Ad-Aware 2008 Review

Software Description: Ad-Aware 2008 provides powerful protection that detects deceptive malware and spyware applications before they integrate into your PC and steal your personal information. With an on-demand scanner and real-time monitoring, Ad-Aware protects you from dangerous intruders and prying eyes.

The Good: Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware 2008 will have you making a lot of benefits on detecting malicious adware and spyware applications before they sneak into your system and do any harm to your personal information. Not only the on-demand scanner protects your computer against malware, but also a real-time monitor runs in the background which plays the role of tracking registry changes, installation of malware, and some other things like unfavorable cookies.

Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware 2008 has much emphasis on real-time spyware scanning and tracking. He puts this theory to use whether in the case of scanning those ads tracking documents and relative documents sent by the sites on your computer, or removing them completely to ensure the security of your system. Among all the software we received and tested, this software scanned at a fairly rapid pace and finished with generating detailed reports. The advertising service processes this program to be able to search and delete including: Web3000, Gator, Cydoor, Radiate/Aureate, Flyswats, Conducent / Time Sink and Comet cursor.

There are three ways of scanning available: Smart Scan that scans most crucial parts of your system, Full Scan that conducts a thorough scan of your entire computer and Custom Scan that scans according to your personalized requirements. Besides this, Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware 2008 also comes with the features of process watch which can be used in viewing and ending up all running processes on your computer, and hosts file edition that allows you to block advertisement sites, reverse browser hijack entries, create navigation shortcuts as well as assist with parental controls.

The Bad: Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware 2008 has three versions totally: Free, Plus and Pro. Within free version, only the feature of antispyware scanning is available while all others are only provided in paid versions. The higher price you paid, the more features you can gain, and the Pro version is more advanced than the Plus version.

The Bottom Line: Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware 2008 is very rich in adware scanning and extremely specific on the real-time system monitoring. The great detail of scanning content is what truly makes it stands out as one of excellent antispyware products. The support was also very prompt on replying and quite helpful.

Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware 2008 is one of the first applications built to detect and delete malicious adware and spyware with great reputation that justified for years. With this program, you are able to scan your RAM, Registry, hard drives, and external storage devices to keep your data safe. This program is continually updated to beat off existing threats and potential ones.
This application provided three versions, and all versions of Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware 2008 run on Windows 2000, XP and Vista (32-bit)

Feature Set

For the basic scanning feature, you can promptly scan your system by three different scans: Smart scan that can partial scan the most important segments on your system; Full scan that can completely scan your whole computer and Custom scan that can fit your personal favorite. Ad-Aware 2008 will finish finding out problems with a detailed report that helps you decide which measure should be taken.
Ad-Aware 2008 also provides users with the feature of real-time monitor and useful tools like process watch and hosts file editor. To fulfill the aim of protecting your privacy better , you can also erase the tracks left behind after you surf the web by its Track sweep feature so that others will not be able to view what you have done on your computer. However, since Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware 2008 offers three different versions, including Free version, Plus version and Pro version, you can not enjoy all the features until you choose the Pro version. Otherwise, you will not be allowed to take all features offered. That is, the more money you paid the more features you get.

Ease of Setup/Use

Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware 2008 is very easy to use and has a well-designed interface with six tabs for all major functions. This application makes protection of your security with user-friendly settings and alerts users when there is any update offered.

Detection Effectiveness

This program does a fairly good job at detecting and removing most malware components. But it still fails to find out a few adware samples we set for test such as password stealer, and sometimes even crashes when too many applications are running at the same time.

System Performance

When using this app, we couldn’t help noticing that even though the installation of this program is easy and quick, the integration with whole system is not as smooth as we expect.

Scan Performance:

Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware 2008 drops a second desk icon for its real-time Ad-Aware monitor and it looks like another piece of software, so you can operate this feature separately. But if your system is slow enough, full scan will take around half an hour to finish.

Support/Documentation

Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware 2008 provides online FAQ and E-Mail support. But there is no telephone support available.

Summary

In this app, you can get automatic signature updates, schedules scans, and real-time protection features and more customizations. All in all, Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware 2008 is a good defender and can protect your computer from threats, but with some hesitation, we do not recommend it as your primary choice.