Spybot – Search & Destroy (S&D) is a spyware and adware removal computer program compatible with Microsoft Windows. Dating back to the first Adwares in 2000, Spybot scans the computer hard disk and/or RAM for malicious software. Spybot-S&D was written by the German software engineer Patrick Michael Kolla, and is distributed by Kolla's Irish 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. Licensing Spybot – Search & Destroy was formerly released as freeware for personal users (the former freeware edition is now a donationware), with more featureful versions available for purchase. Corporate and technician users have to buy a commercial version. The paid versions contain an anti-virus component that uses the BitDefender engine. Spybot features In addition to spyware and adware detection and disinfection, Spybot-S&D can repair the registry, winsock LSPs, ActiveX objects, browser hijackers and BHOs, PUPs, HTTP cookies, trackerware, heavy duty, homepage hijackers, keyloggers, LSP, tracks, trojans, spybots, revision, and other kinds of malware. It can also delete tracking cookies. Spybot-S&D has an Immunize function to block the installation of spyware before it occurs e.g. by modifying the hosts file. A secure file deleter is included. Spybot-S&D was not originally intended to replace but complement anti-virus programs (prior to v. 2.1 Spybot +AV), but it does detect some common trojans and rootkits. A free-standing rootkit finder, RootAlyzer, is available. Some programs are supplied with attached spyware or adware and refuse to run when they are not present; newer versions of Spybot replace the spyware binaries with inert dummies (designed to fool programs which simply check for the presence of the spyware's file). In order to detect recently created programs efficiently, detection updates are released weekly with other improvements such as added languages and better heuristic algorithms. These updates are downloaded and installed from within the software from a variety of mirrors. Spybot-S&D is available for all versions of Windows starting with Windows 95. It is supplied translated into many languages and with several skins. Instructions are available on the website to enable users to design their own skins. Technical support is currently supplied by means of Internet forums and support e-mails (with a usual response time of no more than 24 hours). Reviews and awards Versions of Spybot-S&D won awards including the World Class