Non-Profit Tools

(Originally Posted 5/16/2007)

Ad-Aware is a free anti-spyware tool that you can use to scan your computer for spyware. Spyware is a major problem when it takes a hold on your computer. It can result in problems such as advertising pop-ups, computer slow-downs, and even identity theft.

LavaSoft has created a range of Ad-Aware products to help you deal with this problem. The version which I have been using is the Ad-Aware SE Personal which is free to download and use.

The program itself is very easy to download and install. Once installed it will ask you to check for updates the first time you run it (and every time the definitions are out of date). This will upgrade the detection system to help protect your system from the latest threats.

There are a number of different scan options, including a “smart system scan” and a “full scan”. The first time you run the program you will probably want to run the full scan unless your system is brand new. After that I have found that the smart scan works well in detecting any problems.

The only drawback of the free version of the program is that it does not have a real-time protection system so it relies on you running scans fairly frequently to check for problems. However, if you are the type of person who will remember to run scans then this should not be a problem.

There are other versions of Ad-Aware available including Plus, Professional, and Enterprise versions. These all contain extra features and may be worth the cost but if you are trying to save money then the free version should fit your needs perfectly.