Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2008 Free

The new version of Lavasoft's flagship antispyware application, Ad-Aware 2008 Free, aims to supplement your existing antivirus protection by detecting spyware and privacy risks.

The feature-limited free version lacks real-time protection, and it will discover security or privacy threats only when you run a manual scan. Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2008 Free also doesn't automatically update, so before you start a scan, you must click a button on the main window to receive the latest spyware definitions.

You can choose either a 'smart' scan, which focuses on critical parts of your computer, or a full scan that digs in everywhere.

Besides scans, you can run a 'TrackSweep' to clear browsing history, cache elements, cookies, and other data from Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Opera (although each browser has a similar feature built-in). You'll also see options for Ad-Watch, which actively monitors for threats, and references to other tools and plug-ins, but you have to upgrade from Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2008 Free to Plus or Pro to use them.