need spycatcher express opinions

i thing this antispyware is good!! find things that other pay products missed.... but has a lot of false positives ? opinions pls

 

I guess nothing's wrong with it, until somebody says otherwise, but when i downloaded it, i ran EULAlyzer and it flashed 3rd party software bundled or something. Other software flashes this too and i installed them anyway, but i knew where they came from.

Probably nothing wrong with it, but i can't recomend what i don't know.

 

I say

More false positives then a-squared.... ALOT more.

 

I think the reason it finds more things than other products is because 99% of them are most likely false positives. My personal opinion is that this program is a joke, and the false positives are a goad to get you to purchase their paid program - but that's just my opinion. When I used the program for a short time, it was even labeling its own program files as spyware. Also, if you don't make sure and set it to prompt you for a decision before scanning, it has the potential to wipe out very important system files. I am relatively sure my system is clean, as it has been scanned with NOD32, Ewido (AVG), 2-squared, CounterSpy, Ad-Aware and none of them found anything bad. I am also a low-risk surfer, use limited account, and either Opera or Firefox with NoScript.
However, Spycatcher Express found some 80 "spyware" files on my system. A lot of them I recognized as legitimate XP system files. I would suggest you dump this product before it deletes something important. If you're looking for a free anti-spyware app, there are some others that are much better, such as SuperAntiSpyware, Spyware Terminator (for real-time protection - it's scan produces FP's also), and AVG AS (free version).

 

I used Spycatcher express for a while, and found it ok, but it does produce an awful lot of false positives. I also found it very heavy on my system (PIII 997khz 512ram) and it caused BSOD's and minor crahes pretty frequently. My pc was much happier and faster once I had removed it...

 

I used one of their old antispyware products, and it came up with a lot of false positives. I found that spyware it removed where actually things my system needed which caused some programs not to work.

I dont know if this software is any better, but its probably best to stay away.

 

Hi, folks: Unless this app has been completely redesigned, my advice is to stay away. I concur the previous postings; it will single out your system files and legitimate app files as spywares. I will push it to the end of line, as the very last pick. Having said that, I could not understand that C/NET downloads.com still list it as one of the best free AS apps on their web site. Something that an average joe,like me, perhaps never be able to figure it out.

 

Maybe CNET thinks that detecting all possible malware (even those that are not truly malware) is more important than a program that detects a lower percentage? Say you have 100 malware items on your system. Is it not better for a program to indicate 120 malware items (100 legitimate + 20 false positives) rather than one that indicates 60 malware items (60 legitimate + 0 false positives)?

 

Hi, folks: hi, ccsito, very logical analysis indeed.I think You are right, but I wish you were wrong. Otherwise, we all have to REDEFINE the meaning(definition) of Rate of Detection, eh?

 

I would say that the latter may be better because of those 20 false positives, how many of them are critical system files or registry entires that your system can't do without? I would rather put up with a little bit of malware and have a functional computer myself.

Of course, I don't mind a few false positives, as that is indicative of an aggressive scan. But too aggressive is not necessarily better than not aggressive enough.

 

Yes, I think that being alerted about something that is not truly malware may in the end be more damaging than not being alerted about all of the malware due to low detection ability. If the false positive is a critical O.S. item and you decide to get rid of it, then trying to get your system back to working order may turn into a greater hassle than just allowing the malware to fester undetected on your system.

 

Why aren't there more SpyCatcher Express users?

Just read in one of the PC magazines that they still recommend Spycatcher Express, and although I know not to listen to what's said in these magazines, I started wondering why more people don't use it. I tried it (of course LOL) about a year ago and liked it, but it seemed to use a lot of memory so I removed it. According to this magazine though, it was rated as high as any of the top paid antispyware programs when originally reviewed a few months before. Does anyone use it now, and if so has the memory usage improved?

 

Re: Why aren't there more SpyCatcher Express users?

I liked it but it seems poor in definitions as detection rate was poor. GUI very nice. On my system it caused many system hangs. There was known conflict with Comodo too.
It has some heuristics/ behaves that cause false positives so not good for novice.

 

Thanks aigle, but after reading half way through this thread I remembered reading through it before, and of course why I didn't try it then. It's ashamed really that Tenebril never did more with it, as it always seem to have the potential of being a very nice antispyware. Take care, and next time I will do a search before I ask a question I promise. You hear that Bubba? LOL.

