Spybot - Search & Destroy (sometimes known as Spybot-S&D) is a malware, spyware and adware removal program for Microsoft Windows. Like most malware scanners, Spybot-S&D scans the computer hard disk and/or RAM for malicious software.

Spybot was written by German software engineer Patrick Michael Kolla, and is distributed by Kolla's company Safer Networking Limited. Development began in 2000 when Kolla, still a student, wrote a small program to deal with the Aureate/Radiate and Conducent TimeSink programs, two of the earliest examples of adware.

Spybot Features

• Spybot can fix problems with tracking cookies, system internals (Registry), Winsock LSPs, ActiveX objects, browser hijackers and BHOs
• A Tea-Timer module can be optionally enabled, which provides a level of active, real-time protection from undesirable registry changes and such
• Spybot is available for all versions of Windows from Windows 95, and offers more than two dozen different languages and several skins to users.
• Provides greater computer security by removing keyloggers and other programs, which put passwords, credit card numbers, and other vulnerable data at risk online
• Add-ons supported