eTrust PestPatrol

PestPatrol is a spyware killer which will search your PC for traces of any programs designed to spy on users, display unwanted pop-up ads, or anything else designed to impede productivity.

There are perfectly able spyware killers available free of charge on the internet, including SpyBot and Ad-Aware, which we often recommend. So what does a paid-for program provide that those programs do not?

The answer, apart from its ease of use, is not much. It's very simple to install and set up, and gives the option of scanning the whole system, with several options available, or setting up a schedule for scanning and checking for updates.

It also includes real-time protection which scans the computer's memory for pests and cookies as you are working.

This program does what it sets out to do. Its spyware detection was pretty comprehensive and it is easy to use. But it doesn't offer much more than can be had from some of the free programs that are readily available for download.