McAfee AntiSpyware Reviewer's Comments

McAfee Parental Controls is now a part of McAffe Internet Security Suite 2007. Please see our review forInternet Security Suites

Although McAfee makes a formidable anti-virus product, McAfee Anti-Spyware is far from spectacular. Although it is easy to use and has many different forms of support, McAfee Anti-Spyware missed too much spyware and adware to be effective.

McAfee AntiSpyware works with Windows Vista.

Ease of Setup/Use:  

For a company with such a good reputation, we were disappointed in McAfee Anti-Spyware's feature set. Although the program offers many useful features-like Scan Scheduling, Auto Updates and Real-Time Tracking-it's missing assets such as spyware/adware descriptions and threat levels; these help you determine whether the detected spyware and adware are dangerous or benign.

Detection Effectiveness:  

McAfee Anti-Spyware missed much of the spyware and adware we tested. Though marginally effective, this is not software that we recommend to those looking for high-level spyware and adware protection.

Removal Effectiveness:  

McAfee Anti-Spyware is simple to use. With few customizable features, McAfee is simple for novices.

System Performance:  

There are few customization tools in McAfee Anti-Spyware. You can enable and disable Real-Time Tracking abilities, but that's it.

Scan Performance:  

Once you receive delivery of McAfee Anti-Spyware, installation is easy but time-consuming-the installation had us restart our computer three times before the install was completed, which we felt excessive.

Support/Documentation:  

McAfee supports their products in several different ways: a FAQs page, email support and a convenient live chat feature online. However, when we contacted McAfee, their staff could not answer many of our questions.

Summary:  

Although it's easy to use and comes with fairly good help support, McAfee Anti-Spyware just doesnât do well enough detecting and removing spyware to receive our recommendation. For the same amount of money, we recommend Aluria Anti-Spyware, a top-notch spyware program that is effective against spyware and adware.