PROS
Average spyware protection
Good resource usage
Easy to install
Average customer service
Poor trojan protection
Difficult to configure
Webroot has been a leader in antispyware technology and innovation. In fact, most people probably remember the days when Spy Sweeper was the best and only product on the market to fight spyware.
Those days have changed with the increase in dangerous and annoying spyware along with new competitors in the antispyware software market.
While Webroot does an average job at protecting your PC against spyware and adware, it didn't hold up well against trojans. For this, we can't give Webroot as high a score this year as we'd like to.
Webroot Spy Sweeper Antispyware Features
- Anti-spyware detection and removal
- Real-time antispyware threat protection
- Rootkit discovery methods
- VersionGuard
- Risk assessment
- Games and movie mode
- Email protection
Installation - 95%
An easy installation wizard walks you through each steps to install Webroot Spy Sweeper.
We didn't experience any concerning bumps in the road.
A reboot is needed to complete the installation. Very easy.
User Interface - 90%
The user interface (UI) is very appealing with many available options.
Navigation is simple with no additional drop-down menus that tend to make things difficult for most users.
Sweep Statistics, Shield (real-time antispyware protection), Check for Updates, and Game Mode are all accessible directly from the main Webroot panel.
One down side is that the real-time protection (Shield) might be confusing to some users who are not familiar with terminology such as “ActiveX”, “Host file”, “Alternative data stream execution”, etc.
Instead, Webroot should have included these in the advance options and enabled the most obvious protection options by default instead.
Pre-Infected Machine - 50%
$29.95
We infected our testing PC with 2 sets of trojans and spyware to see how well Webroot Spy Sweeper would perform.
Unfortunately, it didn't perform very well at all.
After pre-infecting the computer, we installed Webroot. The antispyware software instantly launched a scan on it's own.
None of our sets of known Trojans were detected.
None of the spyware sets we tested were initially detected. Only after we tried to access these spyware files did Webroot finally detect and block all them.
So in other words, dormant trojans and spyware didn't set off any alarms for Webroot Spy Sweeper. Only when they became active did Webroot notice them. Not very reassuring.
Real-time Protection - 73%
We turned on real-time antispyware protection then infected the testing PC with two sets of trojans, spyware, and adware one after the other.
When the trojans were accessed, only 1 in 5 were detected by Webroot.
When the spyware/adware files were accessed, Webroot Spy Sweeper successfully blocked them. And as a bonus, Webroot even blocked the spyware from being copied to the machine in the first place.
An average result for real-time antispyware protection.
Manual Scanning - 70%
Manual scanning for Webroot performed the same as it did during our real-time protection tests.
After infecting our testing computer with two sets of trojans and spyware, we ran a full system manual scan.
Only 1 in 5 trojans were detected, but 100% of the spyware was detected.
While this is an excellent score for antispyware, it's not very good for anti-trojan. Therefore, we can't give Webroot as high a score for this section as we'd like to.
Resource Usage - 93%
| Real-time protection: |
Manual Scanning: |
| Memory usage: 6.2 MB |
Memory usage: 54.2 MB |
| CPU usage: 0% to 2% |
CPU usage: 4% to 50% |
| Page file usage: 245 MB |
Page file usage: 279 MB |
Definition Updates - 86%
The antispyware definition updates are easily configurable and work accurately.
We always recommend setting your definition updates to download as often as possible. New spyware threats are literally being created every few minutes. You need to be fully protected with the latest antispyware definitions.
Email Protection - 90%
We tested Webroot Spy Sweeper's email antispyware protection by emailing several spyware files to our testing computer.
When the Webroot Email Attachment Shield is turned on, the antispyware software successfully blocked our infected attachments and gave an alert.
Game Mode - 80%
Webroot has a game mode that works fairly well at protection your computer from spyware during intense game usage.
Internet Explorer turns off all protections and scheduled scans when the game mode is on. This enables users to play their games without any interruptions.
Another important function of this feature is that the game mode will be turned off automatically after four hours. This function really helps in case you forget to turn off the game mode once you're done with the game.
Customer Support - 92%
Customer support for Webroot Spy Sweeper is fairly extensive and thorough. Webroot makes a good effort to provide as much information and help that you may need including: phone support, knowledgebase, email, remote assistance, and tutorials.
For basic assistance with tech support or customer support, Webroot's services are free. However, for anything more than that, and you'll be charged a fee (to remove a suborn virus/spyware by hand, have them install your software, etc).
Overall, we can give Webroot a high score in the service department for making their phone numbers and contact information easily and prominently available.
Un-Installation - 95%
Webroot Spy Sweeper uninstallation is very fast and easy.
Open your ADD/REMOVE Programs section in Windows, then select Spy Sweeper. Click remove and that's it.
No reboot is needed.
System Requirements
Minimum System Requirements
- Windows XP 32 bit SP1, SP2, SP3
- Windows Vista 32 bit (all Editions)
- Windows Vista SP1 32 and 64 bit (all Editions)
- Windows 7 32 and 64 bit (all Editions)
- 300MHz processor (minimum), 1GHz (recommended on Vista)
- 256 RAM (minimum), 2GB (recommended on Vista)
- 100 MB Hard Disk Space
- Internet Explorer 5.5 and higher, Firefox 2.0 and higher
Conclusion
$29.95
On the whole, Webroot Spy Sweeper antispyware looks okay from a simple-to-use features application point of view.
But the most important aspect to keep in mind is that it couldn’t detect the trojans that were used during our software testing.
The other drawback we found with this antispyware is the real-time protection. Setting it up in the user interface might be confusing for the novice user.
However, we have to give Webroot credit for adding two nice features in this version of Spy Sweeper: Game Mode and Email Protection. Both worked without any problems but aren't the norm for most antispyware software suites.
Even though we liked the user interface and the general presentation of Webroot Spy Sweeper, the core antispyware protection wasn't up to our standards this year.
