Ad-Aware Free Internet Security 8.3.1
Posted by download in Software on 19-09-2010
One of the first applications built to find and remove malware and spyware AdAware&39;s reputation is welljustified. The latest version continues the publisher&39;s tradition of adroitly addressing user concerns but flaws remain.
Building on the improvements made in version 8 former AdAware users should be glad to hear that the program installs faster than before. This version of AdAware offers two new features to users of the free version that had previously been restricted to the paid upgrades antivirus protection and a longawaited scheduler. The AV protection comes courtesy Sunbelt makers of Vipre. AdAware 8.3 loads faster during your boot cycle and scans are fast. Empirical tests noted that while the Quick Scan finished in less than 10 minutes for version 8 the current version&39;s Quick Scan finished in under 3 minutes. Previous files that had been falsely detected as threats weren&39;t flagged this time around probably due in part to AdAware&39;s behavioral detection engine. Called Genotype it&39;s based on heuristics and uses a onepass scanning system. Genotype isn&39;t directly exposed to users although you can opt in to anonymously contribute data from the Settings menu. The new version also explicitly calls out in the scan windows what the scan looks for.
At least in our tests the latest AdAware Free performs slightly slower than the previous version probably because of the integrated antivirus engine. While rootkit detection is present behaviorbased heuristics and realtime registry protection are not. AdAware Free cannot scan networked drives. The proprietary realtime defender AdWatch Live has been reconfigured to run more smoothly in the background however and longtime fans will notice the change. While the free version is still undeniably hamstrung AdAware continues to make improvements and seems to be unwilling to rest on its malwareremoving laurels.
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