| Ease of Installation: | 9.5/10 |
| Ease of Use: | 10/10 |
| Feature Set: | 9.5/10 |
| Effectiveness: | 9.5/10 |
| Updates: | 9.5/10 |
| Help/Support: | 9.5/10 |
| Summary: | 9.58/10 |
There is no doubt that the level of sophistication posed by malware threats has increased exponentially over the last few years. The sheer volume of these threats has also vastly expanded, and today, PC users are facing malevolent predators such as they have never before experienced. The good news is that the protection software developers are equal to the challenge and there is no finer example of this than the latest version of PC Tools anti-malware program, Spyware Doctor 6.
Ease of Installation: 9.5/10
Installation presented no problems. The whole process was reasonably fast and a number of prompts offered us the options of creating a desk top icon and a quick launch system tray icon and allowed us to set the program to carry out automatic updates on a regular basis so that the user doesn't have to remember to do this - a nice touch.
Ease of Use: 10/10
The user interface provided by Spyware Doctor is probably the best available on the market today. Stacked vertically on the left hand side of the well-laid-out, clean launch page, we find five good-sized buttons. From top to bottom, they are Status, Start Scan, Intelliguard, Settings and Register.
The status button takes you to a page with information on the system status, including the Product and database versions and the number of Intelli-signatures loaded (in our case just over a million). It also informs you if any actions are required, for example a reboot or outstanding infections which need attention. Also on this screen, you can start a scan or enable immunization, or activate real time protection which blocks malware from infecting your system.
The Start Scan button gives the user the scanning options. There are 3 major options, and these are a full scan - basically this scans everything, an Intelli-scan, which focuses on running applications, startup files and other locations such as the registry, and a custom scan where you can choose the drives and folders to scan using a selection of tools.
The Intelli-Guard button offers the user real time protection with a series of intelligent tools - Browser Guard, File Guard, Keylogger Guard and so on - a total of 8 separate tools which you can activate to give you complete protection against the latest threats to your PC.
The Settings button takes you to the screen where you can fine tune the scan settings as well as customizing the scheduling of updates. You can decide on what you want Spyware Doctor to do when a threat is found and you can also see which items have been quarantined. The last button is to allow users who have downloaded the 30 day trial version to register and purchase the software with PC Tools and to activate the full version on their PC. (The trial version only scans - it does not have the functionality to remove threats).
Feature Set: 9.5/10
The basic version of Spyware Doctor 6 covers licenses for up to 3 computers. The features are extensive and include the following:
- Most Internationally awarded anti-spyware product.
- Free customer support for all users.
- Frequent advanced updates ensure that you are always protected.
- Very extensive threat database
- Constant real time protection
- Detects, removes and blocks all types of malware threats.such as Spyware, Adware, Spyware Trojans, Keyloggers, Identity Theft, Hijackers, Tracking Threats, Rogue Anti-Spyware, Unwanted Software, Phishing, Popups and Bad Websites.
- Advanced Rootkit detection
- Optional plug-ins are available including Site Guard, Email Guard and Behavior Guard
- Works in the background with low CPU usage
- Intelligent automatic protection.
- 100% Money Back Guarantee.
Effectiveness: 9.5/10
Spyware Doctor is by far the most effective anti-spyware program we have tested, removing well over 90% of test spyware installed on our machine. This is very impressive, since so far there is no other piece of malware software which comes close to this level of effectiveness. This performance comes with a slight price, however, since a full scan of out PC took about 12 minutes, longer than most other tested programs. The answer is to schedule full scans for a time when your PC is not being used, i.e. late at night or very early in the morning. The improvement in performance of the test machine after the infections were removed was staggering, reverting it to the fast PC that it used to be before the malware infections.
One of the nice things about Spyware Doctor 6 is that, as well as identifying the threat and its intensity, it also tells the user from which website the threat originated. This is very useful information as you can then set up your firewall to block access to these sites. A very useful and pro-active function.
Updates: 9.5/10
The program allows you to schedule tasks for particular times, enabling you to search for updates and download them at a convenient time. You can also schedule different scans to be run at pre-determined times and dates. This makes for a pleasantly hands-free protection system and adds to the user's peace of mind.
Help/Support: 9.5/10
PC Tools, the company which provides Spyware Doctor 6, has an array of support functions, ranging from a Quickstart Guide to links to the company's Product and Home pages. Online support is available which gives access to FAQs and also covers topics such as installation, functions, settings, downloads, error messages, compatibility issues and how to operate the Smart Update feature.
Summary: 9.58/10
Spyware Doctor 6 builds on the success and functionality of previous versions of the program and is now firmly established at the top of the anti-spyware tree. Malware is becoming much more sophisticated and Spyware Doctor has advanced along with the level of these threats. It is a top class choice for anti-spyware software and we have no hesitation in making it our number one pick. If you want the best, look no further than Spyware Doctor 6 from PC Tools.
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