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Hitman Pro 2.5.5
Price: Free

Features
Performance
Ease of use
Value for money
Overall

Reviewed By: Andy Shaw

This review updated: 01/02/2007
Featured in magazine:
Issue 154
Manufacturer Contacts:
Supplier: Hitman Pro
Web Address: www.hitmanpro.com


Spyware has become one of the great scourges of the internet. Whether it's keyloggers, pop-ups or tracking cookies, there are plenty of ways you can catch a range of tricky-to-detect software nasties, varying from inane annoyances to serious threats to your personal security. Luckily there are also lots of tools to help you combat it, many of which are free. Hitman Pro isn't so much another name to add to the list as an umbrella program that aims to add a broad sweep of complementary anti-spyware programs to your PC with minimum fuss.

Features
Names such as Ad-Aware, Spybot and Ewido will be well known to Web User readers who are conscious of the threat of spyware. If you're already happily using these programs, Hitman Pro doesn't have a lot to offer. However, if you've shied away from anti-spyware because you don't really understand it or can't decide what to install, Hitman can make the decisions for you. On the downside it will also install trial versions of some other programs too, such as Webroot's Spy Sweeper and PC Tools' Spyware Doctor. These are excellent programs in their own right and, in our test, caught some nasties the free options didn't find (the whole point of having more than one program on your system). But the added complication of it being trial software detracts from the simplicity of Hitman's remit, as you'll need to disable them when the trial runs out if you're not prepared to pay.

Performance
All this anti-spyware software will take a while to do its scanning – some of these programs can take time to sift through your data even before you start piling them on top of one another, so it's the kind of thing you'll probably want to set off to run overnight. This has been noted by the developer, since there's a 'Shutdown system after inspection' option. Each product's scan may find different spyware problems, and Hitman gathers all the information found, actions it and produces a single log file for you to refer back to.

Ease of use
Watching the program install the various software elements and update them is a little weird – it feels a bit like you're letting someone else take control of your PC as it automatically chooses options and starts programs. Once it's done though, you've just one interface through which to control all the software. This makes basic control quite simple, but apart from enabling and disabling individual programs, there isn't a lot of tweaking you can do. This makes it easy to use but difficult to configure.

Value for money
The download is free so offers great value for money. All the third-party downloads are free too, but with some of them being trial versions, it will reduce in functionality if you don't buy the relevant licences when the trials expire.

More Anti-Spyware reviews:

• Trend Micro HouseCall
• F-Secure Online Virus Scanner
• PC Pitstop
• Symantec Security Check
• System Checkup