Spyware Doctor with Antivirus 6 is the latest in a series of security applications from PC Tools designed to protect your PC from a range of spyware and virus threats.

After a straightforward setup and an initial update to retrieve the latest additions to its database, the main screen provides the user with access to the tools on offer along with a system summary.

Spyware Doctor includes two main ways to protect your computer: the system scanner and the Intelli-guard tool suite. The former offers a choice of intelligent scanning, which focuses on the critical system resources, a full-scan that include all disks, and a custom scan that allows users to choose specific folders and scan types.

We were impressed by how fast and comprehensive the intelligent scan was – this alone seemed capable of quickly identifying and removing even the most recent threats. The full scan took quite some time but will only really be necessary if you suspect an attack on other partitions or disks installed on the computer.

The Intelli-guard tools also provide active protection against incoming viruses and spyware. This includes guards for your browser and against cookies, plus email and network protection and other general utilities. There isn't a lot of control over these and in most cases you're simply given the option of enabling or disabling them, but they're all switched on by default and with little or no impact on system performance there doesn't seem to be any reason to have to pick and choose.

You'll find a handful of advanced settings for tweaking the behaviour of the software and a comprehensive history of detected threats, along with a scheduler to automate scans and a Global Action List, in which you can add rules to automatically block or allow specific websites or files.

We were very impressed both by how easy Spyware Doctor was to use and the range of protection available. The software takes a very unobtrusive approach and with hardly any impact on performance it's an ideal solution for beginners who want peace of mind without being bothered by interruptions and confusing pop-ups.

Vista compatible: Yes

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