For example, you don’t get registry protection, behaviour-based heuristics, rootkit detection or the ability to scan network drivers. The free version of Ad-Aware is a bit crippled when compared to the paid version. Ad-Aware also comes with Ad-Watch Live, which runs in the background and protects your computer in real time. All the while, you get handy notifications of what its checking for and expandable menus that let you drill down for more details. The free version gives you a QuickScan-which takes about 10 minutes depending on the size of your system-and a full scan ,which takes its time in performing a deep scan of your system. While previous version elicited complaints from long time users of false positives (particularly in regard to tracking cookies) and feature bloat, Ad-Aware is back with a vengeance with a more user-friendly interface and faster performance.

How do they stack up against each other? Read on to find out.Īd-Aware celebrated its 8th anniversary by giving itself a major overhaul. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware has recently deposed Ad-Aware on CNet’s Spyware Removers ranking, which means PC users now have a choice when it comes to trusting a virus protection scanner with the fate of their computer security.

But since then, the threat of viruses has heightened, and a dashing newcomer has joined the fray. Ad-Aware was sweeping Windows machines, eliminating malware, spyware, Trojans and other malware before most consumers even knew what a worm was. In the beginning, Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware was the king of free antivirus programs.

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