Great software with a sleek interface. Very effective in identifying risks and eliminating them. I had no problems uninstalling the trial version for the installation of VIPRE. I was so impressed with it that I have since upgraded to VIPRE antivirus+spyware as well as Sunbelt Personal Firewall.

you have to have minimum 4GB of RAM to run counterspy v3 without it slowing donw u'r pc. but thas a minor issue...overall counterspy saved my computer from well re formatting and some of the worst spyware ever seen belive me when those things keep coming and fulling up u'r screen counterspy is the only one i have used and it works the best..every spyware was deleted from my computer and have been using counterspy a little over a year and love it...it is the V3 of counterspy and ease of uninstall is excellent...thank you counterspy

This comment concerns version V3.xxx of Counter Spy.

I am a Counter Spy user since V2 - for almost 2 years - and let me tell you that this is the best antispyware product I have ever used. And version 3 is even a better bet, as it is even more simple to understand and configure and computer resources are even less used by the program. I can tell you that on a regular basis, V2 used +/- 50 mb of ram and V3 does not touch the 30 mb mark. Impressive. In terms of protection, well...my computer is clean since day 1 of CounterSpy.

And for the price, CounterSpy is the best bet we can make.

CounterSpy does not have ANYTHING in common with Windows Defender. Dear God. I am not saying that WD is a bad product, I have used it in other machines, but for god sake, do not compare both products in anyway.

Never had a problem with CounterSpy instalation and even during instalation of V3, the setup warned that some of CounterSpy functionalities would not be turned on, in order to not conflict with my antivirus program - Avira - as those functionalities were already being "guarded" by the antivirus.

Great piece of software.

They should call it Counter Spy Anti-spy and VIRUS software because it behaves more like a virus when you try to uninstall it!! It won\'t completely uninstall the program and it\'s still identifying potential threats, but even worse, IT DELETES THE FILES AUTOMATICALLY!!! No prompt or beep or warning of any kind!! JUST LIKE VIRUS!!!!

First of all, I like the interface, and I've read the story behind the similarity in appearance to Giant/MS Antispyware, so I expected the same interface anyway.

But there's more bad than good: be aware that CounterSpy will disable Giant/Microsoft Antispyware without warning. Immediately after installing CounterSpy, Giant/MS Antispyware was unable to update or connect to the internet. Upon rebooting, CounterSpy locked my XPSP2 system up hard upon reaching the Desktop. A hard boot had no effect on the lockup. It took 2 hours of work, including booting into Safe Mode (to remove CounterSpy and rename the Giant/MS Antispyware directory temporarily) to get out of the hole that CounterSpy had dug.

Now, before you jump to any conclusions about my computer skills, I am a software & hardware professional that beta tests both software and hardware daily. I work & program on computers 12 hours a day, so I see the good, the bad, and the ugly. CounterSpy falls into the "ugly" category. Had I not known how to recover, my system would now be unusable.

Based on my experience with CounterSpy, I do not recommend it to anybody. Had CounterSpy warned me about to remove Giant/MS Antispyware prior to installation, it would have saved me 2 hours of repair work. There is no reason such buggy software should be released to the public.

Hope this helps others avoid a few hours of repair work due to CounterSpy.

I read an article about Microsoft AntiSpyware and their spyware network called SpyNet.

SpyNet was a community created between the company that created CounterSpy and GIANT, the makers of AntiSpyware, now owned by Microsoft. I only remember a few details, but the AntiSpyware software was a joint effort between these two companies as is SpyNet, and they had a license agreement to SpyNet.
Now that Microsoft bought about GIANT and now owns AntiSpyware, CounterSpy will soon be left in the dust. The license for SpyNet still exists BUT it will be expiring soon...and from the way it looks, Microsoft has no interest in helping another company that offers the same product.
This is why i give a value of 3/5 for this product.

There is no trial period like GIANT offered with their product, and its not free like Microsoft's product. You either buy it or dont use it.

With that being said, I dont suggest anyone buys this product.
This product looks and feels exactly the same as GIANT and Microsoft AntiSpyware. And I wasnt surprised after I read that article i mentioned...they are the same product.

PCWorld calls CounterSpy the best AntiSpyware product...and I had to think for a moment, and I recalled this article and was happy that PCWorld saw the engine as the best.

But, as I said, the license to the backbone of this software, and Microsoft's, will be ending soon...and so will the extensive virus definitions. At that point, itll be highly suggested to use Microsoft's product to get the same protection.

Since its the exact same product, you are getting the Microsoft Antispyware level of protection...the best protection in the market, the best removal of spyware/adware, etc.

Overall: great product (since its based off Microsoft antispyware), but it has low value since their license to SpyNet will be expiring soon (and Microsoft Antispyware, the same product, is free).