As a reviewer, I admittedly spend a lot of time surfing the net in search
of cool tools for our subscribers and site visitors. Every once in a while, I
hit a suspicious site that bombs me with pop-ups and attempts to force me to
bookmark them. Somewhere along the way, something on my PC's desktop changes
-- a home page, a favorites listing, a security setting. And then my browser
seems to take on a new personality of its own. Every search on Google sends me
to an unexpected search engine. Or pop-ups keep popping up telling me I am
infected and I need to buy a pop-up blocker right away. Even my CD drawer
opens by itself as if a ghost touched the eject button! That's when I know I
have been hosed.
So I started downloading and testing a number of different utilities to try
to regain control of my browser and PC. Along the way, I discovered Webroot's
SpySweeper.
For under $30.00 I was thoroughly pleased. SpySweeper is a quick and
easy install, working on virtually all versions of Windows. It updates itself
like many virus-protection tools. But what differentiates this tool from say,
Symantec, is the that is monitors the PC's behavior. For instance, let's say
you hit a site you like and decide to add it to your favorites list in your
browser. Instantly, SpySweeper
detects you are trying add a new site,
and it asks if you really want to do this. Of course, I do! So it allows it.
But let's say I visit a web site that tries to add itself to my favorite's
list without my permission. SpySweeper
also catches this and warns me
and gives me the opportunity to reject it. That's valuable.
Let's say a site tries to change my home page or embed a hidden command to
always launch a popup to sell me something. SpySweeper
catches this,
too. It also watches my system when I install a new application. It tells me
which files will be changed or added and asks permission to allow it. This is
a great stop-gap measure that enables me to do a safety check and possibly
avoid problems later on.
SpySweeper
does a lot more, and it does it all better than any other
spyware tool I have purchased or downloaded. You can try it for free. Just go here
to learn more.
Webroot's SpySweeper
