Which Anti-Malware Will Completely Eliminate Annoying Malware & Improve PC Performance ?
Hello,
It is HitMalware Viruslab, here you will find the most depth reviews of anti-malware
software on the Internet.
We conducted the tests found on this page because there in no shortage of the information
or sites trying to sell you on the benefits and claims of these programs but none
that we can find have actually attempted to show that any significant delete malware
or overall improvement in PC performance is possible by using these programs.
I hope you find this information useful and at the very least will help you make
a better decision about anti-malware, if any, is right for you.
Questions That Needed Answering :
There are many questions regarding anti-malware software and we attempted to find
answers for some of the most common and frequently asked such as:
- 1) How can I check that an anti-malware software is actually cleaning all malware?
- 2) What's really the best anti-malware software in effectiveness?
- 3) How come different anti-malware software have found different problems with my
computer?
- 4) Is it really safe to use anti-malware software?
- 5) Are there any anti-malware software out there that actually work?
Setting up the Test:
For this test, 3 of the popular anti-malware software were selected as part of the
testing. The anti-malware software were: Hit Malware, Spyware Doctor, and Ad-Aware.
The computer used in this test was an HP ProBook 4321s(WP417PA) laptop, with 2GB
RAM and 320GB hard drive running Windows XP SP3. This computer is a daily use computer
used for common tasks like web browsing, email, word processing, games, etc. Essentially
it has been used how the average person uses their PC.
In order to keep things as similar as possible, a copy of the computer's contents
was imaged so each anti-malware software could be tested with the same exact setup
and performance issues.
Picking the 'Best' Anti-Malware Software :
Each Anti-Malware Software Was judged on six different criteria. They are in no
particular order of importance:
- 1) File Size and Download Time: How fast a download is completed.
- 2) Speed of Anti-Malware Scan: How fast a scan is completed and whether system performance
was impacted during the scan.
- 3) Number Of Malware Found: How many errors did each program find. It is important
to note that detecting more errors does not necessarily mean an anti-malware software
is better. More details below.
- 4) Common Malware Test: Each computer faces a different set of problems and issues.
With this test we manually created error messages and system warnings to compare
how each program handles specific types or problems and errors resulting in a more
comparable way to judge effectiveness.
- 5) Multiple Scan Test: After a computer is scanned and cleaned, are different 'errors'
after each scan? If so, why weren't they detected the first time and why do they
suddenly appear?
- 6) PC Performance Score: The final test set was to use computer benchmarking software
that assigns a 'Performance Score' to a computer before and after an anti-malware
scan is performed to gauge if any noticeable performance improvements were detected.
Test #1 - File
Size and Download Time:
In our first test we did a simple comparison of how fast each anti-malware software
could complete a download (all download options were enabled for each program).
Below are the results of this test:
What This Means :
Hit Malware came out on top, completing the download in under five minutes, (11
minute and 21 seconds) which was considerably faster than the other programs.
The Winner : Hit Malware takes top honors in this test.
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Test #2 - Speed
of Anti-Malware Scan:
In our second test we did a comparison of how fast each anti-malware software could
complete a full system scan (all scan options were enabled for each program). Below
are the results of this test:
What This Means :
Hit Malware came out on top, completing the scan in under six minutes, which was
considerably faster than the other programs with Spyware Doctor bringing up the
rear taking more than 18 minutes to complete a scan.
Ultimately, while it is nice that some programs far out perform others in regards
to scan time , this in not a great indicator of effectives . Overall performance
of the PC during scanning was about the same for each program with little to no
noticeable decrease in PC performance or slow down.
The Winner : Hit Malware takes top honors in this test.
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Test #3 - Number
of Malware Found:
Next up , we tested each program on the exact same PC configuration ( to ensure
each scanning the same files and malware) to determine how many malware each program
detected on our test machine. Here are the results :
What This Means :
Spyware Doctor far outpaced all the other programs when it came to total number
of malware detected with 853 issues found, while Ad-Aware came in ' last' with only
54.
