Testing SAS Pro question

I've installed SuperAntispyware Pro for testing. After installation, I ran the recommended scan. The scan found 2 tracking cookies which I chose to quarantine (no option to immediately delete). After pressing "next", SAS requested to reboot the computer.

Why does SAS need a reboot to move a tracking cookie?

 

I'm also seeing the CPU spike thing, what's SAS doing all the time?

 

Covered here:
http://forums.superantispyware.com/viewtopic.php?t=389&highlight=spike

 

They may be cookies that are "in-use" and the physical files can't be deleted until a reboot. If it's just cookies, you don't have to reboot right away and they will be deleted on the next reboot.

 

Thanks for your reply.

During the SAS scan, both Firefox & Outlook were closed, so I'm not sure how the cookies were in use?

Regarding the spiking, it occurs even if I don't have a browser running.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/140/402469180_7336d990ca_o.png

 

The spike will occur anytime the real-time protection is open - it is not tied to the browser.

 

I have now uninstalled SAS Pro, but I'm still getting the spiking. I was definitely not getting this previously. I'm assuming that SAS has not fully uninstalled, is there a method to completely remove SAS?

 

Clean the left over files from the registry using CCleaner or another program.

 

If you have removed SAS and it is not running in the system tray, the spikes are not coming from SAS - it's main executable (SUPERANTISPYWARE.EXE) is the one that does the real-time protection. So if that's not running (or installed), it's not doing anything.

 

Thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately I was in the state of not having spikes for 3 weeks, then I installed SAS, I had spikes, then I uninstalled SAS & I still have spikes. I'm tending to assume that something's got left behind.

 

That service has nothing to do with SUPERAntiSpyware - it looks like part of another products copy protection, here is a link on ProtexisLicensing:
http://www.protexis.com/services/software_licensing.htm

Again - if SUPERANTISPYWARE.EXE is NOT running, it is NOT causing the spikes - no other part of our software does anything in real-time, so if you pull up task manager and SUPERANTISPYWARE.EXe is not in the list, it is not the cause of the spikes you are seeing.

 

Do you have Corel Paint Shop installed ?

Google search can be your freind

 

Thanks, I had edited my post because I found the link with Corel Paint Shop XI. I did not realise that anyone had replied otherwise I would not have deleted the section.

 

I'm running 2 Vista computers. Both have had Spyware Terminator installed & uninstalled. Only one computer has had SuperAntiSpyware installed & uninstalled, the other is clean of SAS.

The computer that had SAS now has a cpu spike issue every second or so, the other computer does not. Using Process Explorer, I am not able to determine where the spikes are coming from, but everything points to a remnant of SAS causing this.

Now considering a reformat to get rid of this rubbish. I've never had this in 25 years of computer work.

 

Ok, I guess I don't know what I am talking about - why don't you post a screen shot of your process explorer list and let's see what is using the CPU....should be easy to track that down if you are seeing a spike every few seconds.

 

Nick, I understand that you are protective of your software & that you don't believe that SAS could still be affecting my computer. I also find it hard to believe but the simple fact is that in 3 weeks running Vista I had no constant spikes, I install SAS, get spikes, uninstall & still get spikes. Other Vista users have also mentioned the spikes. I have another Vista computer that is set up in much the same way except I never installed SAS on it. That computer does not get the spikes. From HijackThis & HijackFree logs, I have seen that there are apparently no remnants of SAS remaining & you will note from Process Explorer that the spiking is coming from the hardware interrupts. The issue was not happing pre-SAS. Is there some way that an SAS installation could have affected this?

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/151/404848060_120096c704_o.png

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/151/404861734_5e25892715_o.png

 

I am not being "protective" - I am just stating the facts. We don't do anything with Interrupts, nor the hardware. You can run any type of "rootkit/hook" viewer and see we have no hooks. The other users that mentioned the spikes were running SAS and noticed the real-time, which has been covered in numerous threads.

