The anti-spyware niche and the security software niche in general are crowded with lots of companies competing with their software programs for market share.
It is difficult to get a foothold in the market even with a good product as other factors as the product’s effectiveness play a role in the market.
Double Anti-Spy Professional is an anti-spyware software for the Windows operating system. It’s main feature that sets it apart from other anti-spyware programs is the use of two spyware engines to scan and protect the computer system.
Experienced users may know this concept for example from the online virus scanner Virustotal or the security software Hitman Pro which also utilize multiple engines to achieve better results.
The main reason for multiple engines is a better hit ratio as no single detection engine will catch 100% of malicious software.
The focus of Double Anti-Spy Professional is a complete spyware protection of computer systems running the Microsoft Windows operating system which includes protection against spyware and adware but also against other forms of malware including backdoors, computer bots and trojans.
The installation of the anti-spyware software and the interface of the program have been designed with ease of use in mind.
The program will always start up with the status report window which will display relevant information like the date and time of the last scan, the freshness of the definition files or the results of the last scan. The four buttons on the left side are used to switch between sections of the software.
Double Anti-Spy Professional can perform three types of scans: A quick scan that will only scan important locations, a full scan to scan all files and locations and a custom scan that the user can define individually. A full system scan is recommended after installation and updating the definitions to find all traces of spyware that might be located on the computer system.
The anti-spyware software protects the computer system from spyware that tries to attack the PC. It does so by actively monitoring the system for suspicious files. The depth and level of protection can be configured in the Active Defense section of the program.
Here it is possible to configure the active defense and email defense settings to block and quarantine files and software before it can become a threat. Email defense works with several popular desktop email clients including Microsoft Outlook, Windows Mail and Mozilla Thunderbird.
The very same menu can also be used to schedule scans and add programs and files to a whitelist or blacklist.
The fourth and final tab Settings can be used to configure the different scans that Double Anti-Spy Professional can perform, set the update check interval, configure a proxy server and scan optimizer or disable Windows Explorer automatically if it is running on the system to avoid compatibility problems.
Now, how good is the anti-spyware software? Avanquest show test results conducted by AV-Test on their homepage which tested Double Anti-Spyware Pro against PC Tools Spyware Doctor and Webroot Spy Sweeper. Other tests have not been published yet and it is not even possible to find the AV-Test results anywhere on the Internet. But what about the two engines that the security software is using? According to users on some web forums the program is using the engines of Outpost AntiSpyware + VIPRE (CounterSpy) which both did receive good reviews and recommendations.
Update: The software is using the following engines: Double Anti-Spy includes Sunbelt’s VIPRE (Engine A) + Outpost AntiSpyware combined with Virus Buster SDK (Engine B)
Verdict:
Double Anti-Spy Professional utilizes two scanning engines from respected companies to protect the computer against spyware which makes it more effective. Resource usage was a bit high on a Windows 7 test system if the window of the program was active (about 80 Megabytes). The program itself is compatible with Windows XP and 32-bit or 64-bit editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7. More information are available at the Double Anti-Spy Professional homepage.
Giveaway:
We have ten download copies and licenses for Double Anti-Spy Professional. Just leave a comment below for a chance to win a copy. Every comment in the next 24 hours will take part in the draw and the winners will be emailed. The email will contain the download link, license key and instructions.
Update: The Double Anti-Spy Professional is offline, and it is not clear at this point in time whether that is due to technical issues or a permanent thing. We have removed the link to the website from the article, and suggest you check out other anti-malware applications in the meantime.