Yahoo Toolbar with Antispy

Just as the big anti-virus vendors are getting involved with spyware removal, so too is Yahoo, with the latest version of its toolbar adding an anti-spy facility.

Installation is fairly straightforward, though when we first tried to launch the Antispy application from the toolbar, it took so long to appear that we’d already started shutting down the PC for a reboot. And since one of the annoyances of spyware is the hijacking of your search and start pages, it seems odd that the
default is to change your search page to Yahoo.

Scanning performance is quick, coming in at under a minute and still listing a reasonable selection of threats. That said, only one was marked to remove, with the rest to be reviewed – likely a product of caution based on the ‘agreements’ some spyware authors think they have with the people they infect.

To remove, we clicked Remove All and confirmed our choice, but this took some time and, once again, we wondered if it had stopped. The system was also reluctant to reboot after removal, and we had to pull the power cord. After that, we had a better experience, with a restored home page and less spyware, but still
unwanted pop-up ads. As a toolbar plug-in, Antispy is available only to users of Internet Explorer; it doesn't install a standalone application, and that is a serious omission.