There’s a wide array of spyware removal tools out there, and lots of them are undeniably effective. However, it’s even better if you can stop it from ever getting in your computer. SpywareBlaster is a free tool that protects your system from spyware, adware, browser hijackers and dialers in a very effective, yet unobtrusive manner.
Installation & Requirements
SpywareBlaster has a simple installation, where users can only change the default install folder and disable the creation of a desktop shortcut. The rest of the process is quicky and full automated. At first run SpywareBlaster deploys a welcome screen offering a few basic settings to configure the product.
SpywareBlaster runs on Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7 and 8 (32 and 64-bit versions), with no additional requirements.
Interface
The above mentioned Welcome Screen, offers updating options, namely auto updating and manual updating. Since the first instinct would be choosing the auto updating, you should now that it’s not free. SpywareBlaster is free, but not with that feature enabled, which only comes for a fee. So if you’re not willing to pay, choose the manual updating.
SpywareBlaster offers protection for your web browsers against ActiveX-based spyware, potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) and blocks potentially unwanted of dangerous websites.
The application has a clean, attractive UI where all the main categories are listed in the left sidebar. Depending on the selected category, related information is displayed in the dedicated area. The default category is Protection Status. Here, users can see the protection status of all their installed web browsers.
SpywareBlaster supports most popular browsers, such as Internet Explorer (and other browsers based on its engine), Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Netscape, Seamonkey and others. For each of the detected browsers with enabled protection you can see which items have protection disabled (if any). In the lower part of the screen a few common actions are offered, such as enable all protection, disable all protection and download latest protection updates.
The sidebar lists shortcuts to protection settings for each browser. The main protection modules are cookie protection, ActiveX protection (IE) and script protection (Google Chrome). The program also has a built-in list of blocked websites, which can be customized for individual browsers or for all of them in the Restricted Sites category.
The System Snapshot can create a record of current browser and system settings. Should PUPs or spyware manage to infiltrate your computer and modify some of these settings, you can easily restore the original one to a saved snapshot point.
In the Tools section, users will find various shortcuts to Internet Explorer settings, the Hosts Safe – a place where backups of the Hosts files can be created and stored, the option to disable Macromedia Flash in IE and Custom Blocking – where power users can add their own lists of ActiveX controls to be blocked.
Last, but not least, the Updates category lets users manually update SPywareBlaster, configure Internet connection settings for the update process or get AutoUpdate the paid feature that enables automatic updates for the program.
Pros
– Simple, adware-free installation.
– Clean, modern interface with straightforward options and intuitive navigation.
– Offers antispyware protection for most popular browsers, including Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.
– Protection can be customized for each browser.
– Users can manually deselect entries from the built-in collection of blocked websites or choose to unblock them all.
– The system snapshot is a simple solution to revert back to original system settings, should any spyware or potentially unwanted application modify them.
– Allows users to save backups of the Hosts file.
Cons
– The welcome screen attempts to trick users into choosing the AutoUpdate feature, which has to be purchased.
Conclusion
SpywareBlaster focuses on something that antivirus programs do not: tracking cookies, spyware, adware, dialers. Instead of scanning your system from time to time and find tons of cookies and other spyware, this free tool prevents them from ever reaching it.
