Adware Cleaner

An adware cleaner is any program that sifts through your hard drive and detects (and hopefully destroys) any adware you may have accumulated. Adware is a type of malware – any program that infiltrates or harms your computer without permission. Adware itself is defined as a program that spawns pop-ups or adds advertisements to certain programs (usually web browsers) without permission from the user. If you’re looking for an adware cleaner but don’t know what to look for in one, consider these basic conditions: cost, capabilities, and ease of use.

The best adware cleaners aren’t free, but often come with a greater range of functions and user-friendliness. For example, many costly anti-virus programs will also have anti-malware peripherals, or you may find a program with a free trial phase that has an upgrade fee. Functions to look for are effectiveness of scanning, deletion options and alternatives (such as quarantining), updating, and immunization. Updating keeps the program’s database effective, whereas immunizing will let it detect and block malware as it attempts to access your hard drive.

Adware cleaners also often include peripherals like registry cleaners or protection, and active internet browser guardian programs. Registry protection will keep malware from changing values in your registry, which is one of the main ways adware can adversely affect your computer’s speed and overall performance. Internet browser guardians will help your browser locate, identify, and block files which may contain malicious software before it’s even downloaded. Other functions may include extra skins for the colorblind or sight-impaired, and extra languages for non-English users. All of these are common sights, though some programs provide them for free and some require an upgraded version of the program. Be sure you know what you’re looking for when choosing an adware cleaner, so that you can match the cost to the effectiveness.

Many of these programs can actually be adware disguised as anti-adware applications, which will in turn download and display adware. This can be a vicious cycle, and it can be a pain to figure out what is adware and what’s legitimate, so check reviews from trusted websites before you go around downloading every adware cleaner you find. Adware is generally pretty easy to get rid of, but finding the right program for the job can be somewhat more challenging. A good program, which has all of the functions mentioned earlier, is Spybot S&D. It is free, and while it isn’t professional-grade, it is certainly sufficient for the home user trying to keep his or her PC free of adware and running smoothly.