Superantispyware Review

[Francisca Noggles]

Thepackage has a free version available, but this doesn't support real-time protection or automatic updates. It might still be useful, just about, if you're looking to remove an existing infection, but it can't block an initial attack.

All this can be yours for $29.95 for a one-year, one-computer license. That's a very standard price for a full-scale antivirus package, but whether you want to pay this much for a second layer of protection is more open to question.

If you're not entirely convinced, SUPERAntiSpyware hopes its 14-day free trial will win you over, and there's extra protection from a 30-day 'unconditional, 100% money-back guarantee' if you discover any major post-purchase gotchas.

SUPERAntiSpyware makes it unusually easy to try out its software. The trial download links are easy to spot, the setup process is quick, and although you're asked for your email address, providing it is optional, and you can try the program without providing any personal details at all.

Our test installation was very lightweight. SUPERAntiSpyware's core service typically requires under 10MB RAM, often less than 5MB, and its executables and data files barely used 100MB (full-scale security packages might use ten times that.)

SUPERAntiSpyware isn't quite as able to protect itself against malware as the best of the competition, but that's normal for a second opinion tool, and it does have some defenses. We found the core process could be closed by anything with admin rights, for instance, but it restarted almost immediately. We suspect there are likely to be more serious vulnerabilities here, but as long as you're running SUPERAntiSpyware alongside a quality antivirus, they're unlikely to be a major issue.

There are plenty of supposedly more 'advanced' options, although they didn't always convince us. By default, the program ignores files larger than 4MB, for instance: that will speed up scanning, but it seems a little low, to us. And although, in one way, it's good to see a setting titled 'Scan inside ZIP archives', it also leaves us wondering if that's the only archive type SUPERAntiSpyware understands.

We had one big issue with the mechanics of scanning. SUPERAntiSpyware can't run simultaneous scans, so if it thinks the scanning engine is busy, it won't launch a scheduled scan, and it seems that in some situations, this also effectively disables real-time protection.

But then we clicked System Tools > System Investigator to see what was running on our computer, clicked Start, and left SUPERAntiSpyware on this screen. That's something you might easily do, thinking you'll come back later to look at the low-level technical details. But we noticed that when the program was left in this state, and we tried right-clicking a file in Explorer, the menu told us SUPERAntiSpyware was busy. And if we tried downloading the EICAR test virus, we no longer got an alert. Our real-world protection seemed to have been at least partially disabled, without us knowing, and this state would continue until we closed the System Investigator, maybe hours later.

Elsewhere, scan times were above average, but only marginally. If you're relying on a full antivirus package to handle your main system protection, and mostly using SUPERAntiSpyware to look for running threats or check specific files and folders, scan speeds are unlikely to be a concern.

We generally start to assess a malware hunter's abilities by checking out its results at AV-Comparatives, AV-Test and the other main testing labs. Unfortunately, SUPERAntiSpyware isn't a full antivirus package, and so doesn't appear in any of the regular test reports.

Our own small-scale tests returned worrying results, with six out of our 20 malicious files passing undetected (and these included a variant of the very well-known WannaCry.) If, as recommended, you're running SUPERAntiSpyware with a full antivirus package, then, hopefully, these will be trapped. But if you need to rely on the antivirus to that degree, is SUPERAntiSpyware giving you enough protection to justify its price?

We rounded off the review by running our own ransomware simulator, a custom-developed tool which SUPERAntiSpyware would never have seen before. Did it have smart enough behavioral monitoring to detect and stop the threat? As you've probably guessed, the answer is 'no', and SUPERAntiSpyware simply watched as our simulator encrypted thousands of test files.

It could be argued that our tests aren't entirely fair, as we focused on the most serious malware, rather than the stubborn adware or other lesser threats that SUPERAntiSpyware is more interested in detecting. And that's true. If you're mainly interested in the program's ability to spot dubious browser extensions, our results will tell you nothing at all.

