Hazard Shield

Hazard Shield is an anti-spyware program designed to help you clean up any nasty files on your computer and keep new ones out with real-time protection. Sounds pretty good, right? Right off the bat, this software seems like it has everything you need to keep your system safe. It even comes with an online updater that automatically fetches new definitions regularly. That way, you're always protected!

Interface and Usability

The interface of Hazard Shield is clean and super easy to navigate. But here’s the catch: some tools aren’t really doing what they’re supposed to. Take the scanner, for example. You have three scan options: smart, full, and custom. Plus, there are special features to check memory, registry, hosts files, and heuristics.

Scanning Issues on Windows 7

Now here’s a hiccup—while these scans work great on Windows XP and Vista, they crash every time you try to run one on Windows 7. Definitely something that needs fixing! The main window shows real-time stats too; you can see how many threats have been blocked or removed without having to dig around in other menus.

Updates and Real-Time Protection

You can set up updates to happen either manually or automatically at a time that works for you. The real-time protection monitors process execution along with critical registry keys and values too.

File Killer Feature

There’s also a feature called “File Killer” that’s supposed to securely erase files—but we found that it didn’t work during tests on a Windows 7 machine either.

Performance Across Platforms

The good news? Hazard Shield runs just fine on other versions of Windows without hogging your computer's resources too much! Overall, while Hazard Shield is a decent piece of software, there’s definitely room for improvement if you want the security level you’re looking for.