14 DAY TRIAL // I am not crazy about antispyware programs, and I must admit that I don't use one at home, since I consider my antivirus to be enough, combined with my healthy browsing tactics (no details about that now, but maybe I'll write a book about this subject someday...). Anyway, today we have such a program here, so let's get straight to the problem: spyware prevention.
The antispyware weapon I have here today is called RegFreeze, its latest version is 5.6 and the price of the full version is 29.95$. Unfortunately, I didn't get any present from ActualResearch, this program's producer, so I am going to have the same shareware version that you can download, install and use for free. The only problem is that you won't be able to clean the threats found on your computer until you register the program.
OK, so we got the 1.7MB setup package, we installed it without having any problem, and now the time has come to check RegFreeze's interface and features, as usual...
RegFreeze has an interface that is a visual feast, at least for me. If I was to say only one word about it, that word would be "flawless". The graphics are outstanding, shiny and you won't have any problems when using this program, because everything is well placed and you don't have to search ten minutes for "that feature". There are 7 nice buttons placed in the upper area of the main window, and if we take away the Stop Guard, Help and Register areas, we remain with the Scan, Security List, Events Log and Settings screens, exactly what we're going to check next.
The Scan area has four tools - System Scan, Cookies, Privacy Keeper and Quarantine. There are two scanning modes available, Normal and Full, and before starting the scanning process, I advise you to check for updates. At this time, the program's database includes 70248 spyware definitions and 7760 descriptions.
The Cookies tool can show you all the cookies from the system and give you the chance to remove the ones you consider outdated, useless or dangerous.
The Privacy Keeper can help you clean 10 items that can be a threat to the privacy of your data - Internet Explorer form passwords, typed URLs, MRU list and most history entries.
The Security List includes the Registry and File Guards tools, and their purpose is to help you protect your computer against intrusions, protecting your IE start page, favorites, INI files or the Hosts file. While browsing the Registry Guards list, I noticed that some protections can only be enabled after purchasing the program, so there's another thing to be added to the limitations list.
The Events Log contains all the actions performed by the program, including those of the real time monitoring module. At last, the Settings area has four screens available, and the good part is that you get to see the Autorun items, the IE Settings and the installed BHOs, apart from the Program Settings that everybody expects to find here. If you are wondering about these program settings, I can tell you that you can choose a proxy server to use for the Live Update of the program, change the frequency of the automatic updates and the program startup options.
Once we know all these, the only thing that needs to be done is install the program and give it a spin for yourselves...but first, let's draw the conclusions!
The Good
RegFreeze is a useful antispyware program that looks great, is very easy to use and doesn't take up much of your system's resources. The best part about it is that you get a useful real time guard to protect your computer all the time.
The Bad
To be honest, I would rather choose to have a 12 hours full featured product for trial than a limited shareware version, but I am not the one who calls the shots...
The Truth
RegFreeze is one of those programs that you have to try, because security is not a matter that supports delay, and the best part is that with this program, you get good looks, features, and a good price!
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
