A newer version of Spyware Terminator is available.
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- Average user rating: stars out of 1291 votes Back to product review
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80 out of 100 people found this review helpful
3 stars
Version: Spyware Terminator 1.01
"Scans faster than Ad-Aware and A2"
Pros: I really don't know how to rate this product. Usually if the the product is free and does what the software publisher claims, I give it 5 stars. Spyware Terminator is like a combination of Ad-Aware and Spybot, with a scan that is 4 times faster than either. It also comes with RealTime protection, help and support,and updates. However, it has no Eula or privacy policy to view. When I did a full scan on my test pc, it didn't even find a tracking cookie, but then again I might not have had any as I did a scan with SpySweeper a couple hours before. What it did find was,"UC More". It explained to me that "UC More is a tool bar that installed it's self to my Maxthon browser. I was so happy to get rid of that dangerous tool bar! The only problem is, I have never had Maxthon on this pc. I have Avant, Firefox and Opera. I have never had ANY toolbars on this pc. I don't trust toolbars of any kind. So, since it gave me the false positive, I will give Spyware Terminator 3 stars. Fair enough?
- 19 replies to this review
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Version: 1.3.00.599
YOU CAN NOT TRUST THIS SOFTWARE AND COMPANY!
23-Apr-2006 05:16:40 AM
Reviewer: Bjýrn Lundahl
Cons: Logically I think you should not trust this software and company! A "anti-spyware software" that has been on Spyware Warrior rogue list is something bad. You can not really believe that this company has changed "its soul" and suddenly wants to fight spyware with its whole soul? They play serious, I think. They want a better reputation, BUT THEY DO NOT HATE SPYWARE!! Because I do not think they are schizophrenic! Bjorn Lundahl, Gothenburg, Sweden
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spywarewarrior(dot)com reveiw:
Spyware Terminator
Doamains:
spywareterminator.com
spyterm.com
crawler.com <--- NOTICE
vendor connected w/ known spyware/adware distributor (IBIS/Websearch); Note: not to be confused with Spyware X-terminator from Stompsoft[A: 12-5-05 / U: 12-5-05]
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2goldengreek: thanks for your comments.. This discussion is valuable as it brings ideas and real user's view - so we can improve our apps..
2webgrrrl:
- new version of spyware terminator contains link to spywareterminator_com website
- new version of setup contains terms & pp inside the setup
- we will be removing some parts of PP you pointed out - they were included by lawyers to cover as much as possible but as we do not plan to do anything with data we get (and frankly they have no real value) we will make our PP more strict, thanks for valuable user's point of view
- regarding real-time protection - it is very technical issue but most applications use real-time protection which is not really real-time - they detect what is going on on the system and then show warning - they usually catch threats few miliseconds after they are installed. We have technology which is used in antivirus apps (low leve windows driver) which protects user BEFORE the app is installed. This is something you get only in paid applications .
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You can be a real help, so please stick with it.
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dusen and webgrrl, you are both more knowledgable on this subject than I am. I am staying out of your debate and moving on to something else.(Maybe a good tavern)
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The developers statement you just commented on was typical "corporate speak", being ambiguous, nebulous, evasive and FACTUALLY INCORRECT misstatements.
Such nonsense is designed, solely to appear to be a good faith statement addressing consumer concerns and complaints, when in actual fact if is mere chicanery.
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You wrote, ".. regarding Privacy Policy & Terms - it was a mistake on our end, we were all focused on development of a great product so we simply forgot to include it.. It is already updated".
That is NOT true at all.
Your developers page link still goes to a search page. I read your privacy policy, which you hide over at your other domain, and it stinks being full of loopholes, essentially offering no protection to the consumer at all.
Then you wrote, "considering the fact that our product was approved by Download.com you can be assured that there are no issues with it - Download.com is actually NOT accepting spyware/adware.. ".
Although Download.com has recently made a good faith effort regarding this, by removing at my request, several phony anti-spyware apps infected with spyware and adware, occasionally such bad apps still manage to slip through, ... and so what you have said above is absolutely ridiculous.
You also wrote, "I want to point out that this is in my opinion the only freeware product which contains low level Realtime Shield.. ".
