Checkout CNET’s Top 20 Hot Downloads

My favorite download site, by a substantial margin, is CNET’s Download.com. I trust the programs I download from this site to be free from adware, spyware, and the multitude of other malware that floats freely on the Internet.

Since CNET adheres to a strict policy of offering untainted downloads, regular readers of Tech Thoughts know, that when I review an application, if the program is available for download at Download.com, I direct interested readers there.

If you’ve ever wondered what applications make it to the top of CNET’s vast repository of software, then take a look at the top 20 downloads for the week ending July 2, 2011, listed in terms of popularity.

Here’s a look at what’s hot:

1. AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 2011

Downloads last week: 1,149,295

2. RealPlayer

Downloads last week: 775,522

3. WinRAR (32-bit)

Downloads last week: 734,754

4. YouTube Downloader

Downloads last week: 708,205

5. Avast Free Antivirus

Downloads last week: 640,589

6. FreeZ Online TV

Downloads last week: 392,594

7. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

Downloads last week: 390,689

8. TeamViewer

Downloads last week: 389,105

9. Advanced SystemCare Free

Downloads last week: 363,161

10. Camfrog Video Chat

Downloads last week: 355,868

11. Virtual DJ

Downloads last week: 316,837

12. PhotoScape

Downloads last week: 289,353

13. Free YouTube to MP3 Converter

Downloads last week: 286,598

14. Internet Download Manager

Downloads last week: 276,425

15. MyVideoConverter

Downloads last week: 274,045

16. Ad-Aware Free Internet Security

Downloads last week: 246,708

17. VLC Media Player

Downloads last week: 223,572

18. GOM Media Player

Downloads last week: 203,111

19. UMPlayer

Downloads last week: 183,894

20. CNET TechTracker

Downloads last week: 183,430

Keep in mind that an application’s popularity is not always indicative of its strength, but I’ve tested the majority of these programs, at one time or another, and found many to be every bit as good as advertised.

Additional high quality download sites that are worth investigating:

MajorGeeks

MajorGeeks is here to help you get the most out of your computer mainly by offering tools to the beginner or advanced user (hopefully you someday). Try not to be overwhelmed, just take it one step at a time. Your hosts (Jim and Tim) are both self taught, as are many of our visitors.

SourceForge

SourceForge.net is the biggest and best place to download and develop free open source software.

PCWorld

Freeware, shareware, and trialware files for your PC.

FileHippo

Freeware, demo and shareware programs to download in several categories. Also features latest updates and most popular downloads.

I’m always on the hunt for safe, clean download sites so, if you’ve got a favorite site I’d be happy to hear about it.

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NEW – Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.5 Released

Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.5, Panda Security’s newest release (June 20, 2011), of it’s popular cloud-based antimalware application, should be even more effective at keeping the bad guys at bay with it’s newest enhanced features.

New features include – improved scanning speeds, less CPU consumption, advanced configuration options for exclusions of files based on file extensions, and a new activity monitor which shows information such as scanned file details, and previous viruses detected.

Panda Security obviously pays attention to its users recommendations for improved product features, since a number of these new features were suggested by the user community.

Panda Cloud Antivirus is based on Collective Intelligence, a system for detecting and disinfecting viruses and other threats that feeds off the knowledge shared by millions of users. The computers that are part of the Panda Community – instantly share and benefit from all the information stored in the cloud.

Testing anti-malware applications takes considerable time in order to get to the heart of the matter – does an application work in the “real world?”

Will the application do what an average user expects – does it block malware effectively and efficiently? Particularly new, or emerging, malware threats.

Is the interface crafted in such a way that an average user doesn’t need to digest an instruction manual in order to navigate the application?

Is the application capable of providing adequate protection without stressing system resources?

I’ve been running Panda Cloud Antivirus, on a secondary system, since April 2009, and in this extensive testing, Panda Cloud Antivirus has met, or exceeded, all of these requirements. So, I’m looking forward to giving this new release a workout.

Installation:

Pay particular attention at the Install screen. Once again, you’ll be asked to accept a Toolbar and a change in your Homepage – annoying as hell. As well, on this screen, you can choose your language.

Panda is obviously convinced that the “more is less” GUI approach, is suitable for most users. Kudos – I couldn’t agree more.

The optimized scan screen.

Scan time: under 5 minutes – 19,873 files.