SUPERAntiSpyware has some value as a free on-demand scanner to help spot adware or other small nuisances your antivirus might miss, but the commercial version doesn't have the accuracy or the reliability to justify the asking price.

Mike is a lead security reviewer at Future, where he stress-tests VPNs, antivirus and more to find out which services are sure to keep you safe, and which are best avoided. Mike began his career as a lead software developer in the engineering world, where his creations were used by big-name companies from Rolls Royce to British Nuclear Fuels and British Aerospace. The early PC viruses caught Mike's attention, and he developed an interest in analyzing malware, and learning the low-level technical details of how Windows and network security work under the hood."}), " -0-10/js/authorBio.js"); } else console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); Mike WilliamsSocial Links NavigationLead security reviewerMike is a lead security reviewer at Future, where he stress-tests VPNs, antivirus and more to find out which services are sure to keep you safe, and which are best avoided. Mike began his career as a lead software developer in the engineering world, where his creations were used by big-name companies from Rolls Royce to British Nuclear Fuels and British Aerospace. The early PC viruses caught Mike's attention, and he developed an interest in analyzing malware, and learning the low-level technical details of how Windows and network security work under the hood.

My ESET NOD32 Antivirus is due for renewal. In addition to ESET NOD32 Antivirus I also have Malawarebytes Premium and SUPERAntiSpyware. My device is a PC with Windows 10. These products were recommended to me at the retailer that sold me to PC. Recently they upgraded some components to enhance lifecycle of computer. A review of pricing indicates I was overcharged significantly. Over 110% mark-up of components from retail prices. They also recommended and installed all three of the software products listed above. I don't trust there judgement and never want to do business with them again. My ESET NOD32 Antivirus is up for renew and when I went to renew it showed that the rip-off supplier was some how linked. QUESTION #1: How can I renew and not have any association, commission, or be associated with the rip-off supplier? QUESTION #2: There are three protection products listed above. What do I really need?

Purchase a new license from the Eset web site or an authorized Eset retailer. Places like Amazon, eBay, etc.. are not authorized Eset retailers. If you have made customized changes within the Eset GUI, export those. Uninstall your existing Eset version. Reboot if not specifically requested to do so after uninstall. Install the Eset version you just purchased and activate it with the provided license key. If Eset previous settings were exported, import those into the newly installed Eset verion.

Short answer: If you renew through a different partner, the profile gets updated in kind. Renewing through ESET directly does not necessarily make this change, though at least then the "shady" retailer doesn't get your money again.

To alleviate some of your concerns, while it does appear the retailer may have pushed you to purchase some extras, both MalwareBytes Premium and SuperAntiSpyware play nicely (for the most part) with ESET products. You may experience minor performance degradation, but nothing debilitating. Both of those products are meant to add protection against malware (ie., not "viruses" in the traditional sense).

That said, as an account manager for one of ESET's Platinum partners, my suggestion to you would be to upgrade your ESET product to one which negates the need of yet more software installed on your machine. ESET NOD32 Antivirus is an excellent antivirus. But these days the enhanced features of ESET Internet Security or even ESET Smart Security Premium are necessary to protect against ransomware and other threats that aren't classified as "viruses" (think: social engineering scams, data theft, and so-on).

I'd be happy to help if you like, though I am careful not to come across as advertising "buy through me" on here. If you want to chat, feel free to DM me and I'll gladly assist, though I am not here to solicit. Option B would be to call ESET and ask them for a few names of local companies that are official partners. Then, you can choose who you'd like to deal with.

I don't personally deal with box versions since the download version is always more current (as far as the installer goes). Just have to be sure, regardless of the version, that you're dealing with a legitimate ESET partner. Like that nerdy bald guy on the left. Haha!

Agreed. I never use the CD for other than another coaster. The main reason for the CD version is I am assured a legit license key and I have a readily available source for my license key w/o trying to find my confirmation e-mail.

SUPERAntiSpyware is a software application for Windows that can detect and remove malicious software and other unwanted software and bits of data from the system. This includes spyware, trojans, worms, rootkits and other forms of malware that may land on the system.

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