Bitdefender has announced the final release of Bitdefender Adware Removal Tool, its free portable malware hunter.

As with the beta, the finished program is basic in the extreme. There’s no real-time protection, no Explorer integration, no choice about what to examine: just a single Scan button which checks your entire system.

Removal is a little more flexible. Anything dubious is listed, and you can choose what you keep, and what must go.

The interface is simple, or extremely basic, depending on your point of view

The insistence on scanning your full system drives means the program can take a while. Checking 459GB of files on our test system took around five minutes.

One notable plus seems to be the lack of false positives, at least in our initial testing. Our PC was packed with brand new, low-level and little-known software but the Removal Tool ignored all that, instead zooming in on the real threats.

The program is also portable, so convenient to use, and most unlikely to conflict with other security software.

Bitdefender Adware Removal Tool still isn’t the most essential of tools, but its core engine is a good one, and we’re going to keep a copy on hand for emergency use.