Remover Spyware – Trend Micro HijackThis – Free Spyware Remover

When I first read the title for this software, I immediately thought of the book HijackThis, which is a series of books about computer security. In much the same way that a computer security auditor checks over your computer system, HijackThis monitors your computer for changes. The program is tiny. It is about 800K and has a very small memory footprint. HijackThis is used in fighting off what most editors call persistent spyware, which is another way of saying you visit too many naughty sites. Fortunately for those of us who are finding out all too well that this economy stinks, HijackThis is a free spyware remover.

HijackThis has undergone several revisions over the years and it now lists several key areas of your hard drive and registry that are used by both legitimate software and spyware or malware. The program updates continuously to detect and remove new threats, which is pretty uncommon for a free spyware remover. The free spyware remover uses a pseudo-heuristics engine to sort out and eliminate threats, which means that in addition to hard coded program lists, process lists, and URL lists, the free spyware remover is capable of “thinking”. This technology results in unfortunate false positives and because of this, you should be cautious of anything you go ahead and delete. What the software writers, Trend Micro, advise people who are unfamiliar with their computers do is that, when they have their results, to give them to someone more knowledgeable. HijackThis is not created for novice users; people who are unfamiliar with the operations of their computer should avoid this software in lieu of a program which is more easy to use. A down side of most advanced free spyware removers, especially programs like HijackThis is that they are unable to distinguish between a modification that spyware has made (such as a registry entry for startup from an obscure location) or a custom modification that you have made (like tweaking the registry for better network performance).

In comparison to other free spyware removers, HijackThis is blazing quick. I found it to be quite snappy. The interface is brilliant for a free spyware remover, if you like your free spyware removers with a dash of nerd. The program lists out all the threats and infections found on your computer in a tree view. To interject my opinion, I really like this free spyware remover. Not just because of the fact that it is a free spyware remover but because of the brand recognition that Trend Micro brings. They also provide a free spyware remover that is online called Housecall (this caters to people looking for both free virus and free spyware removal). When I think of Trend Micro, I think of a quality product and this quality is brought to the table here as a free spyware remover. To summarize, HijackThis brings to the table quality yet remains a free spyware remover. It is quick and simple to use, though you can cause a lot of trouble if you’re not careful. HijackThis comes highly recommended by every professional I’ve spoken with in its regard. Since it is a free spyware remover, you have nothing to lose.