Diminished by annoying nag screens and ill-advised automatic "opt in" for annual renewals

software: Webroot Spy Sweeper Antispyware 5.x

software:


	• Webroot Spy Sweeper Antispyware 5.x Windows \| Webroot Software, 2005 view larger image
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Your most reliable protection

By far the greatest dangers lurking on the internet are not viruses but trojans, browser highjackers and cookies. While Norton is arguably the best anti-virus software and the best firewall it has flaws. Long before Norton will notice a problem, Spy Sweeper will bag it and tag it. Hackers have learned to hide viruses in cookies and trojans instead of sending them out on their own. With Spy Sweeper you have very good protection against trojans and cookies and excellent protection against highjackers; these are the nasty bugs that cause your browser to lock onto their web page.

Here's some comments on Spy Sweepers operational behavior. It is slow to start up so give it some time. The first thing it will do is load a fresh copy of instructions from their website every morning. This will delay browser operation but it's necessary to keep you out of trouble. I just grab a cup of coffee and let it finish, which takes about 2 minutes. Spy Sweep is a little intrusive when it knows there is a program update scheduled so my advice is go with the flow.

As I pointed out, Spy Sweeper provides only fair protection against trojans, cookies and adware. There is free software that will cover this vulnerability but like everything free there is a price: poor updating. When you buy software, or subscribe might be a better word, they guarantee that they will support you. I've tried four softwares to cover this vulnerability, i.e., software I've purchased or freeware, including ZonePro's product (a purchase), spykiller (a purchase) and spybot. I settled on Spyware Doctor and one made by Sun. Spyware Doctor does an excellent job, often catching bugs before Spy Sweeper. Between the two of them, I seldom fall back on Norton for protection. The only problem with Spy Sweeper,initially, is that it did not like other protection software and would frequently alarm during start-up. It's nothing serious, just close the window properly and all will be well. Apparently, Webroot became aware of this problem and Spy Doctor has run fine for several months without interference.

As pointed out, the trojans, adware and cookies are the worst danger to your system. If your browser is highjacked, you can sometimes reload it.

In all fairness to Spy Sweeper, there are just too many hackers out there. All it takes is one twist in their software and they have invented a new bug. It is best to have at least one other bug-killer running. I often let one run first, then the other and then I reverse it. Shut down after a bug hunt to clear the damage.

If you can afford only one other protection, besides an anti-virus program, then spend your money on Spy Sweeper.

I hope this review was helpful. If so, please add your vote. I write these reviews at a considerable expense of time and money as a public service. I believe that Amazon provides the best reviews and often serves as the best means of efficiently buying products.

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PS.
I find the value of software firewall, such as Norton and ZonePros, to be limited. The same can be said of hardware firewalls, though the later are more effective.

Hardware firewalls work on the principle of creating one or more false targets for the hacker's software to attack. Unfortunately, being hardwired, it is easier to develop a work-around with software than with hardware. This could change with a new generation of software on the horizon; if they ever get it off the drawing board.

By the way, I spent a lot of money and time figuring out what works and what does not. The hackers got my blood up one day when I was plugged into the company's high security system and somebody shutdown my computer in less than a minute from South America. I was looking for a novel scrubber design presented in a paper from a university. After that, I spent about a year, at night, testing software. Eventually, I settled on some proven principles. I have not lost a computer in several years.

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Diminished by annoying nag screens and ill-advised automatic "opt in" for annual renewals

Spy sweeper was one of the first high-quality spyware detection programs available. Although there are now a number of free products with similar or, arguably, enhanced capabilities. So in evaluating this product there are at least two important questions to consider: 1) Has Spysweeper kept ahead of its competitor's capabilities, and 2) is it more comfortable to use.

