Top 2 Spyware Review: Spyware Doctor & Webroot Spy Sweeper
Computers, much like car engines, respond slowly or sluggishly for a variety of reasons, the most common being nasty bits of software commonly known as "computer viruses". These unwanted programs infect a system by running undetected in the background, which takes up valuable computer processing time.
Types of Viruses
Adware programs typically track what Web sites you've visited, which is extremely valuable information to marketing companies; they get a good idea of consumer spending habits and sell this information to retailers. Based on your browsing history, adware also may redirect your Internet browser to undesirable Web sites.
Spyware takes things a bit further by capturing credit card information and passwords. It records every key that you press during a session on the computer and makes the information available to a third party. You can pick up spyware by visiting the most innocent Web sites or even from an email attachment sent by a trusted friend.
Malware, the nastiest of the three, exists only to make a user's life miserable by deleting files, randomly shutting down the computer and even wiping a hard disk clean. This is worthless software that should be removed as soon as possible.
Fighting Back
The top 2 spyware detection programs on the market right now are Webroot Spy Sweeper and Spyware Dr. Though they perform many of the same functions, each has different strengths and abilities.
Webroot Spy Sweeper is a versatile application that runs quietly in the background and seems quite effective in blocking viruses from making a return appearance. I installed this software on a laptop and it informed me each time a program was trying to access the Internet without my knowledge. It even warned me when a few legitimate programs tried to access the Internet.
If your system takes several minutes to boot up properly, chances are quite good that you have an infestation, which makes Spyware Dr. the best choice for you. This simple, yet effective program performed a deep scan of all the files and programs on my laptop, prepared a list of infections and explained what each was. It takes several minutes to scan the whole system, but it's worth the wait.
A Word of Caution
Anti-spyware programs can incorrectly categorize a legitimate file or program as a virus. It's always good to check each program on the scan list before deleting it to avoid removing a program that you actually need.
Steven Bryan
