Not only is it a very good tool to clean systems up, it can readily help you neutralize both PUC's (potentially unwanted changes) and PUP's (potentially unwanted programs). Yes the name is cheesy and the website is a little dated, but this program just plain works. I see this recommended so rarely I wonder if it is the dark horse of anti-malware/spyware software: SuperAntiSpyware. Immunization really does make a difference (especially the hosts file blacklisting), and it's easy enough to turn off all the other features of Spybot that want to run in the background. To this day I get several calls a year from users saying 'Such and such message just appeared telling me that X website is unsafe.' They are almost always going to online poker (or some other gambling), warez/pirated software link aggregation sites, or occasionally some porn sites run by scammers. What is still great about Spybot is the Immunization feature, and the ability to scan non-active registry hives, even those present on external disks (or any other non-active partition). It's very intrusive and not geared toward the average user. Spybot Search and Destroy has tried to make itself into a full-fledged piece of security software, which it fails at.

It's got decent tools to make registry edits, test RAM, and control services.

In addition, even if you don't like AVG, they do provide the AVG Rescue CD for free, which can help you out of a bind if the system is non-bootable. The rootkit scanning tool is actually quite good in my experience. If you choose the correct custom install options and are willing to configure it post installation, it's not invasive, is fairly light on resources (not as good as it used to be though), and just as effective as any other definitions-based AV. Malwarebytes is almost universally recommended, and with good reason. Everybody has their favorites and that's great if they work.

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