Spyware Removal Review: HijackThis

The HijackThis program, owned by Trend Micro, works differently from other anti-spyware programs. The program works with the different components of your system that may be susceptible to changes coming from outside of it such as autorun items, browser helper objects, certain kinds of registry keys and processes. It creates a log of the items, with information explaining why HijackThis flagged them in the first place, and you can decide if they are malware or not. Just check off the ones you want to delete and click on the ”Fix Checked” button.

The great part about this program is that it’s not going to search for already existing spyware programs. Instead, it’ll just try to find the kind of stuff that can be exploited to give your computer an infection. 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. The brief SnapFiles review placed it only slightly lower, but the PCWorld website only gave it three stars out of five. HijackThis received these ratings not so much because the reviewers did not like the software and the way it works, on the contrary, the reviewers called the product, ”a great malware removal tool” but they note that the software is not for the regular computer user. This is because the everyday user of the computer would not know a lot about computer registry keys or what exactly malware is.

Your computer registry changes with every single alteration to your programs, from installations to updates. HijackThis simply creates a list but does not evaluate the list, therefore, a lot of the items you might find on the list may actually belong there. If a computer user does not really understand what they are doing, they may make a mistake and get rid of items that should not be touched and ruin their computer. If you are proficient with these matters, however, you can use these lists to learn more about the things that are on your computer. Just stay away from the ’Fix Checked’ button until you’re confident that you know what you’re about to zap.

Basically, the software is held in very high regard. If used with caution and care, HijackThis is extremely useful in ridding your computer of the malware and spyware that may have been installed on your computer.

You need an effective spyware removal tool in order to protect your computer from hackers and thieves. Fortunately, there are a number of sites offering freeware spyware removal where downloading a freeware spyware removal patch is easy.