Ad-Aware 9.6

One of the first applications built to find and remove malware and spyware, Ad-Aware's reputation is

 well-justified. The latest version continues the publisher's tradition of adroitly addressing user concerns, but flaws remain.

Building on the improvements made in version 8, former Ad-Aware users should be glad to hear that the program installs faster than before. This version of Ad-Aware offers two new features to users of the free version that had previously been restricted to the paid upgrades: antivirus protection, and a long-awaited scheduler. The AV protection comes courtesy Sunbelt, makers of Vipre. Ad-Aware 8.3 loads faster during your boot cycle, and scans are fast. Empirical tests noted that while the Quick Scan finished in less than 10 minutes for version 8, the current version's Quick Scan finished in under 3 minutes. Previous files that had been falsely detected as threats weren't flagged this time around, probably due in part to Ad-Aware's behavioral detection engine. Called Genotype, it's based on heuristics and uses a one-pass scanning system. Genotype isn't directly exposed to users, although you can opt in to anonymously contribute data from the Settings menu. The new version also explicitly calls out in the scan windows what the scan looks for.

antivirus programs are no longer what the regular user wants, since Internet Security suites, heftier software sporting multiple layers of security, have taken their place. Comodo released the first Internet Security suite , then came Agnitum’s turn with their Outpost Security Suite and now Lavasoft issues Ad-Aware Free Internet Security program.

Our experience with installing the product included a computer restart at the end of the procedure for all the new files to sink into the system and everything to work okay. But free as it is, this version of Ad-Aware generates revenue for further development by prompting the user to install Google Chrome if it is not already present on the system.

There is one drawback to Ad-Aware Free Internet Security. It doesn't provide real-time comprehensive protection, which means that to keep yourself safe, you'll have to regularly scan your system. (It provides basic real-time protection, but that doesn't include Registry protection, or real-time behavior-based heuristic scanning.) For full real-time protection you can get the $30 Ad-Aware Internet Security Pro or the new $50 Ad-Aware Total Internet Security.