 

I loaded Spycatcher Express after reading a good review somewhere, maybe PCMag. It put an entry in startups in HKLM_Run "spycatcher.exe reminder". After installing it seemed to work OK, but after restarting the computer I began to seem to have trouble. Firstly, I can't tell if it is running or not. In taskmanager and process explorer I do not see any listing for it. If I add a startup entry "spycatcher.exe" (w/o 'reminder') or run spycatcher.exe the system seems to get stuck with the spycatcher opening screen on top and in the middle of everything w/o going to the UI and I have to use taskmanager to end spycatcher. I don't know about memory usage and perhaps that is the problem.

As anti-spyware is the weak part of my online protection, I rather liked the program, but it isn't helpful if it doesn't run and properly in real time. Any advice will be much appreciated.

 

I can't imagine finding a good review of this product. My advice would be to get rid of it as soon as you can. My personal experience is that it is a joke as far as security apps. There are other free products much more reliable and that don't hog all your resources. Also, since I used the product well over a year ago, I keep getting unwanted spam from Tebebril. I could go on all day about the unreliability of this program. Get rid of it. You already have AVG Free, and seem to have more security apps than you need. Running an AS real-time doesn't really give you any more protection than you already have with Winpatrol. If you're already running Windows Defender, then that's real overload. The products you have listed in your sig are more than enough without bloated pieces of junk like Spycatcher.

 

I too got spam from tenebril, something about a reg cleaner thing. (as a valued customer, it was only $45!!!) The simple act of opening the email (not clicking on the d/l link) caused machine to freeze. About the same time as I installed spycather express, I also started getting daily V1AGRRR4, V4L1UMM, C1L4XX spam emails, but I'v no proof they were related. I replied to the reg cleaner email, asking to be taken off their mailing list, and they would seem to have done so.

 

From experience from about 10mths ago with the program and support - utter garbage - I too saw an excellent review + a listing under Comprehensive Tools on the E.Howes page, sorry better on the rouge page.
I first tried an online scan and had 27 f/ps.
Then after accomodating support and downing spycatcher express, I had, 27 f/ps. I then had some toing and froing with support that tried to convince me that my system files contained malware which soon stopped after I informed them that the very first test was on a clean virtual machine.

 

Hi r2b, i will suggest you to use a HIPS (SSM free is best in my opinion or ProSecurity Free) and u might get 100% anti-spyware protection.
In my opinion if u use SSM, u can safely remove SpywareGuard, Windows Defender and WinPatrol all. For on-demand scanning u can use AVG antispyware free or SuperAntispyware free or both if u want more.

 

That is quite an earful of an almost uniform opinion and is very convincing. The program is now gone and I thank you all for your input.

 

I totally agree with this assessment. I have never observed any AS app catch spyware via signature. Doesn't mean it doesn't happen - just that in my experience with a lot of security apps and helping people with malware, I've never seen it done. The AS has always detected the malware via its behavior. I have tried several of the trojan simulation tests, and the only app to recognize it by signature was NOD32, which wouldn't even let me download the test app. Tried it again after disabling NOD32. None of my apps caught the test trojan by signature. As soon as the 'trojan' tried to launch, ALL of my other security apps detected the 'trojan' attempting to place itself in system auto-start. That being the case, SSM is even better than an AS, as it goes deeper behind the scenes and would catch any behavior an AS would catch, and more. I keep Winpatrol around, simply because it monitors my Hosts File, which I can't seem to get SSM to do, even though the registry key has been added. I also like to easy access to modifying services, file associations in Winpatrol, as its GUI is much easier for me to navigate than some other methods I've used. I will say also that the free version of SSM takes up a very small amount of resources as compared to most real-time AS scanner. Like Aigle says, keep a couple of free AS apps around for on-demand scans, but no reason to run them real-time.

 

I have to weigh in with my own personal APPROVAL of these 2 HIPS programs in particular. They drastically reduce and in most cases can totally eliminate possibility of forced intrusions, BUT, you should also take some time to examine for yourself, what certain files are which interact with your system and that they are safe to apply rules for normal operations.

One of our member's here named herbalist is a great resource for helping with SSM.
There are others here too who can assist you with the ins and outs of Pro Security also.

I would hope in the near future and like to see more HIPS developers getting in on this newfound protections technique.

Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware programs you choose along with a sound HIPS program make for a great and very helpful all-around protection scheme. LoL