As to capabilities I can only speak from personal experience. Unlike at least one other reviewer here, I have been lucky enough that all malware I found was identified not only by Spysweeper but by other free malware programs I also run as an extra check. To date, my other malware detection software has worked as well as Spysweeper. Fortunately, I have not yet had any occasion where I could confirm the presence of any additional detection capabilities that may be present in Spysweeper.

I initially had a problem with Spysweeper's E-mail attachment shield which prevented my sending email. This required me to disable the E-mail shield. Fortunately, that incompatibility is no longer present, perhaps as a result of one of Spysweeper's appreciated and frequent updates, or an E-mail update.

Spysweeper still has some minor implementation issues. As one example, it specifies the number of cookies it finds. However, unless it determines a cookie is a problem, e.g., a tracking cookie, it provides no further information. A better approach would be for Spysweeper to list all cookies it finds with their location and allow users to decide which, if any, cookies to keep. My current version of Spysweeper still takes quite a while to complete a full sweep. Although one reviewer mentions sweeps completed in 5-6 minutes, I've never had sweep times even approach those results. On an XP system with many files, I've had sweep times exceed an hour. Perhaps the differences in sweep speed results arise from the use of the "quick sweep" option rather than the "full sweep" option I use. It is not clear if the relatively long sweep times are due to thoroughness or to less efficient algorithm designs.

Many of my disappointments with Spysweeper relate to the company's continued and intrusive sales "nags" after purchase, while making it difficult to avoid or eliminate them.

For example, when you select Update Spysweeper manually from the software's Options page, your browser is opened and you are taken to one of the company's web pages (nag screens), even if your product is up-to-date. There you'll find the option "Add Antivirus", even if Spysweeper's antivirus is already installed. This is an unnecessary, and time-wasting annoyance. Approximately two weeks before your annual subscription comes to an end you are continually presented with another "nag" screen you must respond to each time Spysweeper starts, and there is apparently no way to prevent this screen from appearing until you either update Spysweeper or just remove it from your computer, another unnecessary and time-consuming nuisance.

Spysweeper recently added a new "feature" to its on-site purchase option. Now whenever you decide to buy a Spysweeper product, or simply update your Spysweeper software to include antivirus protection, Spysweeper automatically "opts you in" for an annual and continuous subscription renewal.

What makes this particularly vexing is that to opt out you must go to another URL and re-enter the information you already entered to buy the original product. After you re-enter and send this opt out information a blank browser page appears with no indication that your opt out request was processed or accepted. A simple check box allowing you to opt in or out would do, but, sadly, the apparent goal is to make opting out difficult.

Spysweeper appears to be a competent product, albeit, with some technical issues. However, in rating it I considered not only its technical features, but also how user-friendly I felt it was for a purchased product. In this comparison, Spysweeper's intrusive sales approach, and its ill-advised tactic of opting you in for annual renewals, without your explicit approval, were significant negatives. More intrusive occurrences might be expected and accepted from free software, but not for a purchased product.

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Spyware is the Internet s fastest growing threat to personal privacy and a leading cause of fraud and identity theft. When surfing the internet Spyware can infect your system in many different ways. Webroot® Spy Sweeper® gives you 360 degrees of protection from the spyware threat. Powerful new Smart Shields block known and emerging infections as you browse - before they ever reach your computer and personal information. If your PC is already infected Spy Sweeper's advanced discovery methods find and destroy malicious spyware that hides within your PC - even spyware that hides using rootkit technology.Most comprehensive anti-spyware solution available - 360 degrees of protectionContinuous monitoring stops spyware before it can attackAdvanced detection and removal capabilities for stubborn spywareAutomatic defense updates keep you protected from the latest threatsFREE customer supportSystem Requirements:Windows 2000 XP Pro XP Home XP Media Center XP Tablet Vista Home Basic Vista Home Premium Vista Business Vista Ultimate 300 Mhz 15 MB hard drive space 256 MB Ram Supports Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher Format: WIN 98ME2000XPVISTA Genre: UTILITIES UPC: 667208664108 Manufacturer No: 66410

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