touched my relatively small installation system (2.1 GB) I cancelled. It would take an age to complete the scan, and would only examine files. Registry entries and services would be left untouched. The Cleaner 2010 found absolutely none.
Arovax Shield is still in development, and starting to mature, though there are still bugs to be ironed out. For example, once installed, and after the obligatory reboot to enable it to start it's services, it immediately complained that it could not find Firefox. This is no surprise since FF was not installed on the test system, though I fail to see why it should prevent it from doing its job. Maybe as time progresses this will become more viable, but in my opinion it isn't quite there yet.
And so that leads us to my standard "other recommendations". Internet Explorer has now reached version 8, which I am sure will become the most prolific web browser before too long, and as such will be the most heavily targeted. I stand by previous recommendations that an alternative browser (of which there are many free ones these days, including Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome and Safari) will offer a safer browsing experience.
And in order to shut the door after the horse has bolted, there are few more useful than HiJack This, which is still a tool requiring expert help, but can be invaluable in helping to clean an infected system. Fortunately, the expert help is still only a forum away.
And as always, let common sense guide you. Don't run a program from an untrusted source, and don't visit websites where infection is likely. You should also beware of popups from programs that you haven't installed, some of the fake anti-spyware I managed to pick up in my browsing sessions was surprisingly convincing. Remember, sometimes malware will scream into your face that it is there (see pic, not a genuine window amongst them). It will just not tell you what it really is.
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Related Products and Links
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Some issues have been reported on 64 bit systems
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Editor
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This software category is in need of an editor. If you would like to give something back to the freeware community by taking it over, check out this page for more details. You can then contact us from that page or by clicking here |
The comments section below is so lengthy that it has become difficult for our visitors to read. Future posts will now be edited for length and repetition, and personal attacks deleted. You are all welcome to join our Security Forum which is much better-suited for intensive debate.
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Comments
Hi Anupam
MBAM & SAS + others serve excellently as tools for cleanup of compromised machines with old or poor AV protection.
NB Do you mean the only Free Software that you know of.
I'm not aware of too many AVs that miss most spyware & this includes Free products. Spyware/Malware/Scumware removers act as passive scanners as backups to good AVs & also as tools for maintenance & cleanup.
The issues facing us are -
a) what AV product you have running & how well it does a variety of tasks.
b) What activities you use your PC for & potentially how exposed it is to compromise.
c) Defining those compromises &
d) where your AV product may not cover them have supplement products with procedures in place to reduce or close your exposure.
This category as I understand it covers some of d) but not a) which is a separate category.
How well AV Products do a variety of tasks & what those tasks should be is certainly contentious.
I do use WOT. Interestingly, it was an Education website that deposited the installer. Coincidentally, it was from an Education website that I received the only virus I've ever detected...
A HIPS/ Status guard program like WinPatrol is very good (I use Threatfire now), but I like to think of these malware like STDs: First, if I can avoid putting myself in the position to catch one (by not visiting a site), excellent. Second, I'd prefer to be protected from the exposure (Real-Time) rather than have to treat the symptoms later! :D
Didn't mean to co-opt the comments section. Regards
A sound policy. Your input is appreciated.:)
Yes, I totally accept your point of view. It's not a good practice to run 2 more real time security programs on your computer. Not only there would be a dip in performance, they can also conflict each other. The AV's today are able to capture most of the spywares that Antispywares with real time protection can. The only factor that determines this is if you want to allow your antivirus to enable detection of potentially unwanted programs. The so called toolbars are essentially not malicious, they are sometimes installed on purpose by certain people, and therefore they don't want their antiviruses to detect them as malware. Hence most antiviruses now come with detection of PUP's but they are usually disabled by default.
If you have enabled detection of PUP's in your AV, then it should be able to defend your system against rogue software, adware (browser hijackers) and spywares (keyloggers), remote control tools, network sniffers, ftp servers etc to a certain extent. If these files appears on your system, without your knowledge, it means that you've been a victim of the malware. The toolbars are actually opt-in or opt-out, it's upto the user to determine whether he wants it on the system or not. So, after all it's not that AV's are not able to detect them - the question is whether the user actually wants these PUP's to be detected, because they are not bad per se, only if abused.
But where these Anti-Spywares shines is that, they are much better than an Antivirus in removal capabilities, that is once your system gets infected by spwares and the like. That is why most tools that you use to cleanse your system after an infection include anti-spywares like MBAM, HijackThis, Old Timer and even anti-rootkits like GMER etc and not an AV.
So I believe this category should be about "Removers" rather than "Real time Protectors"
I've been using SuperAntiSpyware for a couple of years, but noticed here that Malwarebytes Anti-Malware has a better detection rate so I downloaded a copy to give it a try (they currently offer a 15 trial free trial of the pro version). I did a complete scan with MAM and it didn't detect any threats. I then ran SAS and it picked up 7 tracking cookies (mainly google). Does this mean that MAM has different criteria? I don't have much tech knowledge but I think that a google cookie would hardly be a difficult thing to detect.
This has been highlighted & discussed here before.
Tracking cookies aren't really Adware, Spyware or Scumware. & it is to some degree questionable how they're harmful in regards to compromising your machine or your software.
If they're of concern & you wish to prevent/stop them Configuration of browsers, among other things, can reduce information passed back the sources of tracking cookies.
Avoiding the sources of tracking cookies through things such as WOT & other www blacklist software/sites can also help.
I find this invaluable and it might be useful for you too.
http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/stop-web-trackers-and-protect-yo...
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/donottrackplus/
Thanks for the links. Does this do the same as Ghostery?
thanks for the info
Hmmm,
I am a bit upset,
MBAM is no longer free!