The settings menu is accessed via the tool icon – as shown at the “hand icon” in the above screen shot. I found this “hideaway” a little awkward.

Despite an abundance of settings you’ll find some settings are only available in the Pro version.

At less than $30 for the one year Pro Edition license, you might consider jumping up to this version. Frankly though, I’m no fan of one year licenses.

Not when one considers that a lifetime license for Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware and SUPERAntiSpyware, both of which are outstanding applications, can be purchased for less than $30 – considerably less when on sale.

Fast facts:

Light – Only works where necessary. It’s so light you won’t even notice it.

Easy – Don’t worry about complicated decisions ever again. Panda Cloud Antivirus will make the best decisions for you to keep your PC protected.

Secure – Panda Cloud Antivirus is based on Collective Intelligence, a system that continuously collects and analyzes viruses and other threats gathered from the community of millions of Panda users around the world.

Free – No tricks! Panda Cloud Antivirus has a free version that protects you against viruses and malicious websites.

Note: Panda’s Collective Intelligence servers have analyzed 175,569,053  (and counting) viruses, and known goodware.

System requirements: Windows 7 32-bit, Windows 7 64-bit, Windows Vista 32-bit, Windows Vista 64-bit, Windows XP 32-bit,  Windows XP 64-bit.

Panda Cloud Antivirus is available in 20 languages.

Download at: Panda Security

Backed by more than two years experience running Panda Cloud Antivirus in various editions, I have no hesitation in recommending Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.5 as a front line antivirus application.

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Free Malwarebytes – Is it the Best Secondary Malware Scanner?

Depending on a single security applications to provide broad scale protection, is an absolute “non-starter”. A single security applications does not, and never has had the ability to do this, despite the commonly help belief to the contrary.

Part of the layered security  process (stacking security solutions, one on top of the other, to cover the gaps that exist in the protection capabilities of even the most sophisticated security applications), consists of supplementing the primary AV application with an on-demand malware application.

In other words, an AV application that does not start with Windows but instead, is available for manual scanning.

Actually, there’s no harm in installing more than one antimalware application to be used as a secondary scanner – doing so can be advantageous. However, be sure NOT to allow more than one primary application to autostart, in order to prevent potential conflicts.

Virtually all free security applications are programmed to autostart after installation, so be aware of this, and make the necessary adjustments using MSConfig.

I run Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware every day, as a secondary malware scanner, since I have absolutely no faith that a single security application offers adequate protection.

The free version of this speed demon (it’s faster at scanning than any anti-malware program I’ve tested in the last 2 years), is used by millions of people worldwide to protect their computers.

It’s important to note that the real time protection module is disabled in the free version of Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware. Actually, this is perfect for your purpose.

Less critical, is the disabling of scheduled scanning, and scheduled updating in the free version. (Rodzilla, a very frequent reader, and an expert user, is adamant that the lack of auto updating is a critical flaw – we have agreed to disagree on this point).

Each day, as I manually update the definition database I’ve noticed that typically, the definition database has been updated 3/5 times in the previous 24 hours. Since study after study indicate that new malware is created at the rate of 20,000, or more, new versions every single day, it’s easy to see that Malwarebytes’ is being proactive to these conditions.

A simple, intuitive, and easy to use interface, makes Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware straightforward to setup, customize and run, for both less experienced and expert users alike as the following screen captures indicate.

Since real time protection is disabled, I do not recommend that you use this free version of Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware as a stand alone primary security application, since it simply will not offer you adequate protection with this restriction. Instead, use it as I do, as an on-demand, secondary scanner.

Despite this real-time protection limitation in the free version, Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware has an excellent reputation (shared by me), as a first class security application, for its ability to identify and remove adware, Trojans, key-loggers, home page hijackers, and other malware threats.

Fast facts:

Blazing speed on quick scanning

Full scans for all drives.

Daily database updates

Quarantine function

Additional utilities for manual malware removal

Multi-lingual support

Command line support for quick scanning

Context menu integration to scan files on demand

Systems Requirements: Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and Win 7 (32-bit and 64-bit).

Multi-lingual support: English, Albanian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish.

Download at: Malwarebytes.org

Two quick tips:

Malwarebytes should be run in normal user mode, not safe mode.

