- Quick specs
- Price: Free
- Operating system: Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP/Vista/NT
- Date added: January 26, 2009
- Total Downloads: 111,294,727
- Downloads last week: 104,464
- See full specifications
- CNET editors' rating: stars
- Average user rating: stars out of 5241 votes
See all user reviews
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: CNET Staff
Spybot - Search & Destroy has been in the antispyware game for a long time offering features we've come to expect in the best apps in the category, but bugs and false positives make it difficult to recommend.
The program checks your system against a comprehensive database of adware and other system invaders. It also features several interface improvements, including multiple skins for dressing up its appearance. Scan results now appear arranged by groups in a tree, and a sliding panel lets you instantly view information about a selected item to help you decide whether to kill it or not. The Immunize feature blocks a plethora of uninvited Web-borne flotsam before it reaches your computer. Other useful tools, including Secure Shredder, complement the program's basic functionality for completely destroying files. Hosts File blocks adware servers from your computer, and System Startup lets you review which apps load when you start your computer.
Unfortunately, the program has the tendency to lock up at times and even during the install process for this review, we encountered several errors. The ambitious feature list and functionality make Spybot a good choice for those in search of a second antispyware program, and recent updates have made it run faster. It still makes errors in flagging spyware that isn't, and overall there are others in the category that do a better job.
Watch the CNET video review of Spybot - Search & Destroy:
Publisher's description
From Patrick M. Kolla :Spybot - Search & Destroy can detect and remove a multitude of adware files and modules from your computer. Spybot also can clean program and Web-usage tracks from your system, which is especially useful if you share your computer. Modules chosen for removal can be sent directly to the included file shredder, ensuring complete elimination from your system. For advanced users, it allows you to fix Registry inconsistencies related to adware and to malicious program installations. The handy online-update feature ensures that Spybot always has the most current and complete listings of adware, dialers, and other uninvited system residents.
What's new in this version:
Version 1.6.2 features support for the latest Opera releases, support for Google Chrome, and improved support for fast user switching while Spybot is running.
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User reviews
- Average user rating: 4.2 stars out of 5241 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 299 user reviewsSee all 299 user reviews
This software version | All versions -
Version: Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.6.2
"It works as well as advertised"
Pros: Quick, unobtrusive and apparently thorough
Cons: none I can find
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Version: Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.6.2
"the best of all.Detects everything anybody thinks of."
Pros: easy to use, never a problem
Cons: can't think of any
Summary: get it
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1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.6.2
"reliable,never had any proglems,its great."
Pros: Its free,runs without slowing computer
Cons: There is nothing I dont like about programe.
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1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.6.2
Pros: Who doesn't love something that is free, and actually works!?
Cons: Some people seem to have trouble with the interface.
Summary: I, like many others, am a long-time user of this software. Older versions did freeze up, but that does not seem to be an issue anymore. I am a PC technician, and I recommend this & Ad-Aware as the perfect team to clean up a slow system.
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1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.6.2
"Been using it for several years. Very good"
Pros: It is not intrusive . It does it's job and you never know it's there
Cons: Can't think of a thing.
- See all 299 user reviews Write review
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