Malwarebytes, makers of the popular
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware,
Anti-Exploit,
Anti-Ransomware and other security tools,
announced on October 19, 2016 that it has acquired AdwCleaner, a program for Windows designed to clean adware from computer systems.
We have reviewed the standalone version of
AdwCleaner back in 2013 the first time, and then again in 2015 when
AdwCleaner 5 was released. The team released version 6 of the application in 2016, but we have not reviewed that yet.
AdwCleaner, compatible with all versions of Windows starting with Windows XP, has been designed to scan a Windows PC for traces of adware, and to provide you with options to remove those traces.
Adware in the context refers to any unwanted software, setting or file that is not considered malicious. So, all those potentially unwanted programs (PUP) that you may get while installing another software count as adware for instance, but also changes to a browser's homepage or search engine, services added to Windows, advertisement popups, or cookies planted to track users.