I normally run “Quick Scan” and not deep scan since Malwarebytes concentrates on folders where malware is targeted in this mode. In quick scan mode, a scan generally takes seven minutes, or less, on my system.

Another great free alternative:

The free version of SUPERAntiSpyware despite it’s lack of real-time protection deserves its reputation as a first class security application, and it’s definitely worth considering adding to your security toolbox as a secondary line of defense.

You can read the review, and find the download link in my article “Knockout Malware With SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition”, on this site.

Update: Here’s some welcome input from regular reader Georg Lechner –

“Malwarebytes’, recent iteration 1.46 – New users may find it easier to use Advanced System Care (recent version is 3.6.0) to control the autostart behavior of Malwarebytes’, using the Startup Manager, to be found under Admin Tools.

SUPERAntiSpyware just released its recent iteration 4.38.0.1004 – This version is 32 AND 64 bit, but the previous version must be deinstalled manually before installing this one on 64 bit machines (WIN 7).”

If you found this article useful, why not subscribe to this Blog via RSS, or email? It’s easy; just click on this link and you’ll never miss another Tech Thoughts article.

Download Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware – A Must Have Free Secondary Malware Scanner

Depending on a single security applications to provide broad scale protection, is an absolute “non-starter”. A single security applications does not, and never has had the ability to do this, despite the commonly help belief to the contrary.

Part of the layered security  process (stacking security solutions, one on top of the other, to cover the gaps that exist in the protection capabilities of even the most sophisticated security applications), consists of supplementing the primary AV application with an on-demand malware application. In other words, an AV application that does not start with Windows but instead, is available for manual scanning.

Actually, there’s no harm in installing more than one antimalware application to be used as a secondary scanner – doing so can be advantageous. However, be sure NOT to allow more than one application to autostart, in order to prevent potential conflicts.

Virtually all free security applications are programmed to autostart after installation, so be aware of this, and make the necessary adjustments using MSConfig.

I run Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware every day, as a secondary malware scanner, since I have absolutely no faith that a single security application offers adequate protection.

The free version of this speed demon (it’s faster at scanning than any anti-malware program I’ve tested in the last 2 years), is used by millions of people worldwide to protect their computers.

It’s important to note that the real time protection module is disabled in the free version of Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware. Actually, this is perfect for your purpose. Less critical, is the disabling of scheduled scanning, and scheduled updating in the free version.

Each day as I manually update the definition database I’ve noticed that typically, the definition database has been updated 3/5 times in the previous 24 hours. Since study after study indicate that new malware is created at the rate of 20,000 new versions every single day, it’s easy to see that Malwarebytes’ is being proactive to these conditions.

A simple, intuitive, and easy to use interface, makes Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware straightforward to setup, customize and run, for both less experienced and expert users alike.

Since real time protection is disabled, I would not recommend that you use this free version of Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware as a stand alone primary security application, since it simply will not offer you adequate protection with this restriction. Instead, use it as I do, as an on-demand, secondary scanner.

Despite this real-time protection limitation in the free version, Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware has an excellent reputation (shared by me), as a first class security application, for its ability to identify and remove adware, Trojans, key-loggers, home page hijackers and other malware threats.

Fast facts:

Blazing speed on quick scanning

Full scans for all drives.

Daily database updates

Quarantine function

Additional utilities for manual malware removal

Multi-lingual support

Command line support for quick scanning

Context menu integration to scan files on demand

Quick summary: Discovered malware, including 3 Trojans, not found by SpyBot, or AVG, on a recent test on my test bed systems.

Systems Requirements: Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and Win 7 (32-bit and 64-bit).

Multi-lingual support: English, Albanian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish.

Download at: Malwarebytes.org

Two quick tips:

Malwarebytes should be run in normal user mode, not safe mode.

I normally run “Quick Scan” and not deep scan since Malwarebytes concentrates on folders where malware is targeted in this mode. In quick scan mode, a scan generally takes seven minutes, or less, on my system.

Another great free alternative:

The free version of SUPERAntiSpyware despite it’s lack of real-time protection deserves its reputation as a first class security application, and it’s definitely worth considering adding to your security toolbox as a secondary line of defense.

You can read the review, and find the download link in my article “Knockout Malware With SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition”, on this site.

Checkout the Top 15 Hot Downloads

My favorite download site, by a substantial margin, is CNET’s Download.com. I trust the programs I download from this site to be free from adware, spyware, and the multitude of other malware that floats freely on the Internet.

