Free Spyware Doctor Edition

You might try updating again just to be sure. We can compare again a little later, too.. also 169 sigs less isn't too bad

 

Try to always download a program from the source, so you should go to Pctools...

 

I tried to see if I can download some new update, but nothing...

Maybe some signatures are put first for the full version...

 

You're probably right. Let me know when you get an update again, we'll compare again

 

Here you have:

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/2763/spywaredoctor9ed.png

 

Yes SpywareDocter free a good program i like alsu.

 

..and here's mine. It does indeed look like the free is just one step behind. I wouldn't think it's enough to really be a deal-breaker, though.

 

Agree with, this is a very good program, better than Ad-Aware, but when I put a clean image of Windows, I will use CounterSpy, Spybot (as backup and IE protection), SpywareBlaster and HostsMan, because I think that it's enough for me...

 

That sounds like a good combo to me, too

 

Yeah, except that I (personally) would keep Spyware Doctor over Spybot. Not intending to knock Spybot here, but I really wish somebody would clue me in as to WHY it is considered by many to be all that "worthy" of keeping. I wasn't impressed with it, I've seen it rate pretty low as far as independent AS testing goes, the "Tea Timer" option did absolutely NOTHING to help protect my sister's PC.....and I'm just curious why people still think it's a top AS product. Granted, it was "one of the first", and "it's free"....but other than that, I'm a little baffled that people still consider it to be a top product.

 

Yep

I already had a lot of them to test them, but now I just want to use what I really need and like...

 

I agree with you.

Spyware Doctor have a better detection that Spybot, but I want the Spybot because it have the Immunize feature for IE and for backup the excellent CounterSpy... I never used the active protection of Spybot...

Besides that, Spybot is also good because you can see a lot of system areas with it...

If the new version of Spyware Doctor have a faster scan and the prevention for IE of SpywareBlaster is enough, I can change to it

In this site, you can see that they complement +/- each other: http://www.spywarewarrior.com/elh/adw-state.htm

 

Fair enough, VC. Thanks for sharing

Just curious, though....did you try using the "Custom" scanning option for Spyware Doctor? I know you use a HOSTS file (MVPS, I believe), and I do as well....and with the Full and Quick scan options through Spyware Doctor it scans the entire HOSTS file, and that is what takes it so long. With the Custom scan option, you can eliminate the HOSTS and LSP scanning...and that will cut scans from around 25 minutes down to around 10. If you haven't checked it out, I would highly recommend doing so.

Oh, and Spyware Doctor does have an "immunization" feature....but unfortunately, it's only included with "On Guard" protection enabled (pay version).

 

Another good feature of Spybot is that you can easily set up scheduled scans without having to pay for it. Maybe it doesn't have the best detection right now, but that could change, and some is better than none. Like VC, I also use the immunize function as well as the tools.. don't forget that it has a database of what start items are, too.

I'm the only person at my work that uses TeaTimer (since Spybot's already installed and we can't use anything else, but have to use IE), and I have seen it pick up things here and there. My profile tends to work better than others in my department, and I've been able to work at stations that nobody else could.

 

When I used the Spyware Doctor, I only use the Custom scan with the Hosts scan disabled...

 

Hi,
Reasons to use Spybot:
1) It takes little space on harddisk, it doesn't hurt.
2) It's always been free and was never influenced by money, unlike Ad-Aware (When-U) and MSAS (Claria).
3) I never had false positives with it, unlike Spyware Doctor.
4) It's fast and efficient.
5) Free scanners always get lower grades in independent AS testing; you should ask yourself is Linux less good than Windows, since it's a free product?
6) Reliability over years and continuous improvement are reasons to consider something a top product.
Mrk

 

I'm glad you didn't, too bad I can't say the same. Spybot continually flagged DSO Exploit for me, even after running other AS scans and then Spybot, as well as running Spybot immediately after I had finished a scan with Spybot! It got very frustrating and that's when I began to question it's effectiveness. Here is a specific link to the CastelCops Spybot forum where they are discussing this well known false positive:

DSO Exploit Bug Fixed with Latest Update

Here's a forum specifically devoted to False Positives within Spybot:

Spybot False Positives Report

Definition updates for Spybot are also rather infrequent compared to most AS products.

My guess is that if this was a pay, commercial product....people would call it for what it is. But since it's freeware, there's no need to look a gift horse in the mouth...

 

I can't remember the last time i had a false positive with Spybot. However, i decided to download and install Spyware Doctor last night. I did a full system scan and it came up with 5 false positives. I know they are FP's as the files in question are from legit software. For example it picked up SmtLaunch.exe as spyware which is part of Pagemaster 6, and is the main launch file to start it up. It also identified a file as a home page hijack Wininit.ini which the contents suggest it is talking a load of bo!!ocks. Here's the contents of Wininit.ini

[Rename]
NUL=Feurio_Uninstall.exe

This is of course the remains of an application i used to have called Feurio which is software for cd burning, much like NERO(although not as good).

It also broke my ability to get on the net using IE. When i started IE all i got was a blank screen. Once i had unistalled it IE worked fine again.

