Ad-Aware 9, released today, now features two new detection engines that allow it to detect more malware than ever before.

“Dedicated Detection” is a technology that analyses code at the CPU instruction level, then constructs a loose pattern that enables Ad-Aware to uncover entire families of malware. Lavasoft say the new scheme is delivering impressive results: Ad-Aware 9 now detects 255,848 variations of Win32.Worm.Allaple using a single signature, the company claim, and that signature has detected every new sample they’ve found since it was created.

The second new technology, MagmaShield, also analyses processor instructions, but it doesn’t require patterns or signatures. Instead it simply looks for suspicious operations that could be a sign of malware, allowing Ad-Aware 9 to spot even brand new and undiscovered threats.

There are no settings or tweaks for either engine, unfortunately: you can’t turn them on or off, choose a different level of protection, or otherwise change how they work. Still, this does keep things simple, and it’s good to see the new technologies are available in Ad-Aware 9 Free, as well as the commercial Pro version.

Elsewhere, Lavasoft say that updates will be faster and more efficient. And of course you still get all the base features from the previous version: antivirus and anti-spyware detection, a Download Guard for IE, rootkit detection and removal, and a scheduler to run scans even if you’re not around.

Ad-Aware 9 looks like a worthwhile upgrade, then, which should improve the program’s malware detection rates without giving you any new complexities to learn.