TDSSKiller is one of the most popular free anti-rootkit tools used today. It started as Kaspersky utility fighting TDSS / ZeroAccess rootkits, however other parasite families are supported as well. It is a completely free program and quite good at malware removal. It is better than common anti-rootkit software as it detects not suspicious entries only, but parasites too. Thus TDSSKiller provides more information and is better at handling complex parasites.
TDSSkiller is quite simple utility. You download it, launch and scan. It will detect both known rootkits and rootkit behaviour (aka hidden files or processes). While you can safely delete the first kind, suspicious ones should be investigated. Some anti-viruses, copyright / DRM management software can use rootkit techniques even if they are completely legitimate.
This software works on 32 and 64 bit Windows well, thus you do not have to investigate which version to download. This is common issue with e.g. Hitman Pro. Some of older anti-rootkits outright refuse to run on 64 bit systems.
The main drawbacks of TDSSKiller is the fact that it is anti-rootkit only and does not provide any sort of protection. Thus some multi-infections will give problems. For example, some rogues will reinstall rootkit right after its removal, thus one has to use different approaches.
Positive Sides of TDSSKiller
Good at rootkit removal
Negative Sides of TDSSKiller
Does not provide protection
Does not detect other parasites in multi infections
