Labs

Spy Sweeper is one of an increasing number of anti-spyware utilities to provide real-time protection. This means that the moment some recognisable spyware is saved on the system it kicks into action and removes it, optionally saving it into a quarantine area.

The program uses a protection system that consists of different modules, known as Shields. Different parts of the program track things such as Internet Explorer's settings, important Windows files, files sent over instant messaging services and the programs that load automatically when Windows starts up.

The program can scan a PC for spyware using different

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options. A full scan can take a long time, but is the most effective way to clean infected PCs. The Quick Sweep option runs faster but checks fewer areas, and you can also set up a Custom Sweep, which is useful if you know what you are doing and are suspicious about certain files.

The version of Spy Sweeper we tested includes anti-virus protection by Sophos. This company makes anti-virus software for businesses; this is the first time we've seen it in a consumer product. At £30, we hoped that this program would give other anti-virus programs (most of which include anti-spyware protection as standard) a run for their money. Sadly, it allowed half of the web-based threats to download to our hard disk, though it detected and blocked the other half. Manually scanning the files that got through improved the situation slightly - it detected just over half of the spyware we downloaded.

In an effort to prove that this program could handle real-time infections, we ran a few of the downloaded files. However, the program became corrupted by one of the bad programs. Although you are unlikely to encounter such a wide and undiluted mix of spyware in one afternoon, in this test the bad guys won.