My thoughts on it for what it's worth.
Benefits
Very simple installation and setup.
--Incredibly easy to use interface
--Schedule scans/updates
--Have the option to send confirmed/suspected threats to an antispyware community, think its called spynet.
--Allows real time protection
--Detects any changes to IE settings, such as home / search page.
--Detects BOH attempts
--Provides detailed file location information on suspected/confirmed threats.
--Enables user to allow / block for all suspected/confirmed threats.
--Configure default IE settings to be restored in case browser gets hijacked (very cool)
--Nice System Explorer for viewing ActiveX, running processes, startup processes, BHOs, IE Toolbars, Windows Host file, Winsock LSPs, and Shell Execute Hooks
Create restore points when removing.
How well does it work? Well...
Installed
--Alexa Search Bar, produced four pop-up warnings by MSN AS. When I tried to block it using the real time protection, the toolbar was still there. Only after terminating IE and relaunching did the toolbar sort of go away. Instead it appeared in the leftpane as a big gigantic empty space, so in essence it still launched. (Scan removes it completely)
--Weatherbug, produced two pop-up warnings by MSN AS. When I tried to block, installation of Weatherbug was not affected.
Hotbar, produced five pop-up warnings by MSN AS after the installation was complete.
--CometCursor, produced lots of pop-up warnings.
--GAIN, produced pop-ups a few minutes after installation was complete and program was running.
Scanning
--Appeared to scan as fast as Adaware, P3 500 w/ 256mb.
--Detected all the components and their respective registry entries, provided a nice threat level assessment. When I attempted to remove them, several of the apps were still running in the system tray after the removal said it was done.
Removal
--Have the option to remove/ignore/always ignore each one individually.
--Unlinke AdAware, you do not have to select all the associated files. The associated files are grouped under the main threat (ie all Hotbar files are listed under the HotBar threat). So you remove the main threat and all its associated files with one click.
--Lists previously quarantined threats.
--If MSN AS needs to close down IE, it displays a warning message first.
--As the items are removed, gives you a nice message box displaying what program/files are being removed.
Effectiveness
--After the removal process, Weatherbug, Gator, and Comet Cursor still showed in the SystemTray.
--After rebooting, then only Weatherbug showed. I'm assuming the actual Weatherbug app is not considered adaware, but the minibug.exe it comes attached w/ is.
--In the Add/Remove Control Panel, Comet Cursor/Shopper Reports/Starware Ad Zapper programs still showed up. When I tried to remove them, error message appeared indicating it may have already been uninstalled.
--Lavasoft AdAware scan after reboot produced 210 critical objects for Comet Cursor, but none for anything else.
Final thoughts, looks golden in my opinion. Locked up when I tried to view the scan history. A bit sluggish (p3 500 w/ 256mb) navigating from welcome page to advanced tools or to other major components.
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