This is where we really began to realize that you can' t judge an anti-malware software
based on the errors found alone. As we dug deeper, we discovered that the way each
program reported and listed errors was quite different.
For instance, a malware may have several different values. So one program would
list the malware and count that as ' 1 error' while another program may count each
value in the system as an error and report the same malware issue having ' 5 errors'
.
As you can see this kind of difference in reporting could quickly add up to one
program appearing to find far more errors than another. Comparing each and every
reported error across all programs was far beyond the scope of this test, it did
lead us to introduce a new test to better gauge what these program were finding
and removing. (details in next selection)
The Winner : No clear
winner in this test as simply comparing the number of errors found is just too vague
and inaccurate.
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Test #4 - Common
Malware Test:
Let's face it, trying to compare thousands of different malware in the system to
try and determine the specific problems found would take perhaps a month or two
and no two computers will have the same PC problems, so for out 4th test we manually
introduced malware on our test PC so we would know specifically which malware should
be detected and removed by each program.
In total , we created 5 malware that are pretty common on many PC's and are actually
very simple issues that any anti-malware software should detect with ease .. (we
were wrong but more on that later).
Here are screenshots of the 5 malware we introduced onto the PC, they are all pretty
similar.
Each anti-malware software was tested to see if it could remove these error messages
from the system. Here are the results:
What This Means :
We were pleased to see that 3 out of 3 of the programs we tested were able to detect
and remove 100% of the errors.
Keep in mind these are common and relatively harmless (but vey annoying messages)
that should have been detected by all 3 programs.
The Winner : Hit Malware, Spyware Doctor & Ad-Aware tie for
top honors in this test .
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Test #5 - Multiple
Scan Test:
For our next to last test, we wanted to see if any of the programs had problems
removing the malware that were detected or even worse issued false positives (these
are errors that are detected but are not actually a problem or even exist) which
can sometimes be used to trick people into thinking they have more problems than
they really do so you will buy their software.
To do this we simply ran multiple scans (rebooting after each) to see if any of
the anti-malware software reported new malware of failed to remove any malware.
Here are the results:
What This Means :
Hit Malware came out on top, completing the download in under five minutes, (11
minute and 21 seconds) which was considerably faster than the other programs.
The Winner : Hit Malware takes top honors in this test.
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Test #6 - PC
Performance Score:
Our sixth and final test was to attempt to determine if there was any measurable
improvement in PC performance as a result of using an anti-malware software.
To measure this we used PC benchmarking software PassMark, to first establish a
performance baseline for our test PC and the measure the performance of the PC after
running a malware scan each program.
(Note: after each scan was completed and performance measurement taken, the PC was
restored back to it's original state to ensure each performance measurement was
based on the same settings and registry issues/problems)
The baseline score of our test is pictured to the below(450.3) :
Performance improvements after running an anti-malware scan:
What This Means :
After running an anti-malware scan then performing a new performance test we were
indeed able to measure a difference in overall PC performance. Based on these tests,
Hit Malware had the highest score 530.8 translating into 17.9% performance improvement.
One thing that may have possibly contributed to Hit Malware's success in the tests
is that it is the only anti-malware software tested that includes a stand alone
System Startup, File Shredder and ActiveX Immunity options that streamline and restructure
the system for improved performance.
The Winner : Based on the performance boost, Hit Malware
had the biggest improvement in PC performance according to the benchmarking software.
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Important!
This test was devised in an attempt to show in some manner the difference in a computer's
performance before and after using an anti-malware software. That said it is very
important to note that the results presented here are specific to the test computers
we used and not meant to imply that every computer will experience the same results
as every computer is different in hardware, software installed , software and processes
running in the background , age of computer , and how a PC is used.
CONCLUSIONS:
It's clear that some programs are better at detecting and removing malware and not
all anti-malware software report what is being done to your computer with the same
accuracy while others seem to function in a way that is different from the other
programs tested all together.