The download is now a trial only for 30 days with limitations.
Off to the re-review boards to re-assess some more.
Any/all pointers to free products that aren't among the above recommendations are welcome along with your experiences & comments.
regards,
MhR
They still advertise a free version as do Softpedia.
http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware.shtml
The last time I looked at this, the trial was indeed offered as an option at the time of install, but could be declined.
Malwarebytes AntiMalware Free is free for only non-commercial use. I don't see any mention of it on any of the web pages, but the installer has a checkbox to agree that it is for non-commercial use.
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware (free) has been updated to v1.65.0.1400 (2012.09.11), incorporating several new features, improvements and bug fixes (full changelog at http://www.softpedia.com/progChangelog/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware-Changel...). The executable weighs-in at 10 MB and can be downloaded from Softpedia at http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware.shtml.
I am surprised that SuperAntiSpyware can still find tracking cookies despite my use of CCleaner.
Tracking cookies spy on you and me. Although they are not immediately harmful as they only compromise our 'privacy', I feel that anti-spyware program should remove these.
SUPERAntiSpyware has been updated to v5.6.0.1014 (2012.11.02) - https://www.superantispyware.com/index.html; the complete (and cumulative) release history can be found at https://www.superantispyware.com/producthistory.html?id=SUPERANTISPYWARE....
Re: MalwareBytes "A portable version of this product is available but not from the developer". So can you give us a link? Cause if you can't, I would consider omitting that line.
Hi,
I'm not too sure if you did 'Google' it at all ?
.. in amongst the 1st few links =>
http://portablexapps.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/malwarebytes-anti-malware-p...
or Script it yourself as per another link =>
I've made an auto-installer to make malwarebytes "almost" portable or as close to it. (install, choose to update or not, run, uninstall) completely automatic if no threats found!
This is of course using the approved normal install downloaded from malwarebytes.org. I'll just post my batch scripts, one to run, the other to update. So, it should be legal because it's using the normal malwarebytes downloads.
1. create a folder called "malwarebytes" on your flash drive, download the latest from malwarebytes.org and save there.
2. download choice.exe and save to the malwarebytes folder http://winsupport.org/utilities/freedos-choice.html
3. copy and paste the text of these two scripts to text files on your flash drive, rename them to whatever.bat
4. use "runmalwarebytes.bat" to run the program, the first one will call the second batch if you push y to update, or in 5 seconds it will continue with current version on the flash drive already.
(runmalwarebytes.bat)
@echo off
cd \Malwarebytes
set drive=%cd:~0,3%
echo %drive%
echo installing Malwarebytes
FOR %%M IN (mbam*.EXE) DO %%M /silent
echo.
choice /b /c:yn /t:n,5 PRESS Y TO UPDATE BEFORE RUN
if errorlevel 2 GOTO NOUP
if errorlevel 1 (
call update-rules.bat
"C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbam.exe" /scan -full -terminate
goto end
)
:NOUP
xcopy malwarebytes "c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\malwarebytes" /y /s /c /d
"C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbam.exe" /scan -full -terminate
:end
"C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\unins000.exe" /SILENT
(Update-rules.bat)
@echo off
set drive=%cd:~0,3%
echo %drive%
if not exist "C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbam.exe" goto end
echo updating malwarebytes
"C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbam.exe" /update
xcopy "c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\malwarebytes" %drive%\malwarebytes /y /s /c /d
:end
Might want to let the editor of this category update the link for Malwarebytes. CNET has disappointed by now forcing one to do an extra step of downloading clutterware that THEN downloads the desired software. I've used your link to Softpedia to get MBAM. I refuse to be forced to download clutterware (CNET and Brothersoft now both do this). There's another service, but I do not recall which it was, that also do this too. I really hate this downloader crap as it's REALLY easy to include an OpenCandy or ItemMonetizer routine to such downloads. Then you're stuck with it.
EDIT
I stand corrected, just noticed that there is a warning in the body of the text, I missed it because I went straight to the download link section which doesn't make any mention thereat.
-Lance
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.70 (free version) named "Editors Choice" for free removal-only antivirus by PCMag.com. See:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2415255,00.asp
I agree with rfithen. I did google it, but i don't like to download security software from unknown sites. I checked both Portableapps.com and The Portable Freeware Collection, but no luck on MBAM, except for the script and that's not what i call portable. A link to a reliable portable version should be included when the developer doesn't offer the portable version.
Can I please just mention that both links to the Malware download sites, in this article, are both broken at the moment (being 30 Mar 2013).
It is of course available on Softpedia
(http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware.shtml)
(I hope I was allowed to post that link?)
:)
PS This is the BEST site, the absolute best site, for just about anything & everything I could ever need in my computer's and/or my life! The information is always correct & well sourced. If I follow the reviews, recommendations & instructions on this site, I am guaranteed to be one very happy customer. Thank you all for all your hard work :)
Thank you for your kind appreciation :).
Yes, the Softpedia link is allowed.
However, I just checked, and both the links to MBAM are working. Maybe some problem at your end?
Both links working from here too. MC - Site Manager.
...and they work fine on my end too. Conclusion: It's most likely something on the OP's end.
This might give more options for the OP to try.
http://www.isitdownrightnow.com/malwarebytes.org.html
Another possibility of course is the computer might be infected. MC - Site Manager.
Nice suggestion MC. Didn't know such a service existed myself, so I've learned something new too ;).
MBAM was updated to version 1.75.0.1300 with added ability to scan within archives.
SAS was updated to version 5.6.1020.