Registry cleaning error?

Got your own spyware horror story?

My sister-in-law purchased the Registry cleaner Error Guard a short while ago. Because I also was looking for a Registry cleaner, I bought it about a month later. A month or so after that, her computer became unstable and finally she was unable to use it. Run Error Guard, I continually told her. Then my computer also became unstable. I tried everything I knew to fix it, finally downloading and installing Ad-Aware. When I scanned, it detected a huge amount of malware. Did that mean old malware jumped into my computer all by itself? I think not. I think it was Error Guard.

Cleaning Error Guard off our computers worked for both of us. Once we repaired the damage Error Guard made, our computers worked fine. It seems as if Error Guard was programmed to start malfunctioning enough time after its purchase so we couldn't get our money back. I reported them to both Clickbank and the Federal Communications Commission, but I haven't heard if they've been punished.

-Marilyn
Boise, Idaho, U.S.A.

Reply from the Download.com editors:

Unfortunately it's a somewhat common practice for people to bundle adware and other malware with computer maintenance and security programs. This tricky practice draws users in with the promise of a safer, cleaner system when actually the program in question can cause far worse problems. Error Guard hasn't ever been in the Download.com library, so we haven't evaluated it fully. Opinions on the Internet are somewhat mixed, though there seem to be many people with similar stories to yours and the rather brief Wikipedia entry (which should be taken with a grain of salt) calls it "spyware."

Error Guard is still in business, however, and still offering its product as a free download. Although we're not in the practice of policing software outside of our Web site, we work extremely hard to keep malware out of the nearly 50,000 Windows products we do offer on Download.com. You can rest assured that files from our site will not contain any malicious bundles. If and when they are found, those products are removed immediately.

For a great Registry cleaner with strong reviews, try TweakNow RegCleaner. This free program offers a default Beginners Mode, and it also can easily revert your Registry in case a mistake is made.