Since CNET adheres to a strict policy of offering untainted downloads, regular readers of Tech Thoughts are aware, that when I review an application, if the program is available for download at Download.com, I direct interested readers there.

If you’ve ever wondered what applications make it to the top of CNET’s vast repository of software, then take a look at the top 15 downloads for the week ending March 6, 2010, listed in terms of popularity.

Here’s a look at what’s hot:

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition – Protect your computer from viruses and malicious programs.

Avast Free Antivirus – Protect your PC against the latest viruses and spyware.

Advanced SystemCare Free – Protect, repair, optimize, and clean your computer in one click.

Ad-Aware Free Anti-Malware – Protect your personal home computer from malware attacks.

Avira AntiVir Personal – Free Antivirus – Detect and eliminate viruses, get free protection for home users.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware – Detect and quickly remove malicious threats to your computer.

YouTube Downloader – Download YouTube videos and convert them to various formats.

WinRAR (32-bit) – Take full control over RAR and ZIP archives, along with unpacking a dozen other archive formats.

LimeWire – Share files online.

FreeZ Online TV – Receive over 500 free online channels of daily and live broadcasts from around the world.

Orbit Downloader – Download videos and music in one click.

TeamViewer – Share your desktop with another person via the Web.

Camfrog Video Chat – Join live-video chat rooms from around the world.

Foxit Reader – View, print, and convert your PDF files.

Glary Utilities – Fix, speed up, maintain, and protect your PC.

As I’ve said here in the past, an application’s popularity is not always indicative of its strength, but I’ve tested the majority of these programs, at one time or another, and found them to be every bit as good as advertised. They belong on this list.

If you found this article useful, why not subscribe to this Blog via RSS, or email? It’s easy; just click on this link and you’ll never miss another Tech Thoughts article.

Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware – The Best Free Security Application?

When a free application is downloaded over 45,000 times from your site, like Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware has been at my site, you just have to know this application is a winner.

The free version of this speed demon (it’s faster at scanning than any anti-malware program I’ve tested in the last 2 years), is used by millions of people worldwide to protect their computers.

I run Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware every day, as a secondary malware scanner, since I have absolutely no faith that a single security application offers adequate protection.

Depending on a single security applications to provide the ultimate in protection, is an absolute “non-starter”. A single security applications does not, and never has had the ability to this, despite the commonly help belief to the contrary.

It’s important to note that the real time protection module is disabled in the free version of Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware. Less critical, is the disabling of scheduled scanning, and scheduled updating in the free version.

Each day as I manually update the definition database I’ve noticed that typically, the definition database has been updated 3/5 times in the previous 24 hours. Since study after study indicate that new malware is created at the rate of 20,000 new versions every single day, it’s easy to see that Malwarebytes’ is being proactive to these conditions.

A simple, intuitive, and easy to use interface, makes Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware straightforward to setup, customize and run, for both less experienced and expert users alike.

Since real time protection is disabled, I would not recommend that you use this free version of Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware as a stand alone primary security application, since it simply will not offer you adequate protection with this restriction. Instead, use it as I do, as an on-demand, secondary scanner.

Despite this real-time protection limitation in the free version, Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware has an excellent reputation (shared by me), as a first class security application, for its ability to identify and remove adware, Trojans, key-loggers, home page hijackers and other malware threats.

Numerous users of this Blog, have commented on Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware’s ability to deal with one of the real scourges currently making the rounds on the Internet; rogue security applications.

As a full fledged security application, with all of its features unlocked; real-time protection, scheduled scanning, and scheduled updating, Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware is a terrific value at $24.95 US.

Regular readers of this site are aware that I generally do not recommend the purchase of commercial software, but in this case, I have to do so. This application is just that good.

Fast facts:

Blazing speed on quick scanning

Full scans for all drives.

Daily database updates

Quarantine function

Additional utilities for manual malware removal

Multi-lingual support

Command line support for quick scanning

Context menu integration to scan files on demand

Quick summary: Discovered malware, including 3 Trojans, not found by SpyBot, or AVG, on a recent test on my test bed systems.

Systems Requirements: Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7.

Multi-lingual support: English, Albanian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish.

