IObit Malware Fighter is a straightforward antispyware tool that can protect your PC in several different ways.

For example, you can run an on-demand scan to look for spyware, adware, trojans, bots, and other threats that your regular antivirus software might have missed. The "Smart Scan" checks only the most critical areas of your PC, and runs fairly quickly (around 7 minutes on our test PC); you can run a complete system scan if you prefer, while the "Custom Scan" allows you to choose exactly what you'd like the program to examine.

And Malware Fighter also includes real-time protection in the shape of 5 guards, which variously monitor your startup programs, browser settings, cookies, the web pages you view, and the files you access.

Our first brief tests left some questions over the program's accuracy, with Malware Fighter missing a real threat, and incorrectly warning us of two entirely safe files. And it's also a little short on features. If you want scheduled scans, protection for USB viruses, process scanning or technical support then you'll need to upgrade to Malware Fighter Pro, currently available for $19.95 a year.

Note that IObit Malware Fighter works as freeware unless you choose to upgrade to Pro.