Spybot - Search & Destroy Video

Spybot - Search & Destroy Video Transcript

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>> I'm Jessica Dolcourt from CNETDownload.com. And today we're taking a first look at Spy Bot Search and Destroy. Now ever since Spy Bot joined the CNETDownload.com library in 2002, it's been a big hit. Let's take a look at what this uberous spyware detection tool can do. Spy Bot launches for the first time with a set up wizard where you can choose your language support, update definitions immediately and enable skins for that all important beautification, if you can call it that. Spy Bot's wizard also walks you through start up steps, like backing up your registry files if you want them on hand in the event of a malware emergency. The program's default mode is pretty intuitive. This is where you update definitions, scan for problems, and restore files that Spy Bot has backed up in the repair process. If anything went wrong after repair, clicking the files from the list will undo Spy Bot's changes. It's said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. To that end, Spy Bot's immunize tool attempts to save you from yourself by blocking access on Internet Explorer to URLs that are either suspicious or known threats. There are more protection options in Spy Bot's advanced mode. Though the program advises that if you're not exactly sure what you're doing, some settings options may permanently affect your computer. I give Spy Bot a thumbs up for one of the settings in particular. The option is that a system point when the program runs in case there's a problem and you need to revert to a previous system configuration. You can also automate certain tasks like running Spy Bot's protection routine when the program launches or scheduling a scan. Scheduling is a feature that no security software should be without. Spy Bot attempts to completely remove each spyware file it detects. But there might be some non malware files you want permanently trashed. For this, Spy Bot offers a secure shredder. There's no recovery process for this one, so once the files are gone, they're gone. Then there's a tweaking tool for Internet Explorer that allows advanced users to configure the IE Browser against criminal hackers. For example, you can lock host files into a read only format. Yet as much of a household name as Spy Bot is in antivirus software, it owes much of its popularity to past performance. Once at the top of its game, Spy Bot now ranks among the lowest in CNET antivirus tests. In fact, it repeatedly misses threats that newer engines catch. So until Spy Bot updates its spyware engine, the program is really best used along side other antivirus apps. I'm Jessica Dolcourt from CNETDownload.com, and you've been looking at Spy.Search and Destroy. ^M00:02:27 [ Music ]