14 DAY TRIAL // Ad-Watch is Ad-Aware's real-time monitor component that's on the look-out for malicious attempts of threats integrating on your system so as to stop their activity. It is an instrument for the privileged users of Ad-Aware as it is part of the Plus and pro versions only, so in order to benefit from its services you have to pay a $26.95 or a $39.95 fee for one year's use.
Although it comes integrated into the main application, it can also be started and function separately from Ad-Aware 2008. It is developed to watch over Windows Registry, check processes and monitor connections and to verify the Internet cookies. Users can configure it to pop up a notification whenever parasites are encountered or it can act automatically with a user-defined action.
Status menu of the program shows both the shields that are currently on watch and provides statistics on the events dealt with. The event log retains both recent events as well as older ones and displays a break-down on the areas that have been treated and the malware that has been blocked.
Ad-Watch allows users to set rules for different apps that access the registry. The downside is that you cannot create them beforehand and you have to wait until a program writes to the registry and only then can you create the rule by allowing the action or blocking it. The bad part is that if an application needs to write to the registry several times, each action needs to be verified by the user as there is no automatic way out of this.
Network traffic is monitored by Connect module showing you all processes communicating outside your computer. The list of details extends to providing their PID, outgoing UDP/TCP port. If you need deeper details, Ad-Watch provides you with info such as the latest destination port and IP and working thread at a double-click on the desired item (context menu option does not work). TAI level is also available, just in case. An additional detail is the traffic graph showing the bandwidth used by the process. Connect feature is available only for the Pro version of Ad-Aware.
TrackSweep utility, although available in the main application, is present in Ad-Watch as well and it deals with real-time track sweeping. Simply select the components you want to be cleaned and the module will do the rest. The entire operation will take place the moment you close the browser so as not to interfere with your browsing session. There is only one problem: during our testing with Firefox last typed URLs and history as well as cookies would still be available after restarting the web browser. Using the manual method in main application on the other hand ensures cleaning the designated areas as soon as the affected browser is closed.
Settings section of Ad-Watch lets you configure how it starts, window behavior and how notifications are displayed. It can load with Windows and start in minimized mode and on new events the window can be restored. As for notifications, you can configure the app to use the rules in user list, set it to alert you when TAI level exceeds 2, enable blink tray icon or simply set a default action to be taken.
The second part of the Settings menu refers to the events Ad-Watch should log. By default, it will keep reports on all events, but this can be customized to your liking.
The Good
It is extremely easy to configure and it uses a light footprint on the resources. Ad-Watch provides real-time monitoring and displays notifications for a great deal of nasties.
Connect feature shows handy info on processes connected to the web providing the destination IP and port, working thread and TAI.
The Bad
TrackSweeper did not do too good of a job in our case as it failed to clean Firefox after closing it.
Users cannot create rules until Ad-Watch has detected the application writing to registry or acting suspicious.
The Truth
Despite the baddies encountered, Ad-Watch proves to be a pretty reliable companion when it comes to dealing with threats trying to take over your computer. It alerts you and lets you decide whether they should be blocked or allowed permission.
It relies on the Ad-Aware set of definitions so keeping them updated increases its detection efficiency.
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