removal

Loaris Trojan Remover scans and removes Trojans and other harmful spyware from your computer. It can do a quick scan of critical files or a deep and thorough scan of your whole computer.

This program's interface is clean and simple to use. Those familiar with virus protection software will find the program's layout similar to many popular programs. For users new to antivirus software, Loaris offers a good Help file that will get you up and running. To test the program, we had it do a quick scan of a target computer, which it accomplished with no problems. … Read more

Virus Effect Remover offers the intriguing capability to erase the harmful effects of a virus. While we were excited about this program's possibilities, we were completely turned off by its puzzling layout, which makes it all but impenetrable for most users.

The program's interface equally impressed and baffled us. While it looks very professional, it was so full of options, commands, and visuals that we never felt comfortable or in control with it, even when we were following the Help file's instructions to the letter. This program's main function is not to eliminate viruses from your … Read more

PDF Watermark Remover is an easy-to-use tool that removes embedded watermark images from PDF files. Although it can't remove other types of watermarks, it works quite well if embedded images are your main concern.

PDF Watermark Remover's interface is sleek and seems fairly intuitive at first glance, though it quickly became clear that the program doesn't work exactly as expected. You open the target PDF, and in one pane the program displays thumbnails of all embedded images that it can remove. You simply add the desired images to the removal list. This is quite easy when working … Read more

Digital Rights Management, or DRM, is technology designed to prevent unauthorized use of copyrighted and licensed material, such as music, video, and software, which makes it a good thing. Unfortunately, it sometimes means you can't use stuff you bought and paid for because the DRM protection lingers long after, say, you've changed providers, upgraded software, or migrated machines. DRM issues lurk in many places. A DRM removal tool is what you need, something like DRM Removal, a cleverly named utility that strips DRM protection and converts your protected files to more user-friendly formats. You can use it to … Read more

Spyware Doctor with Antivirus 7 offers users a superb collection of malware prevention and removal tools, but its infamously strict trial restrictions makes it difficult to evaluate. With quick scanning and multiple tools for stopping malware before it infects your computer, the paid version is a solid spyware remover. This version differs from Spyware Doctor in that it offers antivirus protection, as well as anti-malware.

Installing the program annoyingly requires you to reboot the computer, but as soon as Windows finishes loading, the program will start scanning for malware. Impressively, the scan took only about 5 minutes, which is much … Read more

Correction: Although this review was written for Spyware Doctor version 8, a typo misstated the version number as version 7. That has since been corrected.

Spyware Doctor 8 offers users a superb collection of malware prevention and removal tools, but its infamously strict trial restrictions makes it difficult to evaluate. With quick scanning and multiple tools for stopping malware before it infects your computer, the paid version is a solid spyware remover.

Installing the program annoyingly requires you to reboot the computer, but as soon as Windows finishes loading, the program will start scanning for malware. Impressively, the scan took … Read more

DupeRazor Duplicate Files Removal Kit offers to help clear up space on a computer by seeking out and destroying duplicate files. While it provides great results, its speed was a major concern.

The duplicate remover's interface is very simple and only offers a few variations, which kept us on task. There is a brief Help file, but the program is intuitive enough that we didn't need it. The program offered us the option to alter the size of our scan from the entire C: drive down to a single folder through a simple file tree. The scanning process … Read more

One of the first applications built to find and remove malware and spyware, Ad-Aware's reputation is well-justified. The latest version continues the publisher's tradition of adroitly addressing user concerns, but isn't yet perfect.

Building on the improvements made in version 8, former Ad-Aware users should be glad to hear that the program installs faster than it used to. Without a doubt, though, this version of Ad-Aware improves greatly on what has come before. It loads faster during your boot cycle, and scans are faster. Empirical tests noted that while the Quick Scan finished in less than 10 … Read more

JawDropper 2007 is a basic puzzle game that involves matching groups of similar objects in order to clear the game board. Although we have seen similar games before, JawDropper's attractive interface and many options make it one of the best.

The program's graphics are quite attractive and sleek. The default version features credibly 3D-looking balls, but users can choose from many different backgrounds and JawDropper objects. There are seasonal themes, such as jewels, flowers, billiards balls, and many others. All of these were high quality, and we had fun playing with different combinations of backgrounds and objects. The … Read more