Scan for spyware, adware, hijackers and other malicious software.

Spybot - Search & Destroy detects and removes spyware, a relatively new kind of threat not yet covered by common anti-virus applications. Spyware silently tracks your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile for you that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies.

If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you haven't intentionally installed, if your browser crashes inexplicably, or if your home page has been "hijacked" (or changed without your knowledge), your computer is most probably infected with spyware. Even if you don't see the symptoms, your computer may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging. Spybot-S&D is free, so there's no harm giving it a try to see if something has invaded your computer.

Download notes:
* Alternatively you can download the latest non-beta version of this software.

SpyBot-S&D allows you to exclude selected cookies, programs or extensions from being reported, allowing you to prevent false positive messages for items that you dont want to be alerted of every time. It can even scan your download directory for files that have been downloaded, but not yet installed, allowing you to detect unwanted programs before you even install them. SpyBot produces a detailed and easy to understand report before it deletes any files and allows you to deselect any item that you do not want to be processed. In addition, a recovery feature allows you to restore your settings if needed.

Spybot-S&D can also clean usage tracks, an interesting function if you share your computer with other users and don't want them to see what you have been working on. And for professional users, Spybot-S&D allows you to fix some registry inconsistencies and extended reports.

What's New:

In this Beta we have fixed a lot of trivial and minor issues. As a result we expect Beta 6 to be the predecessor of the first release candidate. We hope you like our fresh user interface cleanup.

We would like to thank our faithful users who reported dozens of bugs.

Beta 6 features:

• Windows 8 Security Center support
• A modern and cleaned up user interface
• Updated help document and style
• Master Boot Record scans using SDRootAlyzer
• Installer now detects more recent versions of Spybot-S&D
• Added Uninstall Wizard to maintain undo immunization or recovery
• Fixed exceptions when scanning files on a network share
• Remember it is a beta and as such not a replacement for the stable version 1.6.2.

Known issues:

• Tests on Windows 8 are not completely finished
• This version does not offer the Live Protection component
• SDChrome has been removed; the web browser extensions will be rewritten using a more flexible concept.