Here is the data behind the rankings. As you'll notice, each of our contestants uses a different name for the elements of spyware it detects. Not only that, each counts those traces differently--which means the sheer number of traces found does not measure how well the program actually performs. Furthermore, runtimes will vary depending on your system; we provide our times for comparison purposes only. In the end, we judged the applications as you would--measuring by how thoroughly they scoured our system.
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Product: Ad-Aware
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Time to scan (min:sec): 4:55
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Requires restart?: No
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Found:
First run: 644 objects, including 180 Search Assistant, BargainBuddy, BookedSpace, DownloadWare, eXact Search Bar, and Lycos Sidesearch (didn't mention KeenValue PerfectNav, but removed it)
Second run: 655 objects, including 180 Search Assistant, BargainBuddy, BookedSpace, DownloadWare, eXact Search Bar, and Lycos Sidesearch
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Left:
First run: Lycos Sidesearch
Second run: BookedSpace and Lycos Sidesearch
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Nutshell: Excellent free program; missed only one of the Evil Eight, but no real-time blocking without purchase
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Product: eTrust PestPatrol
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Time to scan (min:sec): 4:25
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Requires restart?: Yes
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Found:
First run: 47 pests/334 items, including 180 Search Assistant, BargainBuddy, BookedSpace, eXact Search Bar, and Zserv (didn't mention DownloadWare, but removed it)
Second run: 34 pests/279 items, including 180 Search Assistant, BookedSpace, eXact Search Bar, and Zserv
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Left:
First run: Zserv
Second run: BargainBuddy
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Nutshell: Good for a free program, but left some big-name components
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Product: Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware beta
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Time to scan (min:sec): 12:20
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Requires restart?: No
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Found:
First run: 23 threats/256 files infected, including BargainBuddy, BookedSpace, eXact Search Bar, and Zserv
Second run: 26 threats/262 files infected, including BargainBuddy, BookedSpace, DownloadWare, eXact Search Bar, KeenValue PerfectNav, and Zserv
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Left:
Both runs: BargainBuddy, eXact Search Bar variant, and Zserv
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Nutshell: Good while it's free, but left big-name components on both runs
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Product: Spybot - Search & Destroy
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Time to scan (min:sec): 7:03
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Requires restart?: Yes
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Found:
First run: 185 problems, including BargainBuddy, BookedSpace, DownloadWare, eXact Search Bar, and Lycos Sidesearch (didn't mention KeenValue PerfectNav, but removed it)
Second run: 55 problems, including BargainBuddy, BookedSpace, DownloadWare, eXact Search Bar, KeenValue PerfectNav, and Lycos Sidesearch
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Left:
First run: BookedSpace and eXact Search Bar
Second run: BookedSpace, eXact Search Bar, and Zserv
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Nutshell: Good for a free program, but left a few of our Evil Eight
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Product: Spyware Doctor
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Time to scan (min:sec): 5:13
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Requires restart?: Sometimes (first run: no; second run: yes)
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Found:
First run: 780 infections, including BargainBuddy, BookedSpace, DownloadWare, eXact Search Bar, and Lycos Sidesearch
Second run: 770 infections, including BargainBuddy, BookedSpace, DownloadWare, eXact Search Bar, KeenValue PerfectNav, and Lycos Sidesearch
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Left:
First run: BargainBuddy, nCase, Search-Exe, and Zserv (but said it safely removed everything)
Second run: BargainBuddy, DownloadWare, and Search-Exe
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Nutshell: Great interface, but left big names from the Evil Eight
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Product: Webroot Spy Sweeper
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Time to scan (min:sec): 14:35
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Requires restart?: No
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Found:
First run: 36 items/1,777 traces, including 180 Search Assistant, BargainBuddy, BookedSpace, DownloadWare, eXact Search Bar, Lycos Sidesearch, and Zserv (didn't mention KeenValue PerfectNav, but removed it)
Second run: 29 items/1,277 traces, including 180 Search Assistant, BargainBuddy, BookedSpace, DownloadWare, eXact Search Bar, KeenValue PerfectNav, and Zserv
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Left:
First run: BookedSpace and Zserv
Second run: BookedSpace
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Nutshell: Thorough but lengthy scan found everything, but even lengthier removal process missed two of the Evil Eight
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