# "SpyHunter.exe...Free Download", What can u tell me? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 9, 2003, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spyhunter-exe-free-download-what-can-u-tell-me/212200 "2003-11-09T06:29:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sumwunsumwer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3e96dc/32.png) [@sumwunsumwer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sumwunsumwer)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spyhunter-exe-free-download-what-can-u-tell-me/212200/1 "2003-11-09T06:29:07Z")
Okay, It was ignorant beyond excuse. I acted with haste and now I am in a panic!!! I saw a pop up ad and clicked and then downloaded what looked to be a good program -and it was free. ‘Spyhunter’ …it says it detects and guides you through getting rid of spyware. When you hit ‘run’, which I guess was also not smart to do without checking into this thing… it proceeds to scan every file on your whole computer. That is what made me uncomfortable. Is this a valid and trustworthy program, does anyone have any knowledge of it being bad news?:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Alereon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alereon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alereon)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spyhunter-exe-free-download-what-can-u-tell-me/212200/2 "2003-11-09T07:52:13Z")
Yes, this is definitely malicious software. It claims to remove some spyware, but installs plenty of its own. You’ll need to remove it as soon as possible. [Ad-Aware](http://www.lavasoft.de) seems to deal with it, I also suggest [SpyBot: Search and Destroy](http://security.kolla.de/) for more complete malware removal. In the future, you should NEVER accept those software installation boxes, unless you requested them and know exactly what they contain. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spyhunter-exe-free-download-what-can-u-tell-me/212200/3 "2003-11-09T13:44:41Z")
I was kinda hoping you’d found a free version of the 1980s arcade game. ---
**Author:** ![PhilAlex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/839c29/32.png) [@PhilAlex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhilAlex)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spyhunter-exe-free-download-what-can-u-tell-me/212200/4 "2003-11-09T16:28:41Z")
There’s a shockwave/flash version available free, or you could use MAME. Or buy a standup or sitdown version, I suppose. -P ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spyhunter-exe-free-download-what-can-u-tell-me/212200/5 "2003-11-09T17:11:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alereon \* > \*\* In the future, you should NEVER accept those software installation boxes, unless you requested them and know exactly what they contain. \*\* Heh. And here was the mistake I made. These guys are the _sponsored link_ at Google when one searches for “spybot”! So much for my good opinion of those guys. I’ve emailed them about it – if I don’t hear back from them, their “we don’t respond to these emails” policy notwithstanding, I’ll be finding another search engine. ---
**Author:** ![sumwunsumwer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3e96dc/32.png) [@sumwunsumwer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sumwunsumwer)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spyhunter-exe-free-download-what-can-u-tell-me/212200/6 "2003-11-09T18:12:30Z")
When you say malicious, what might it do? Is all of my information being hijacked? This thing has advertisements everywhere as a spyware locator, but are there any known alterior motives of this program?? If I uninstall, will that take care of it all? Or should I still be concerned? This is not a virus though, right??? ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spyhunter-exe-free-download-what-can-u-tell-me/212200/7 "2003-11-09T19:39:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by manhattan \* > Heh. And here was the mistake I made. These guys are the _sponsored link_ at Google when one searches for “spybot”! So much for my good opinion of those guys. I’ve emailed them about it – if I don’t hear back from them, their “we don’t respond to these emails” policy notwithstanding, I’ll be finding another search engine. I guess they act fast, because now their only sponsored link for that search is SpyKiller. Maybe they do listen after all. 🙂