This is simply not true at all, and sadly, yet another ridiculous statement made by you.
There has been a great shield available, at no cost, for quite some time now. Please see below.
****
Get SpywareBlaster if you want a good malware blocker.
SpywareBlaster doesn't scan for and clean spyware - it prevents it from being installed in the first place.
SpywareBlaster prevents the installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, dialers, browser hijackers, and other potentially unwanted programs.
It can also block spyware/tracking cookies in IE and Mozilla/Firefox, and restrict the actions of spyware/ad/tracking sites.
With the built-in Check for Updates feature, you can help ensure your protection is up-to-date. SpywareBlaster also includes a System Snapshot feature, which lets you take a snapshot of your computer in its clean state and later revert, undoing many changes made by spyware and browser hijackers.
SpywareBlaster is also 100% free, and it is distributed by a well known and reliable publisher.
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I didn't realize that developers ever looked past the reviews to some of the replies. Your answer solved my questions and I thank you, however if webgrrrl gets back to this site I am sure she will have some comments or statements of her own regaurding your answers. Thanks again, goldengreeke.
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Hey guys, I'm involved in the development of this product and I have few comments regarding your postings:
- it is hard to say if that detection was false positive, even if you do not use that browser that bad apple may be installed together with some other product and it may be just waiting on your computer until you launch IE (Maxthon is based by default on IE core). There is support in the app so I recommend sending question on the dev team - they can find out if this is false positive or real detection
- based on your comments we are adding a feature allowing you to report false positive
- regarding Privacy Policy & Terms - it was a mistake on our end, we were all focused on development of a great product so we simply forgot to include it.. It is already updated
- considering the fact that our product was approved by Download.com you can be assured that there are no issues with it - Download.com is actually NOT accepting spyware/adware..
- you can decide if you want to turn on/off the reporting feature - if you keep it on, you'll help us build spyware database and improve the detection & cleaning process
- I want to point out that this is in my opinion the only freeware product which contains low level Realtime Shield.. We should detect more threats than others and we should be able to clean them much better (try to remove latest VX2 with some other well known spyware removals)
- the product is free so the team behind it is focused mainly on product features and not on bells & whistles around.. We will be updating it based on your comments so Thank You!! for any constructive commentsâ?¦
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I am really glad that you checked out their site. It really has been a great help to me, and if you begin using their resources, I guarantee that you will profit also.
To answer your question, I don't know anyone there, and I am not a part of it's function. I just got on the bandwagon, about a year ago, after having been really burned by software I downloaded with embedded Trojans.
I had to do a complete clean reinstall of my OS because of it, and I lost all of my writings and emails in the process. Months of work down the drain. I was absolutely heartbroken at first, then I got angry, and then I decided to help fight them.
I am not knowledgeable to be honest, just moderately well informed, and that is because I read what the real experts have to say about these things. Even though I am not that knowledgeable really, I do what I can to warn others about unscrupulous publishers. I do so in hope that others wont suffer the same kind of loss I did because of them, and this gives me a lot of satisfaction.
I hope you have a great week. : )
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I followed your link to The Spyware Warrior List of. Rogue/Suspect Anti-Spyware Products. I had heard there was a list of bad spyware cleaners, but this was the first time I ever visited the web site. There is over 200 of them! I wish I would have known about this list over a year ago when I first started reviewing software products for C-net. It looks like I made more than a couple, stupid, uniformed reviews! I am going to refrain from any more reviews on antispy removers until I have studied this web site more thoroughly. Now if I could only spell, I would have it made. Thanks for sending me the link, and I'm curious, are you a membor of that web site or friends with someone who is? You do seem well informed.
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You wrote, "Did you have a couple cocktails between your reply at 10:30 and your reply at 11:27? You sound like two different personalities, like Dr Jeckle and Mr Hyde. I do respect your opinon and your knowledge, however."
***?
Are you implying that I am a drunk, mentally ill, or both?
LOL! : D
What really happened, is that I looked back at all the good reviews you gave to obvious malware, and I came away questioning your "judgment".
