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The great spyware-killer match-up
By H. Cunningham
(4/30/03)
When the good guys duke it out, who do you root for? When adware scourge and old-school champion Ad-aware gets into a throw-down with the equally privacy-savvy newcomer Spybot - Search & Destroy, you almost wish some baddie would leap into the ring so the two could tag team and rid the planet of spyware villains forever. But if one of them has got to be your privacy pit bull, with all the bad guys lurking around the Web’s dark corners looking to embed their bots between your computer’s shoulder blades, a little mano-a-mano may just show who has best got your back.
Interface
Both contenders sport an easy-to-use interface that lets you get down to scumware-kicking business from the get-go. On start-up, Spybot auto-displays compatibility warnings about other spyware/adware detection programs you may have installed, reminding you where false positives may kick up in those programs. Sleeker by far than up-and-coming challenger Spybot, newly redesigned Ad-aware 6.0 is a minimalist design dreamboat that still packs a lot of punch. Clunkier and more tricked-out Spybot features buttons in its left-side panel with somewhat mixed purposes. Some buttons activate functions, while others navigate to screens within the program. Spybot's overwrought interface is a little schizophrenic, offering an easy mode and an advanced mode. It doesn't let you switch modes with the program running, and the only way to launch the advanced mode is to dig into the Spybot folder of your Programs menu. Ad-aware easily takes this round for its aesthetics and ease-of-use.
Functionality
These advert-bashing pros know their moves: each can seek out and quarantine or destroy unwelcome computer guests within a few minutes of the bell, using the default scanning options. Spybot showed faster reflexes than Ad-aware, giving it an edge. Since any scan software is only as good as its library of known offenders, easy updating is critical; and our two champions both have lightning-fast reflexes and easy one-button updating of their databases. Still, when they’re actively taking up mat space, you feel it, and it’s best not to try and do anything else while they have a chokehold on your CPU. Both also lost points for missing components that the other program handily caught: Spybot was lax about some usage tracks that Ad-aware nailed, and Ad-aware failed to alert us to a DSO exploit and Registry entries that posed a potential threat.
Features
Spybot and Ad-aware both include features that even an amateur can appreciate. Activating Ad-aware’s Ad-watch feature effectively ankle-locks any browser hijack attempts or suspicious processes and keeps the Startup Registry from being rewritten without express permission. Ad-aware also supports shell extensions, so you can right-click in Explorer to perform Ad-aware scans on particular files or folders. In the other corner, Spybot’s Secure Shredder delivers a death-blow to files you never want anyone to see again, and its start-up tuner lets you see exactly what programs kick in when you boot your computer. It also displays a pop-up on any report item containing in-depth information about the file, so you can decide what to do about it. Spybot also packs a wallop in its Immunize feature, letting you custom-select levels of immunity to stop known threats from ever hitting your hard drive. Spybot's many useful features make it a good system utility as well as adware killer.
Quality
While Ad-aware has the show-stopping outfit of a longtime pro, and newcomer Spybot has the gritty appeal of a freeware street fighter, it would be wrong to judge these heavyweights on style alone. While Spybot is decidedly lighter on its feet when running, both programs are well-engineered. Both sport extensive help files, both are easy to implement, and both swing a mighty fist in letting you wage your battle using effective defaults or customization options. And their stats may surprise you: easy-automate champion Ad-aware weighs in at a bantam 1.8MB vs. Spybot’s whopping 6.9MB. Spybot’s extra weight is easily justified by its more extensive help and advanced features, and save for a few Registry entries, this Andre the Giant of spyware-killing apps disappeared as completely on uninstall as its wispier competitor.
The winner
While both reigning champion Ad-aware 6.0 and Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.2 float like a butterfly and sting like a bee, this is one knock-down drag-out that should have been a tag team match from the get-go. Even with a firewall and another adware detector already installed, we found that these two spyware-killing heroes worked best together at thoroughly cleaning up the ring. And with all the evil out there, why not have a fearsome duo covering your back?
H. Cunningham, a frequent contributor to CNET, is a freelance Web designer working primarily to keep her Chihuahua in furs.
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