Spyware is one of the major evils plaguing the Internet today, and infects thousands of PCs across the planet every day. The malware, which hides itself in applications and files passed via the Net, can wreak silent havoc on your PC unless you install some kind of protection. While the free version of Ad-Aware can’t prevent this nasty code jumping onto your computer, it is arguably better equipped than any other program at tracing and wiping spyware from your hard drive.

The application boasts a very simple interface, and scanning your machine is as simple as clicking a couple of buttons. The scan then takes place pretty quickly (depending on the amount of data on your hard drive) while consuming very little memory, before presenting you with a list of all the spyware elements uncovered by the program, and the level of threat they pose to you and your PC. If you’re anything like us, then you’ll be gobsmacked at the amount of malicious applications lurking on your machine. Luckily, these are simply quarantined and removed by AdAware. What's more, if you decide to upgrade to one of the premium Ad-Aware versions, the program is able to block spyware from installing on your PC, as they real-time products.

Although the software won’t recognize every last piece of spyware out there, it provides the most thorough tracking of any program out there, and with quick and simple downloadable updates, you can ensure that you always stay one step ahead of the evils of the Net.