Download at: Download.com

Old advice that still applies:

There is no one anti-malware tool, that is likely to identify and remove, all of the malware that infests the cyber world.

To ensure maximum safety, it’s important to have layered defenses in the ongoing fight against malware.

In other words, it’s necessary to have front line line active malware defenses which provide real time protection, coupled with a secondary malware scanner which should be employed on a regular basis, I recommend a minimum of once a week, to ensure your computer stays clean.

Another great free alternative:

The free version of SUPERAntiSpyware despite it’s lack of real-time protection  deserves its reputation as a first class security application, and it’s definitely worth considering adding to your security toolbox as a secondary line of defense.

You can read the review, and find the download link in my article “Knockout Malware With SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition”, on this site.

If you enjoyed this article, why not subscribe to this blog via RSS, or email? It’s easy; just click on this link and you’ll never miss another Tech Thoughts article.

Munch Malware With Free Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware

There is no one anti-malware tool, that is likely to identify and remove, all of the malware that infests the cyber world.

So to ensure maximum safety, it’s important to have layered defenses in the ongoing fight against malware.

In other words, it’s necessary to have front line line active malware defenses which provide real time protection, coupled with a secondary malware scanner which should be employed on a regular basis, I recommend once a week, to ensure your computer stays clean.

Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware, which I have been testing for over 8 months, is an excellent choice, as a secondary line of defense and I’m glad to report, it works smoothly on Windows 7 RC. This application definitely munches on malware!

The free version of this speed demon (it’s faster at scanning than any anti-malware program I’ve tested in the last 2 years), with its easy to employ interface, is used by millions of people worldwide to protect their computers.

I wasn’t surprised to see that this free application has been downloaded over 2 million times from Download.com alone.

It’s important to note; the real time protection module is disabled in the free version. Less critical, is the disabling of scheduled scanning, and scheduled updating in the free version.

Since real time protection is disabled, I would not recommend that you use this free version of Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware as a stand alone security application, since it simply will not offer you adequate protection with this restriction. Instead, use it only as an on-demand, secondary scanner.

Despite this real-time protection limitation in the free version, Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware has an excellent reputation (shared by me), as a first class security application, for its ability to identify and remove adware, Trojans, key-loggers, home page hijackers and other malware threats.

Numerous users of this Blog, have commented on Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware’s ability to deal with one of the real scourges currently making the rounds on the Internet; rogue security applications.

As a secondary line of defense, I highly recommend that you add this free version of Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware to your security toolbox.

As a full fledged security application, with all of its features unlocked; real-time protection, scheduled scanning, and scheduled updating, Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware is a terrific value at $24.95 US.

Regular readers of this site are aware that I generally do not recommend the purchase of commercial software, but in this case, I have to do so. This application is just that good.

Fast facts:

Blazing speed on quick scanning

Full scans for all drives.

Daily database updates

Quarantine function

Additional utilities for manual malware removal

Multi-lingual support

Command line support for quick scanning

Context menu integration to scan files on demand

Quick summary: Discovered malware, including 3 Trojans, not found by SpyBot, or AVG, on a recent test on my test bed systems.

Systems Requirements: Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7.

Multi-lingual support: English, Albanian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish.

Download at: Download.com

Spyware Doctor Starter Edition, from PC Tools, is another excellent free secondary line of defense against malware threats. You can read the review, and find the download link in my article “Spyware Doctor Starter Edition – The Best Secondary Malware Tool”, on this site.

If you enjoyed this article, why not subscribe to this blog via RSS, or email? It’s easy; just click on this link and you’ll never miss another Tech Thoughts article.

Take a Bite Out of Malware with Free Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

Having tested virtually all of the major anti-malware applications, and updates, over the last several years, I’m still comfortable using the free version of Spyware Terminator as my application of choice, for active real-time protection in the malware wars that we are involved in, any time we log onto the Internet.

I should add however, that on my Windows 7 RC test machine, I do use Windows Defender and to date, I am mostly satisfied.

There is no one anti-malware tool however, that is likely to identify and remove all of the millions of rogue malware that infest the cyber world. So to ensure maximum safety, it’s important to have layered defenses in the ongoing fight against malware.

Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware, which I have been testing for over 6 months, is an excellent choice, as a secondary line of defense and I’m glad to report, it works smoothly on Windows 7 RC. This application definitely munches on malware!

