The HijackThis program, owned by Trend Micro, works differently from other anti-spyware programs. What it does is look at the parts of your system that can be vulnerable to external changes, such as browser helper objects, processes, autorun items, and certain types of registry keys. The HijackThis program flags programs that are suspect, creates a log of these items, and when you go into the program you can decide for yourself whether or not the programs are malware. If they are, you can check them off, click on “Fix Checked,” and they are fixed.
So the beauty of this software is that it doesn’t look for specific spyware programs that already exist. What it does instead is locate the types of activities and entries that could possible find their way onto your computer and infect it. This is an important difference when comparing anti-spyware software because you are not required to have knowledge of every single type of malware that is out there.
Certainly the editor’s review at CNET.com couldn’t say enough good things about the program, rating it at five stars out of five. SnapFiles reviewed the program and gave it a somewhat lower rating and in the PCWorld review, HijackThis received three out of five stars. It isn’t that they don’t like how the software works; they call it “a great malware removal tool,” but immediately add that “it’s not for the average user.” The reason is that the average computer user doesn’t know that much about registry keys, or what is malware and what isn’t.
Each time updates are developed for existing programs or a new program is downloaded onto your computer the registry on the computer changes. While HijackThis generates the lists you need, it doesn’t evaluate them; after all, there are perfectly legitimate items on there. And if the user is not an expert, they can remove items that shouldn’t be touched and create a real mess. However, the created lists can be very useful when it comes to discovering what is on their computer and how certain things on the computer work. All you have to do is just avoid hitting “Fix Checked” until you’ve gone through every item and eliminated the good ones.
In general, this software is very highly regarded. Exercised with great care, HijackThis appears to be very useful for helping to get rid of most spyware and other malware installed on a computer.
You need an effective spyware removal tool in order to protect your computer and your personal data from hackers and thieves. Fortunately, there is plenty of spyware removing freeware online at any number of sites that have freeware spyware removal software.
Mail this post
Sat, Feb 13, 2010
Spyware