Spyeraser is part of a collection of tools from software maker Uniblue.

As the name suggests, it scans the computer for spyware and can clean away any offending infection.

It’s quick to install and offers an immediate summary of the PC's security level through a handy dial on the main interface.

From here you can choose to run a quick scan or a deep scan of the entire computer, targeting cookies, memory, registry keys and files.

When the scan is complete it shows a set of results and the user can choose to ignore, quarantine or remove the offending files - usefully, the recommended action is already selected each time.

You’ll find a summary of scan results, a scheduler, quarantine database and logs of previous scans, and it's possible to add specific files to an list to be ignored by the scanner. You’ll also find options here to restore the computer to a previous state should you encounter problems after using the software. The most powerful part of the package, though, is the automated Live Guard area in which you can scan specific areas of the web browser and other programs.

Unfortunately it only works with Internet Explorer, which seems to be a bit of an oversight given the popularity of capable rivals such as Firefox. In truth it’s unlikely that most users will find the need to adjust the Live Guard settings, but more experienced operators will find a level of control here that allows for manual adjustment of the automatic protection if need be.

The settings menu has options to disable certain areas of the computer to help prevent spyware or other similar threats from making unauthorised changes.

Spyeraser scores points for speed and ease of use, and does offer an impressive degree of control over what parts of the computer are protected. Unfortunately we’re not completely convinced by its thoroughness: we saw that a couple of files that would typically be flagged by other similar tools weren’t noticed by this software, although it did pick up the more obvious (and more dangerous) threats.

Vista compatibility: Yes