The may concern regarding anti spyware free programs is that people searching for anti spyware freeware mostly do not really know what features they want the program to have. What matters most is something "free".

But there are different kinds of "free" programs when it comes to anti spyware. First, programs may be free to download (and this is the most typical meaning implied). Second, they may be "free" to run a scan. But free scan doesn't help to remove the detected spyware – it just shows what it finds. Third, there are time-limited trials, which are also called "anti spyware free programs" because they're really free, but only for a couple of weeks or, rarer, for a whole month.

Another thing is that anti spyware free programs very often are not safe to use. Bearing in mind the demand for such software, lots of scam developers put on the web bundles of Trojans masquerading anti spyware products. And to help spreading those Trojans, they make them available for free. Would you want such anti spyware free program?

Now if we consider the features available in legit and safe anti spyware free programs, the picture is sad. Except for SpyBot Search & Destroy and Spyware Terminator, arguably none of the programs claiming to be free offer real-time protection against web threats. That is, they nearly all miss the feature crucial for preventing spyware intrusion. I believe it is a risky approach to going the free way in establishing a PC security. Not speaking about the fact that serious Web magazines do not recommend the above two mentioned programs to be used as main anti spyware protection. They're certainly good in some respects, but that's not enough to cover the wide range of malware threats.

Others, also few in number, anti spyware free programs lack automatic updates in addition to real-time scanning. These two components are definitely a must have unless you don't care a tinker's damn about security breeches.

This leads to the conclusion that anti spyware free programs are good for a second layer of protection, but they cannot replace the full-featured software with resident monitoring and background scan for malicious activity. But these features require high level of technological achievements, and are quite rare in paid products, too. Even those popular among PC users.

So I believe it's best to have some anti spyware free program installed as an independent on-demand scanner, but for maximum protection it is recommended to look at better equipped industry-renowned products.

Next: Free Antispyware Myths