When comparing Spybot vs Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool, the Slant community recommends Spybot for most people. In the question“What are the best malware removal tools for Windows?” Spybot is ranked 3rd while Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool is ranked 8th. The most important reason people chose Spybot is:
Basic functionality (includes malware removal) can be used for free for non-commercial purposes.
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Pros
Pro Free for personal use
Basic functionality (includes malware removal) can be used for free for non-commercial purposes.
Pro Has a portable version
A portable version of the app can be found here. It allows putting the software on an external storage devices such as an USB thumb stick and running it from there without having to install it on the target machine.
Pro Can be installed in safe mode without issues
Pro Comes bundled with all Windows versions by default
There's no need to set up the tool, it comes with all versions of Windows and as long as you install important Patch Tuesdays updates the tool will be up to date.
Cons
Con Bad malware detection
In a test performed by PCMag, Spybot detected just 32% of installed malware.
Con Bad at removing found malware, especially rootkits
In a test performed by PCMag over half of malware that the tool attempted to remove was still running after the attempted cleanup. Rootkit removal often crashes other software.
Con Free version lacks scan scheduling
Premium version of the software is required to schedule scans in advance.
Con Awkward interface elements
Con Doesn't scan the whole system
The tool checks for just the most common infections and only in the most common places and skips everything else.
Con Can't scan in the background
When manually invoked, there's no way to have it run in the background.
Con Runs only once a month
The tool automatically runs after each "Patch Tuesday" patch has been installed. And there's no way to have in scheduled to run more often. To run it at any other time it has to be done manually.
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