From your screen shot, it looks like you are running ASquared (a2service) and NOD32 - have you uninstalled those to see if the spike issue goes away?

 

I have not tried uninstalling Nod32. As a quick test, I have deactivated each Nod32 module, with no effect on the spike symptoms. Nod32 was installed 3 weeks ago, the same day as building the pc. So it has been running for 3 weeks without issues, Nod32 is also running fine on my other Vista pc. A-squared was only installed earlier today, so I don't think that could have caused the problem. A-squared is the free version.

 

FYI This is a pointless test,even if you deactivate the aforememtion modules all drivers&modules are still loaded at boot.They only genuine test would be a complete uninstall of the software.

HTH

 

I accept the poor test.

I have since uninstalled Nod32 & rebooted. The cpu spikes were exactly the same, so I've reinstalled Nod32.

My next options I think are to reinstall SAS & uninstall again, or maybe just do a system restore.

 

Reinstall & uninstall SAS didn't help. System restore didn't help. I'm now going to delete my partition & run a full clean reinstall of Vista. In future being more careful about what I install!

 

SUPERAntiSpyware was NOT the cause of the spikes you are having. If you did a system restore, re-installed and uninstalled, etc. obviously it was not SUPERAntiSpyware that was causing "Hardware Interrupt" spikes.....

 

I've been treading lightly around your over-protection of your software. You seem to be unable to take any criticism of it. Now however after the first o/s reinstallation I've ever had to do, I will say that I'm very disappointed with your attitude to problems. I believe that your software is not Vista compatible. It should be your business to fully investigate my & other users spiking problems, you have made very little effort to do so.

As a reseller, you've not just lost a sale to me, but also to my customer base & I will in future stay as far away from your products as possible.

 

Biscuit - with all due respect, we have investigated and explained all the "spiking" problems that a few users reported - if you care to read the other forum posts regarding the subject you will see I went into great detail to explain the spikes the users were seeing and the conclusions were that the spikes were in fact not slowing down their systems or causing problems. We have been testing with Windows Vista since it was "Longhorn" well over a year ago - we have indepth knowledge of Windows Vista all the way to the kernel level. We are professional software developers and take all real issues seriously - again, if you browse the forums, you will see we take all issues seriously and if you have ever submitted a support request you will see we handle all users with prompt courteous and accurate service.

Your comment regarding me taking criticism is actually completely unfounded, incorrect, and inaccurate. If you care to browse around the various security forums, you will find that I have taken an enormous amount of criticism over SUPERAntiSpyware, SUPERAdBlocker and my other products - all of which I have handled with complete professionalism and actually taken the issues into account and updated our software to meet the users needs.

As a software vendor, I always look for, and am open to, feedback about our software, and try to take into account all user requests - that's not saying we can implement everything every user desires, but we certainly try to meet their needs and always improve our software with each new release.

You made blanket statements that SUPERAntiSpyware was causing "Hardware Interrupt" spikes even after uninstallation of the software and associated components and I simply stated that the statements were incorrect - it really appears to be you who, in my opinion, who is "overprotective" of possible issues with your system and are not open to believe that it was caused by something else you have installed, or a simple issue with the new Windows Vista. You came to the conclusion that it was SUPERAntiSpyware, and refused to vary from that conclusion - you uninstalled one other software package and deemed it was not the issue, so the issue still had to be SUPERAntiSpyware - it does not appear you came to the group to seek a remedy to the problem you are having with the spikes, but more to blame SUPERAntiSpyware and not seek the true cause of the problem.

As far as losing you as a reseller, that is unfortunate, as our software works well for millions of users - it is sad that you would deprive your user base from a quality software package which can help in the fight against spyware because of your personal issues with my responses regarding a single, isolated issue regarding your Windows Vista base. In my opinion, that does not speak highly of your concern for your users and clients.

I hope in the future you will be able to put aside your personal issue with this single isolated incident and not make your users pay the price by being infected by spyware that other products may fail to remove.