At the very least, you should know that relying strictly on the number of malware
found to determine the ' best' anti-malware software is not accurate or reliable
as each program counts and categorizes errors differently.
We should also point out that any performance improvements will differ from computer
to computer, and certainly older computers would seem to benefit more than newer
ones in that they tend to have more clutter, ' junk' files and old useless programs.
Please
See What Our Customers Had to Say:
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Comment
Response to “Are you satisfied with our software?” and a few emails
Thanks for your great services. I don't have to worry about my computer from now
on. It runs faster than ever before. Thank You for all of your help.
June 17, 2010 at 4:54 pm, Michael Zipursky, US
I was having issues with the burning option with my Media Player and I could not
reload the program because of Windows Database problems. After I corrected the Windows
Database issues I was able to reload the media player and burn music CD's. My computer
now works perfect and much faster than before!!!
April 23, 2010 at 1:50 pm, Stuart Goymer, UK
Je veux juste dire merci pour votre aide. Votre logiciel fonctionne parfaitement,
mon PC est mis à jour et fonctionne maintenant mieux. Merci encore pour l'aide rapide
avec mon problème.
Aug 27, 2009 at 7:17 am, Johanna Blanc, Genève, Suisse
Salut Merci. C'est vraiment un bon logiciel, un mai me l’a recommandé et de ce que
j'ai vu jusqu'à présent, il coute bien moins que les autres de vos concurrents.
Merci encore.
Feb 11, 2009 at 0:29 pm, Benoit Rouget, Belgique
J'ai acheté votre logiciel il ya plusieurs mois pour mon ordinateur de bureau et
il fonctionne top. Je vais en acheter une autre copie pour l’ordinateur portable
de ma femme.
Nov 19, 2008 at 2:34 am, Robert Sauvin, France
Not only my problem is solved, but also my computer runs much faster. Thanks for
the help.
Oct 03, 2008 at 8:05 am, Matt Bacak, CA
THANK YOU. YOUR DIRECTION WORKED, EVERYTHING IS OK NOW.
June 28, 2008 at 1:12 pm, Charles Kistler, US
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Please continue to read our other suggestions to protect your computer.
Prevention Suggestions
Take the following steps to help prevent infection on your computer:
· Enable a firewall on your computer.
· Get the latest computer updates for all your installed software.
· Use up-to-date antivirus software.
· Avoid downloading pirated software.
Enable a firewall on your computer
Download HitMalware and enable the smart firewall
to protect your computer, 24/7.
Get the latest computer updates
Updates help protect your computer from viruses, worms, and other threats as they
are discovered. It is important to install updates for all the software that is
installed in your computer.
You can download and use the Microsoft Update feature in Perfect Optimizer
to download future Microsoft security updates while your computer is on and connected
to the Internet.
Also you can download and use PCware Tracker to download Microsoft
updates and other third party applications to fix system vulnerabilities and improve
system performance.
Use up-to-date antivirus software
Most antivirus software can detect and prevent infection by known malicious software.
To help protect you from infection, you should always run antivirus software, such
as Weskysoft HitMalware, that is updated with the latest signature files. For more
information, see http://www.hitmalware.com/features.html.
Avoid downloading pirated software
Threats may also be bundled with software and files that are available for download
on various torrent sites. Downloading cracked or pirated software from these sites
carries not only the risk of being infected with malware, but is also illegal.
Report Suspicious Files
Manual removal is not recommended for the malware on your computer. To detect and
remove malicious software that may have been installed, run a full scan with an
up-to-date antivirus product such as Weskysoft HitMalware.
Note: If you believe that this file has been reported in error, we encourage you
to submit the affected file to us for further analysis. Be sure to indicate that
this may be an incorrect detection by checking the checkbox and adding a note to
the comments field of the submission form.
Steps to submit the affected file:
1. Download HitMalware
2. Launch it after installation
3. Click Analyze menu and then click Submit
4. Add affected file and describe and then click Submit
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