Ad Purge Spyware Remover review

Ad Purge Spyware Remover – a fake system security tool

Ad Purge Spyware Remover is a fake anti-spyware program that is compatible with old versions of the Windows operating system, such as Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows ME, Windows 2000, and Windows XP. According to its official website, the program received the last definition updates in September 2008. None of the three program’s versions are available to download as well.

However, it is still available to download from third-party sites, such as Softonic, Soft 32, or TechSpot. But it seems, that developers, RebrandSoftware, no longer supports the fake anti-malware tool. The program is not included in the company’s official website – www.rebrandsoftware.com, but users should not feel any loss. The program was not working properly.

Ad Purge Spyware Remover test results

Ad-Purge Spyware Remover uses false positives. We have tested the program on an absolutely clean computer that was never infected with spyware parasites, trojans, viruses, or any other malicious threats. However, the application managed to find 2 spyware/adware infections – Alexa Toolbar and Eventlog. The first “pest” was never installed in our test system. Moreover, it is not even a spyware or adware parasite.

Further analysis revealed that the registry entry associated with Alexa Toolbar (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ModuleUsage) was absolutely harmless and required by the installed software to work properly. The entry associated with Eventlog (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{7B87A1E1-481A-47A5-B58F-BB1430DCC930}) was actually related to Serv-U, a legitimate FTP server. See a screenshot provided below. 

Ad-Purge Spyware Remover uses an ineffective malware detection engine. System scan performed on a regular modern computer storing hundreds of gigabytes of data does not take more than one minute. The program does not scan existing files, registry keys, or processes for spyware tracks but tries to find only those malicious objects listed in its small spyware definitions database. Such scan technique results in false positives and an inability to find numerous variants of known parasites.

The program implements real-time protection, which also suffers from false positives. Ad-Purge Spyware Remover identified the running servudaemon.exe file as a malicious program on one of our test systems. This executable is not actually a parasite but a vital component of Serv-U FTP software. Later, the fake tool terminated servudaemon.exe without asking for user permission. See other screenshots.

Corrupt anti-spyware has several names and versions

Ad-Purge Spyware Remover is the same program as the SpywareShield, Spy Reaper Pro, Privacy Crusader, and SpyShield. All these rogue products use the same spyware definitions database, produce very similar scan results and have almost identical user interfaces. Furthermore, all of them consist of terribly similar components.

Additionally, the program had three versions:

• Ad-Purge Spyware & Adware Remover;
• Ad-Purge Anti-Hijack;
• Definition Database.

All of these versions were licensed. However, users were offered to download a demo and test the program first before purchasing it. But the trial version was advertising-supported. Thus, despite poor functionality, it also bothered potential customers with annoying ads.

Therefore, we DO NOT recommend downloading or purchasing this product from any third-party sources. Using Ad-Purge Spyware Remover may damage installed legitimate software.