PROS
Easy to use
Average resource usage
Easy to install
Poor real-time protection
Poor manual scanning
Average user interface
SUPERAntispyware 2010 performed average to poor during our software testing cycle. We expected much more, but didn't get the great results we were hoping for.
Real-time antispyware protection was less than thorough: only about 40% of the spyware and adware we threw at it was detected. Same for known trojans and other malware.
Installation was easy and resource usage was average – but not too heavy.
The user interface is very sparse and straightforward. A bit old-school in its approach, but gets the job done.
Overall, SUPERAntispyware 2010 didn't impress us very much this year, but it might do for some very lite antispyware protection.
SUPERAntispyware Features
- Custom Scheduled Scanning
- Real-time Antispyware Protection
- Repairs Broken Connections
- Quarantine
- First Chance Prevention
- Process Interrogation Technology
- Dedicated Threat Research Team
- Daily Updates
Installation - 92%
Installation was very simple and all steps are self explanatory. The best part is that the whole install was completed in less than 7 clicks. No reboot was needed.
The installer will prompt you to search for antispyware definition updates automatically after completing the installation. You'll then be able to check a box indicating when you want future definitions to update.
However, there's no follow-up message after the installer prompts you to check for updates that says whether the updates have been downloaded, installed or failed. A little confusing, but still an easy install.
User Interface - 85%
The SUPERAntispyware 2010 user interface (UI) was easy to use. However, it would have been better if all selections are shown on the “Ready to Install the Application” screen.
The UI of this software is very well organized with individual buttons for each major function.
The console gives a complete picture of the software version and last scanning information so you can decide if a manual scan or definition update is required.
There are no pop-up windows to bother with. Except in the Schedule Scanning section and for Language selection, there are no drop-down menus in SUPERAntispyware either.
Instead, radio buttons are used so you can save settings with one mouse click.
The user interface is a little old-school, but it gets the job done.
Pre-Infected Machine - 40%
$29.95
We pre-infected our testing PC with spyware, trojans, and adware then installed SUPERAntispyware to see if it could detect and block the malware.
It didn't detect any of our first two sets of spyware and trojans.
Only with our third set of spyware and adware did the antispyware finally detect our testing samples.
Obviously, a dismal result. More testing could prove SUPERAntispyware to be more effective with a pre-infected machine, but our results showed it to be less than effective.
Real-time Protection - 40%
Real-time protection proved to be just as poor.
We re-formated our testing PC to be a clean slate, then installed SUPERAntispyware.
We then downloaded three sets of known spyware, adware, and trojans.
SUPERAntispyware didn't detect any of the samples in the first two sets, but only detected our third set of spyware samples.
Registry items, spyware files, and suspicious malware were finally detected.
We expected much better real-time protection from SUPERAntispwyare.
Manual Scanning - 30%
We installed the antispyware software and ran a complete manual scan.
The scan didn’t identify all of the infected files... but it did catch a few.
Set 1: The manual scan detected 50% of infected files.
Set 2: The manual scan did not detect any of the ad-ware in this set of files.
Set 3: The manual scan did not detect any of the spyware kept in this set even though Real-time protection has successfully blocked all of these.
A very unreliable manual scan.
Resource Usage - 75%
| Real-time protection: |
Manual Scanning: |
| Memory usage: 472 KB |
Memory usage: Max 80 MB |
| CPU usage: 55% to 86% |
CPU usage: 30% to 97% |
| Page file usage: 512 MB |
Page file usage: 528 MB |
Definition Updates - 80%
The spyware definition updates are configurable at the time of installation. You can choose whether to go for automatic downloads or manual.
On a negative note, the “Check for updates” button of the “Software Definition Update” section on the Main menu seems to hang frequently. And there is no cancel button on the Downloading Updates dialog.
A minor glitch, but still concerning.
Customer Support - 82%
The support page of Superantispyware.com is very helpful in that they have classified all the known issues into different categories. Anybody who visits this page will find it very easy to find an answer to most issues.
Link to the support page: http://superantispyware.com/support.html
If no solution is found on this page, a customer service request can be submitted at http://www.superantispyware.com/csrcreateticket.html
This page takes a lot of information so a correct answer can be given to the question.
On top of these options, they have an online forums page where users can exchange information on this product: http://forums.superantispyware.com/
Unfortunately, there is no contact phone number for technical or customer support. SUPERAntispyware tries to answer all possible questions via their FAQ pages, but this isn't enough in our opinion.
Free phone support is necessary for a healthy and legitimate antispyware company.
Un-Installation - 95%
SUPERAntispyware 2010 software uninstallation is very easy.
Open the Windows ADD/REMOVE Programs, select SUPERantispyware software and click remove. That's it.
We didn't find any left-over registry traces.
Special Features - 91%
- Protect your home page from being changed: Some spyware, adware, and malware will change the default page of your browser without your knowledge. This setting will protect this from happening to your browser.
- Find out what's running on your computer: This feature lets you keep track of what processes are running on your computer.
- System and Browser repair items: If any malware or spyware has damaged your system or browser settings, they can usually be repaired with this tool.
System Requirements
- Windows 2000, XP, Media Center, Vista, Windows 2003 and Windows 7
- 400Mhz or Faster Processor with at least 256MB RAM
Conclusion
$29.95
SUPERAntispyware 2010 did poorly in identifying the spyware we chose for testing in real-time protection mode for our first testing set, but eventually got them.
Manual scanning needs to be improved in the sense that it was unable to detect the trojans we used for testing in an effective manner. The detection rate was only 50% in the case of trojans and worse when it came to spyware. All the spyware we used for testing was detected by the antivirus software in Real-time protection mode but not even a single file was detected during manual scanning.
Given the fact that it didn’t do a good job in detecting the trojans or spyware in manual scanning, we wouldn’t completely depend on this software to protect our PCs.
We appreciate the user interface of SUPERAntispyware for its easy navigation. The software is really lite: the console opens up in less than one sec when the icon is double clicked. Other antispyware software we tested takes a minimum of 10 to 15 seconds to open the console.
Overall, not a great antispyware software product, but decent for very basic-level protection.
