Customer Reviews

Zero Spyware 2004

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

After some moron (me) thoughtlessly downloaded some spyware (the website I went to said it couldn't run without a plug-in that allowed the page to display correctly - this was the spyware, I found out later), I was left with a ton of spyware programs, which proceeded to not only re-direct my browser to God knows where, but also to call back to the mothership and bring in even more software - bypassing the firewall on my machine, no less. So, I bought this software on the recommedation of another, and I must say it's an excellent product. Installation was simple, and it immediately initiated a scan of the system, detecting some 13 instances of spyware installed, and 6 distinct individual types of spyware. It even provided quite a bit of detail on the spyware detected, who makes it, who distributes it, etc. It went on to clean my system, warning me about potential problems with removing some of the components, and making suggestions for action.
My only potential 'criticism' of the product is that, at the very beginning, the interface is a little manic (for lack of a better word) - several windows pop up simultaneously, each asking for direction, or to inform me of a new detection, or to tell me some other stuff I can't even remember now. I found this more amusing than anything, and I thought it showed that the makers of this software were enthusiastic about the product, if nothing else.
But, after the initial scan, all you ever see is a window asking if it can call home to get updates, and a request to scan the system for spyware.
So, overall, if you are looking for a solid anti-spyware program, I would highly recommend this one.

It locked up my computer, would not let me uninstall it.
I had to redo my computer.

SOFTWARE TESTED...............PRICE............OVERALL PERFORMANCE =================================================================
Webroot SpySweeper............FREE............Poor
Ad Aware...........................FREE............Fair
Spybot...............................FREE............Good
McAfee Antispyware...........FREE............Excellent
Microsoft Antispyware...........FREE............THE BEST
Zero Spyware......................(...).............Excellent

The above chart shows the softwares that I have tested against adware and spyware on my system.
Zero Spyware (ZSW) is good as it really cleaned my machine and I do not see any more popups or suspicious programs running in my task manager. However, the freeware called Spybot gave me the same results too!
Further, Microsoft's newly released AntiSpyware (Beta version) cleaned even the most persistent spywares that even Zero Spyware could not.
So the real question is: is ZSW really worth (...) when freewares give you almost same results?
My take is NO. Microsoft has finally come out with a usable, effective and free AntiSpyeare that can beat any malicious spyware.
If you don't like Microsoft or don't trust it (and I don't blame your for that) Spybot has much better support on the net (forums etc) and gives you a great interface and cleaning power at no cost. If you find it useful, you can continue to use it. If you don't, you can always come back and buy ZSW.

In short, Spybot (...) and MS Antispyware (...) both are much better at kicking harmful and dangerous softwares out of your windows machine. You don't really need to buy anything else.

I purchased this software CD based upon Amazon reviews. The application loaded correctly and everything appeared to work until i attempted to run the live update. I found out that the product was not registered on their server. I twice contacted their help-desk (ANNE) via their web site. I twice responded via email to the questions/response they requested. I then contacted their help-desk again via their web site requesting their help in getting this product to run the updates. No help what so ever since then I can connect to their servers 66.192.12.30 (http(80)zerospyware.com) and (68.82.4.8, domain(53)) but then get kicked off and disconnected. Until they fix their help and support desk which they crow about, this product is not worth the purchase price. I have been unable to fully test it to see if it really works. recommend buying some other product.

This product is listed on the scumware list of several sites including Spyware Warrior. I tried the free scan myself and it reported 182 spyware applications and 254 spyware components. Try it yourself, I bet the result is hard coded.

I recommend PestPatrol, in particular I recommend it over Spysweeper, based on my own personal testing. PestPatrol is not available at Amazon.com.

After trying the free Zerospyware scan I ran Pestpatrol and it found 1 instance of adware in my registry.

I thought that I'd add an update.

At the time of this review, Pestpatrol was an independent software company who's software totally rocked. They got bought out by a bigger vendor that totally destroyed the software and, I think, has since changed the name of the product.

In this day and age I wouldn't even bother with separate anti-spyware. Use NOD32 on Windows XP and Kaspersky Internet Security of Vista and Windows 7. There's no separate personal firewall software that's worth a spit either. The high powered stuff (with the exception of Kaspersky) will screw up your computer something awful.

The software installs fairly easily, and it did remove a number of spyware programs. The on-line technical support is good, although the "helper" got befuddled when he could not solve my problem with recurrent pop-ups. I sent them diagnostic information so their software engineers could evaluate the problem. The software is better than Ad-Aware (which is free from lavasoft.com), but I am not yet convinced it is worth $25 plus shipping. The jury is still out . . .

I recommend NOT buying this product. Its very crash prone, the company is a shell company based in the Philipines that will refuse to help you.

Bad risk, avoid!

Zero is a great product and by purchasing the older and updating to the latest version it is the best Competive security program for the money.

Beware that this program actually does not detect spywares effectively. I have been using this software for 3 months and set it to autoscan daily. The reports showed that my PC was clean without any spyware everytime. However, when I recheck my PC with Spy Sweeper, I found several spyware programs(including a notorious one which logs my keystrokes) that Zero Spyware never caught.

Some of the other reviews do not understand a few things about anti-spyware. A good anti-spyware product (and I haven't found one that does everything):
* has a large database of antispyware it can detect, and (hopefully) remove. It doesn't matter whether another spyware product can produce similar results for you, because you really don't know what another person's computer is going to have that requires a larger or more accurate database. No antispyware can remove every piece of spyware as some spyware evades antispyware, nor can every antispyware detect everything using the same names as any other. Detection is more important than removal. Spyware Doctor has good detection as does Pestpatrol. Use a thorough hard drive scan with Pestpatrol and spyware doctor.
* uses the uninstaller that some more over-the-top programs install, and then cleans up the rest. (this is the safest way to remove spyware: start with the uninstaller of the host program.)
(Only Mcafee Antispyware does this so far.)
* Blocks spyware programs from accessing the Internet even before you make a decision about whether to remove them.
(A very minor spyware software named Spy Block lists this as its chief feature--you can also get it through CA's firewall, Mcafee's firewall, Norton's firewall, or Zonealarm's latest firewall. (I don't remember whether version 4 had the program control sharing feature that allows all Zonealarm customers to pitch in and refine automatic settings.)

If you get a firewall, your computer will be less likely to slow down after spyware is installed. Spy Block is a specialized firewall designed to block spyware.

Zero Spyware has a "spyware information sharing network" built-in so that the effectiveness is theroretically improved. I also recommend Pestpatrol over this vendor because they are more established. I haven't tested Zero Spyware personally, but Steve Gibson's tests show it to have a reasonable effectiveness rate. You can find his reviews on Slashdot.