Download Free Ad-Aware SE Personal

Lavasoft's free Ad-Aware Personal 1.06 does a good job of protecting you against adware and spyware that have already made the trip to your PC. However this free product falls short in preventative protection features that are available only in Lavasoft's paid products.

In performance tests conducted by AV-Test.org, Ad-Aware ranked 4th among the 5 products tested for “Spyware Specialist” story despite solid detection and disinfection scores. This free application detected 85% of active adware and spyware samples thrown at it. It also disinfected 45% of adware and 60% of spyware samples. Ad-Aware did the best job of detecting inactive adware and spyware samples. However, Ad-Aware Personal lacks root kit protection and, more important, the Ad-Watch real-time protection available in Lavasoft's $27 Ad-Aware SE Plus. What is beneficial about real-time protection is that it helps prevent threats from landing on your system in the first place. Ad-Aware SE Personal also lacks e-mail tech support. But overall, the free Ad-Aware Personal 1.06 is a good to have basic adware and spyware detective software.