The free version of this speed demon (it’s faster at scanning than any anti-malware program I’ve tested in the last 2 years), with its easy to employ interface, is used by millions of people worldwide to protect their computers.

I wasn’t surprised to see that this free application has been downloaded over 2 million times from Download.com alone.

It’s important to note; the real time protection module is disabled in the free version. Less critical, is the disabling of scheduled scanning, and scheduled updating in the free version.

Since real time protection is disabled, I would not recommend that you use this free version of Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware as a stand alone security application, since it simply will not offer you adequate protection with this restriction. Instead, use it only as an on-demand, secondary scanner.

Despite this real-time protection limitation in the free version, Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware has an excellent reputation (shared by me), as a first class security application, for its ability to identify and remove adware, Trojans, key-loggers, home page hijackers and other malware threats.

Numerous users of this Blog, have commented on Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware’s ability to deal with one of the real scourges currently making the rounds on the Internet; rogue security applications.

As a secondary line of defense, I highly recommend that you add this free version of Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware to your security toolbox.

As a full fledged security application, with all of its features unlocked; real-time protection, scheduled scanning, and scheduled updating, Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware is a terrific value at $24.95 US.

Regular readers of this site are aware that I generally do not recommend the purchase of commercial software, but in this case, I have to do so. This application is just that good.

Fast facts:

Blazing speed on quick scanning

Full scans for all drives.

Daily database updates

Quarantine function

Additional utilities for manual malware removal

Multi-lingual support

Command line support for quick scanning

Context menu integration to scan files on demand

Quick summary: Discovered malware, including 3 Trojans, not found by SpyBot, or AVG, on a recent test on my test bed.

Systems Requirements: Windows 2000, XP, Vista.

Multi-lingual support: English, Albanian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish.

Download at: Download.com

Spyware Doctor Starter Edition, from PC Tools, is another excellent free secondary line of defense against malware threats. You can read the review, and find the download link in my article “Spyware Doctor Starter Edition – The Best Secondary Malware Tool”, on this site.

Free Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware – Bites Back

Having tested virtually all of the major anti-malware applications over the last several years, I’m still comfortable using the free version of Spyware Terminator as my application of choice, for active real-time protection in the spyware wars that we, as computer users, are involved in any time we log onto the Internet.

There is no one anti-malware tool however, that is likely to identify and remove all of the millions of rogue malware that infest the cyber world. So to ensure maximum safety, it’s important to have layered defenses in the ongoing fight against malware.

Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware, which I have been testing for over 2 months, is an excellent choice, as a secondary line of defense. The free version of this speed demon (it’s faster at scanning than any anti-malware program I’ve tested in the last 2 years), with its easy to employ interface, is used by millions of people worldwide to protect their computers. I wasn’t surprised to see that this application has been downloaded over 2 million times from Download.com alone.

(Click pic for larger)

It’s important to note that the real time protection module is disabled in the free version. Less critical, is the disabling of scheduled scanning, and scheduled updating in the free version.

Since real time protection is disabled, I would not recommend that you use this free version of Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware as a stand alone security application, since it simply will not offer you adequate protection. Instead, use it only as an on-demand scanner.

Despite this real-time protection limitation in the free version, Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware has an excellent reputation as a first class security application, for its ability to identify and remove adware, Trojans, key-loggers, home page hijackers and other malware threats.

(Click pic for larger)

Numerous users of this Blog, have commented on Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware’s ability to deal with one of the real scourges currently making the rounds on the Internet; rogue security applications.

As a secondary line of defense, I highly recommend that you add this free version of Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware to your security toolbox.

As a full fledged security application, with all of its features unlocked; real-time protection, scheduled scanning, and scheduled updating, Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware is a terrific value at $24.95 US.

Fast facts:

Blazing speed on quick scanning

Full scans for all drives.

Daily database updates

Quarantine function

Additional utilities for manual malware removal

Multi-lingual support

Command line support for quick scanning

Context menu integration to scan files on demand

Systems Requirements: Windows 2000, XP, Vista.

Multi-lingual support: English, Albanian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish.

Download at: Download.com

Spyware Doctor Starter Edition, from PC Tools, is another excellent free secondary line of defense against malware threats. You can read the review, and find the download link in my article “Spyware Doctor Starter Edition – The Best Secondary Malware Tool”, on this site.