update it or waste it (Ad-aware)

Member Name: rezzlerun

Product:	Ad-aware
Date:	14/05/02 (1349 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: free, easy to use, best in the biz

Disadvantages: not the be all and end all, must be updated

Ad-aware is the premier spycatcher from lavasoft. An incredible piece of software that is a must have for everyone. It comes in two flavours. A free version and a pay for version. I've been a huge fan ever since my firewall informed me that an unknown piece of software wanted to access the internet. After checking around a while i found out that the piece of software was spyware. Program's who's sole purpose is to gain information about you and relay it somewhere else.
Ad-aware stops this.It scans all your drives and your registry. And removes all known spyware.
But be warned. As a three year old virus checker is no good. Neither is anything other than the most up tp date version of
Ad-aware.
I'd been running version 5.62. Which informed me that my machine was clean. But when i downloaded. Version 5.80. And run it. It found over 130 different pieces of spyware.
As brillant as this program is. You can't just install it and ignore it. Just like new virus's can only be stopped. With update patches. New spyware can only be stopped with a new ad-aware.
There's two ways you can keep your ad-aware up to date. The first is check periodically for new versions. Or you can get the refupdate.(At the time of writing it's on version 2.01) Refupdate is a free ad-aware utility that updates ad-awares reference files. Keep you up to date with the latest spyware incarnations. This is a must have. If you get ad-aware because your concerned you've got to be concerned enough to keep it useful. Which with out regular updates.
Ad-aware quickly ceases to be.

One final point. Although brillant. It is not the be all and end all. When it comes to spyware. Some seemingly legitimate programs are also monitoring your habits. Real download, gathers tons of information. And passes it on. The best way i've found to determine whether certain software is spying is to see whether they offer a
ENABLE RELEVANT CONTENT
button. Because how do they offer relevant content other than by monitoring your surfing habits. Ad-aware doesn't seem to be able to pick these ones up. I think that's because the spying part is embedded inside the program. Unlike the usual spyware which is external.

The best way to keep the spys at bay is a combination of an up to date Ad-aware. And a suspicious user. Instead of just clicking except on the terms and conditions page. Actually have a quick read to see what your agreeing to. Some of it can be scary. Especially with some of the free programs. You'd be amazed at what you were going to agree to.

So get your ad-aware. And be suspicious.

Summary: