XoftSpy Review

Xoftspy definitely lives up to its name as an easy-to-use, very powerful anti-spyware program. I currently use two freeware anti-spyware programs, so I had a good base to judge Xoftspy.

The installation of the program was quick and painless, and although it wasn't the most recent version, the update of both the program and its e database took seconds.

The first thing I noticed about Xoftspy was its simple user interface -- the controls are intuitive and easy to find and the program is very easy to use. Furthermore, there are an array of functions not normally seen on freeware anti-spyware programs, including a program to see if your homepage has been hijacked, a scheduling option so that the program will search your computer automatically, and the ability to dictate how deep you want the scan to go into your processes and memory.

Although I didn't need them, I went ahead and looked at the program's Help pages, which were disappointingly difficult to find (I had to click through twice to finally find them) and disorganized. The help topics cover the most basic questions, but are in no logical order. If I had any problems with Xoftspy, having my question answered would be next to impossible.

When I finally ran the program, the scan was very comprehensive and took about as long as one of my other programs' deep scan. However, the big difference was that Xoftspy identified an impressive 137 possible spyware programs versus my other two programs which told me I had none, even in their deep scan. However, once I had my spyware identified, I was unable to remove it without purchasing the product. The demo merely identifies the problem but fails to fix it without a purchase.