All the other stuff was FP's as well. I uninstalled it immediately. Sorry but how can i trust something that does this sort of thing, and so badly.

muf

 

Spyware Doctor DOES have it's share of FPs....just like CounterSpy, Ad-Aware, Spy Sweeper, etc., etc. ALL anti-spyware and anti-virus programs are likely to encounter some false positives along the way, so I don't want anyone to think that I am saying that it doesn't. Matter of fact, I have been disappointed with Spyware Doctor here lately because I reported to them on a few ocassions a couple of false positives related to the HOSTS file scanner, and yet well over a month later those two still exist (and show up during scans when I know they are FPs!)

No, the point I was trying to make, is that Spybot is over-rated by many and is somehow regarded much more highly in many people's eyes than it SHOULD be. And I believe the reason for that is because it has been around for a while (probably longer than most, one of the first), and it's FREE! If it was a commercial product rather than freeware, I seriously doubt that we'd have nearly as many people using or singing it's praises as a part of their anti-spyware arsenal.

 

Well i get your point, but lets look at this constructively a moment. Spybot has a large database of malware it can detect, it has very few false positives and has many useful tools(especially it's immunizer).It's also free which is important to many people with limited income. Now look at a commercial product. They have more resources, more money to develop and can spend a lot more time improving their product. But they also have lots of FP's which is probably due to adding many signatures before they have been properly tested.

Due to the cutthroat business out there, commercial products are too quick to add signatures and end up with plenty of FP's. The author of Spybot updates less frequently but he has properly tested his signatures. At least if you are using Spybot you can more or less say that when it finds something it will be malware. But with the others, the chances are that you are deleting something that may break some software on your pc.

Spybot is an honest reliable program. The emphasised word is something that can't be said of others. Especially the commercial programs who are way too fast to release some of their signatures. I've seen Spy Sweeper release an update that a day later the new update has as many as 100 less. Do we assume that they found a problem in something they were detecting? Hell yes!!!

muf

 

I hear what you are saying, and agree....although I believe the above is more than a bit harsh.

For almost a year, I had a firewall, AV, Ad-Aware and Spybot....that was it. Practically every night I would run Ad-Aware and Spybot, and both scans using both products would come back with about half a dozen items. Spybot would repeatedly flag the false positive that I was referring to earlier. Anyway, no big deal. So I tried Spyware Doctor....and after using it's "On Guard" real-time protection, afterwards both Ad-Aware and Spybot had nothing to show and came back empty when I ran their scans nightly.

Now, is "paying" for a product to keep stuff off of your PC in real-time worth it? That's up to the user to decide. But because a lot of malware can do bad things in a relatively short time, I'd prefer to have constant protection as opposed to scanning every so often.

But, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.....and for a freebie Spybot seems to be effective for many, and therefore I can see why some consider it worthy and are comfortable having it around. For me, it proved useless once I had purchased Spyware Doctor for the real-time protection....but for those who don't wish to spend money for software I can see where they fill a niche with it. And BTW, I wasn't criticizing the author of Spybot, because I do appreciate people who put out products to help others out of the kindness of their heart and aren't looking at it as a reliable source of income. I was just questioning the product's reliability as far as effectiveness goes, that's all. And I have heard as much good as I have bad, so I will refrain from criticizing it anymore (don't want "the Cult" to start bashing me here). Ultimately, though, if you're happy with and believe strongly in it, that's all that really matters.....

 

Hi,

I have the 3.2.1.359 version of Spyware Doctor on my PC & have found way too many F/P's with this program.

The Process Guard Feature even prevented UnHackMe from loading until I reconfigured it !!

CounterSpy, SpySweeper & AdAware are much more reliable IMO ..... although CS & SS have detected a few F/P's as well.

I mainly use Spyware Doctor for the Cookie Guard.

HR

 

Hi all,

I am from PC Tools, maker of Spyware Doctor.

Sorry to hear some of you are experiencing false positives.

In order to assist you, if you have a registered version, could you please run the Malware Detective tool within Spyware Doctor? This will generate a log so that we help you further.

Otherwise you can contact us on this link so that we can assist you: http://www.pctools.com/contact/support/guide/spyware-doctor/

Thank you for highlight possible false positives. We really appreciate such feedbacks.

Cheers

PC Tools

 

To PcTools

Could you please offer some explanation as to why spyware doctor attempts to "call home" each time the program is opened. This would be the freeware version without the auto update feature.
Also, why are two seperate entries made in the registry? One entry for spyware doctor and another for a dll with a "software company name

 

I really like spyware doctor... with a few questions...

It would be nice to have a host forum somewhere so some of these nagging questions can get answered.

I have SWDr on a desk top with no problems and installed it on a friends laptop running WinME.

I have also noticed the free download version from c/net calls out using UDP on startup - why it does this is a mystery since updates are done manually.

Also I notice the MD5 and digital license for swdoctor.exe changes every other start up which Kerio catches.

The MD5 changes bugged me so much I thought it might have been a dll injection trojan of some kind and posted here about it:

http://forums.net-integration.net/index.php?showtopic=32563

Lonny from spybot forum speculated the program was attempting some sort of update, but this answer did not fit completely eventhough it was calling out, so I am still left with this question of why the MD5 changes for swdoctor.exe

Note I'm not having this same problem on my desk top. I used the same program load for both.

strange stuff...