Your insulting, so very uncalled for and way over the top inferences above however, also serves to make me wonder about you in other ways now also. Certainly as you yourself also said above, you often regret you words, and I imagine this shall be another example of that.
If I have been anything, I have been very consistent, in my little war against unscrupulous publishers of malware, and the phony reviewers here who work for them. ; )
Thank you for your assistance.
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Did you have a couple cocktails between your reply at 10:30 and your reply at 11:27? You sound like two different personalities, like Dr Jeckle and Mr Hyde. I do respect your opinon and your knowledge, however. How about we split the difference and I change it to two stars? It is freeware, after all.( C-net doesn't alow me to do another review on the same version, however.) I tried to before on other reviews I rated too high, that I found out after more testing they didn't deserve.
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"What it did find was,"UC More". It explained to me that "UC More is a tool bar that installed it's self to my Maxthon browser. I was so happy to get rid of that dangerous tool bar! The only problem is, I have never had Maxthon on this pc."
A false positive that ridiculous should have clued you, and I do not understand why you worded your critique so positively, even saying it removed malware you knew you could not possibly have had!
I also don't understand why you raved about how fast it scans, when phony anti-spyware/anti-adware apps almost always scan fast, because they don't really scan at all and merely lie giving you false positives, in addition to also embedding Spyware/Adware and Trojans.
The more I think about this, the more alarming I find your awarding of 3 STARS to this clearly obvious malware. Your critique was viewed positively by the one hit wonder fake reviewers also, and that really should alarm you as well goldengreeke.
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Enter the following into Google.
The Spyware Warrior List of
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I agree with you about encouraging freeware, but "crawler" hid their privacy policy and EULA on one of their other websites, and you can sure see why they did so in the comments below my review. Both are clearly bogus being full of built in exploitable loopholes.
As well they have a toolbar out, which clearly is spyware, and it is only free, because they make money from the information it gathers, about your web surfing habits. It also really slows down your PC, using a great deal of CPU resources and memory, in building files about your PC use, which it then shoots back to their collector site.
Not all freeware is good and trustworthy, and just because some apps really are free, does not indicate that they are trustworthy.
It really is important to investigate the publisher.
If they have multiple domain names and distribute their
"freeware" under many different names, it is very often because they constantly rename their apps and resubmit them to download sites, in order to escape the many well deserved bad reviews and outright warnings about their malware.
It is also important to check the publisher site, to see if their apps either lack a privacy policy altogether, as so many do, or to see if they have poor ones full of loopholes.
Always check the publisher site. Here are a few pointers on that.
-Right click on the publishers page link, and select *open in a new window*.-
This way you can see clearly, if their actual address, matches the name listed on downLOAD(.)com's site. Often they do not match, but instead redirect to known distributors of, or even creators of, adware and spyware.
-Highlight and copy the publishers name, and then go here
www(.)spywarewarrior(.)com/rogue_anti-spyware(.)htm
and then select *Find (on this page)* under Edit on your browser. Enter the publisher name and select Find Next. See how many other "anti-spyware" and "anti-adware" apps they publish, and most importantly, HOW MANY OTHER domain names they go by.
-See also what that spywarewarrior site says about their
"stuff", and personally, I do NOT trust them even if they have been delisted, especially if they have many different domain names.
I also buy commercial software. People work hard developing applications, and they deserve the money they ask for their labor.
I also really appreciate, the few good and trustworthy, anti-spyware and anti-adware apps available at no cost, and I donate money to the developers in order to support their efforts.
I hope this helps you folks. : )
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If Spyware terminator 1 was a paid software product and tried to goad me into purchasing, I would have given them only one star like you did. But since there is no upgrade to a paid version, I gave them three. I like free stuff because I also like my money. There are products out there I have paid for, though. TuneUp Utilities, SpySweeper, O&O Defrag, Ashampoo Platinum Suite, and Norton System Works. I never give free products only one star unless they come with adware. If we get more free products out there maybe the price will drop on the paid ones.
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I am really putting the grrr in grrrl tonight. Shady software publishers make as angry as dishonest mechanics and bad doctors do is all.
Nothing personal GoldenGreek. : )
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They are far less than up front, and in fact really they just all around slithery.
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