- Quick specs
- Price: Free $24.95 to buy (Buy it now)
- Operating system: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/Server 2008/7
- Date added: April 29, 2010
- Total Downloads: 46,921,924
- Downloads last week: 648,156
- Product Ranking: #1 in Spyware Removers
- See full specifications
- CNET Community
- This product is on 93 member lists. Add to my list Add to my Watch List
- CNET editors' rating: stars
- Average user rating: stars out of 3584 votes
See all user reviews - CNET Editors' ChoiceApr 09
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: Seth Rosenblatt on February 10, 2009
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is a surprisingly effective freeware antimalware tool. It's a relatively speedy malware remover, with the quick scan taking about 8 minutes even with other high-resource programs running. The heuristics engine proved on multiple computers during empirical testing that it was capable of determining the difference between false positives and dangerous apps.
The app has some nice features rolled in, too. It supports multiple drive scanning including networked drives, context menu options including a scan-on-demand for individual files, and the FileAssassin option under the More Tools section for removing locked files. The interface is simple, but pleasant-looking and well-organized. Tabs live just below the oversized logo, with few options per tab to keep down the clutter. The installation process was fast enough, but interestingly offered up the well-kept changelog and an instant definition file update.
Do note that the real-time protection is restricted to the paid version, as is the scheduler for updates and scans. Overall, though, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is a responsive malware remover that does what it should with a minimum of fuss.
Watch the CNET video review of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware:Publisher's description
From Malwarebytes :Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware is a high performance anti-malware application that thoroughly removes even the most advanced malware and spyware. With one of the fastest, most effective quick scans and malware removal capabilities on the market, this program is the perfect addition to your PC's defenses. The full version of the product includes a number of key features, including the ability to schedule updates and scans and most importantly, a real-time malware protection module that blocks malicious processes before they even start.
What's new in this version:
- Improved database loading speed by approximately 15%.
- Drastically improved performance of Website Blocking on Windows Vista and 7.
- Fixed various scheduler compatibility issues on Windows 2000.
- Fixed issue with quotations around paths passed to /logtofile and /logtofolder.
- Fixed issue with detecting certain leftover traces of an infection.
- Fixed issue with freeze when adding a shared printer on the network.
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User reviews
- All versions: 4.5 starsout of 3584 votes
- 5 stars
- 4 stars
- 3 stars
- 2 stars
- 1 stars
- Current version: 4.5 starsout of 300 votes
- 5 stars
- 4 stars
- 3 stars
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- 1 stars
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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3 stars
12 out of 15 people found this review helpful
Version: Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.46
"It found some trojans/virus but not all"
Pros: It was easy to set up and run.
Cons: USed to clean as 2nd step in a 4-step process in safe mode to clean 2 computers. In each case it found 1 trojan worm and. Susequent programs found 4 more. It did not find a very nasty trojan that hunts credit card info.
Summary: It is a tool. No one tool, free or purchased, is a total solution to the universal problem of virus or trojan worm infestationsl.
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5 stars
16 out of 21 people found this review helpful
Version: Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.46
"Cleaned my computer under attack!"
Pros: Quick scan took 5 minutes and found 5 viruses and rootkits after my computer had the blue screen of death and had to be restarted in safe-mode! afterwards I could run things like normal!
Cons: None so far really. The only probably is running the full scan is a tad-bit lengthy... but, same with all virus-scanners that work.
Summary: Saved my computer during a rough time :) was quick and efficient in getting rid of the bad stuff. I would definitely recommend this to everyone.
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4 stars
7 out of 9 people found this review helpful
Version: Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.46
"Got rid of AV Security Suite"
Pros: I had to get it cuz i got attacked by AV Security Suite (the fake AV nightmare)yesterday, and it was fast and easy to install and got rid of the main problem.
Cons: It turned out that I had a separate Google search redirect virus that Malwarebytes unfortunately didn't catch. If anyone reading has the same problem, i JUST got rid of it with TDSSKiller. http://support.kaspersky.com/viruses/solutions?qid=208280684
Summary: Got rid of half of my problem! Still impressed.
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4 stars
10 out of 14 people found this review helpful
Version: Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.46
"Seems OK so far"
Pros: Uneventful install, ran as advertised, found no problems and the company has informed me of an update.
Cons: As a free program, user options are minimal - the norm on such programs - and for those who worry or should, the key missing function in the free V is running resident. However I prefer to keep the overhead on my PC low anyway, so no prob for me.
Summary: I always run AVG Free anti-virus, run behind a strong router password and try to avoid "social engineering" schemes that get me to open the door to malware. On previous machines I've run Spybot, Ad-aware and other anti-spyware programs, but never on this newer one. When most of my Hotmail disappeared, MS informed me it couldn't be recovered and suggested the problem was not theirs and the cause was likely malware on my machine.
I regard this as classic "passing the buck," i.e., "it couldn't have been us. We're Microsoft!" I had no signs of malware and my computer runs fine, but I decided it couldn't hurt to install a program. This one seemed to have good reviews and was a CNet choice, so I tried it. It found nothing and told me so. So, so far, so good.
Conventional wisdom is that none of these programs finds everything, so running multiple programs (not concurrently!) is often recommended. That advice probably applies here and I've nothing bad to say about my previous programs mentioned above for those who are dealing with active malware already on their PC's -
3 stars
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.46
"Seems to do the job"
Pros: Easy to use.
Cons: I haven't noticed anything negative to date.
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4 stars
Version: Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.46
"flat out works, usually what I reach for first"
Pros: ease of use
Cons: nothing...
Summary: highly recommended
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5 stars
Version: Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.46
"Does just what it should"
Pros: I saw this recommened here on cnet, downloaded it and have been very pleased. Part of several tools I use to protect my pc.
Cons: no complaints.
Summary: Great call by cnet for recommending it and by its creators for making it work so nicely.
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5 stars
Version: Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.46
"Always in my toolkit"
Pros: Effective, rarely shows false positives, no lockups or crashes
Cons: none really, anything I miss in the free version I get out of the full version.
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5 stars
Version: Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.46
"Safe Cleanup"
Pros: Easy to use. Seems complete.
Cons: None I know of yet.
Summary: Easy to download and install. Easy to set to work. Runs without much user fussing.
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5 stars
Version: Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.46
"Great Product..."
Pros: I like the quick scan feature.
Cons: None that I know of.
Summary: Would Recomend !!!
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