PCTools Spyware Doctor 5.0 is actually light.

Discussion in 'other anti-malware software' started by MalwareDie, Mar 25, 2007.

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  1. MalwareDie

    MalwareDie Registered Member

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    I am not exactly sure what processes it uses, but the only process using more than 20 000K at the moment would be my iexplore.exe. It used to be so heavy and updates are now much more smooth and it has added a lot of signatures.
     
  2. luciddream

    luciddream Registered Member

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    That's hard to believe. I'd try it out but there really isn't any use since even if it does find something it won't get rid of it unless I pay them. I wish they would allow a free trial that actually got rid of any infections, I think it would put them in favor with more users and also help deter people from cracking their software (which is a big problem for PCTools).

    If they want to keep something for the full (paid) version they can hold back the active protection components.
     
  3. spindoctor

    spindoctor Registered Member

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    It didn't run exactly light on my xp system despite what looked like fairly low mem and cpu usage of SD's 3 processes initially.

    Yesterday, I downloaded and installed the latest SpywareDoctor 5.0 from the PCTools website and my mem usage shot up from my normal level of about 340MB to 572MB, right after installing SD and a system restart. Even though task manager was listing these amouts for SD's 3 processes - SDTrayApp.exe = 1,156k, svcntaux.exe = 386k, and swdsvc.exe = 8,192k.

    Even after 40 minutes and several reboots it was still at the same level. So I decided to examine the different SD processes to see why the mem usage was so high and right at that time SDTrayApp started using 100% of my cpu and everything just froze. The only thing I could do was a hard system reboot in order to be able to use my pc again.

    Seems to me there's still some bugs to be worked out on this latest version of SD 5.0. At least in my experiences.
     
    Last edited: Mar 26, 2007
  4. MalwareDie

    MalwareDie Registered Member

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    Hmm. That's interesting. So far none of SD's process have been using 100% of my cpu.
     
  5. spindoctor

    spindoctor Registered Member

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    @ MalwareDie

    Yeah, it was somewhat strange. All I did was take a closer look at SD with ProcessExplorer to try to determine why SD was using so much memory and my system just froze up. I thought maybe there was a hidden SD process running using all that mem. There were very short periods, of a few seconds, where I was able to open task manager after everything froze and see that it was indeed SDTrayApp that was using all that cpu, even though it took a few minutes just to open task manager.

    One thing I did like about this new version of SD was after the initial scan it only found a couple FPs this time, so it seems to have improved in this area. But even if they figure out why it froze on my system it still was using way to much mem for me to even consider keeping it.



    @ LucidDream

    I agree. It would be nice if you could run manual scans and remove malware with the free version. I would like to see the realtime protection only available in the payware version as well. That's how most other AS vendors do it and it seems to work out well for everyone.
     
  6. Perman

    Perman Registered Member

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    Hi, folks: I installed the new version v.5 and had same encounter as spindoctor. Those three drivers did consume that much mem,also two of them run as services. SD w/ realtime guard ON did freeze my system up on and off. I decided to do these: disable SDTrayApp.exe from startup, switch services of svcntaux.exe and swdsvc.exe from auto to manual.After reboot, my box is finally back to normal. SD has made a significant improvement in the area of F.P. and scanning speed. But, the resource problem seems like a disease/poison, and no antidote seems to be effective against it. Pity. Otherwise would be a front runner for years to come.
     
  7. lodore

    lodore Registered Member

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    do you people really need realtime antispyware protection?
    the anwser is NO!
    even if it is light there is not much need for it.
    lodore
     
  8. spindoctor

    spindoctor Registered Member

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    @ Lodore

    Nope, don't need it. But I bought a SD license a while back so I keep trying the latest versions hoping they'll improve it. I would probably only run it for manual scans, but I like the program to work correctly should I want to test the realtime protection in various ways.
     
  9. screamer

    screamer Registered Member

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    Runs light as a feather on my boxes. So far, the only difference I see here is that I had the beta previously installed and it was auto-updated to the "final" version. There's plenty of complaints on the PC Tools forum. I gotta say though, as a company, PC Tools is jumping through hoops for people w/ SWD Ver.5 issues.


    ...screamer
     

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  10. Adulteress

    Adulteress Registered Member

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    Hello, this is a question for everybody, but also specifically for Perman as you obviously know how to fix the problem. How exactly do you make those changes you describe in Spyware Doctor 5 so it does not hog all the memory resources? I had to turn off OnGuard because my computer was in a constant freeze. Thanks
     
  11. Perman

    Perman Registered Member

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    Hi, folks: Sorry I did not state clearly that I have also turned off realtime guards off. And use SD for on demand scanner only. Yesterday I d/l build 174, and like to wait for a while to see what does this build transpire, better or worse. Freeze, freeze does freeze out a good number of revenue protential, pity.
     
  12. scottls

    scottls Registered Member

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    Re:people really DO need realtime antispyware protection!

    I am a software tech!-
    At least 3 times... a week SD warns me when I'm trying to visit a KNOWN
    spyware site, and stops me (SD option).
    Ebay is now supposedly hosting "addynamix.com" spyware (SD warned me!)!

    About ineffective on-demand scans!- ALL anti-malware... is better at detecting/preventing than completely removing, once installed! Best to NEVER let it get installed!

    I use "fast/effective..." NOD32 AV, and SD V4 (until V5 bugs are gone!).
     
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2007
  13. scottls

    scottls Registered Member

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    PCTools Spyware Doctor V5.0 still has problems

    SWD V5 forum disappeared on Wilders?- May be a little off topic, but...
    Yes V5 is fast & light, but...-

    I am a software tech.
    I had problems with SWD V5.0.0.177 (worked good for some...?)!
    I am having more problems with V...177, than with previously uninstalled V…176!
    SWD support emailed me, & requested I try V5.0.0.177-

    1. I THOUOUGHLY uninstalled V4 (again), and ran SEVERAL aggressive registry/file cleaners/deleted 3 SWD prefetch/defrag…
    2. I then did a “clean SWD install” in run/MSCONFIG- with ALL "Startup Groups disabled" (Google it), but my Comodo 2-way firewall.
    DELL9150, 3.2ghz core 2 duo, 2000mb ram, XP SP2.
    3. I did all SWD updates…, active everything…(but kernel)/restart/defrag…

    1. After SWD install- Almost every time I did a restart, I’d get a svcntaux.exe shutdown error?! Was SWD even working?!
    2. Then the real killer was the almost CONSTANT hard drive activity (watch your HD light flash!). My C drive is a 10,000rpm/4.2ms WD Raptor (!WOW!!!). It can be a little noisy (just on seeks/write), and the LOUD HD brrrp (while doing nothing/idle!)- Task Manager/SWD Tray Icon Process...))" every 5 seconds" was driving me NUTS!
    a. In my power settings- I have it where the HD powers down after 20min. of no activity- SWD's "constant" HD use, would NEVER let this happen!
    Grrr!
    3. Then I read a SWD V4 vs V5 test review by ZDNET, where V4 won out overall (V5 bugs... (for some...), shot it down).
    4. I emalied SWD support with my problems, and they are looking into it.

    Conclusion!- Well It’s back to slow startup/manual update (my only complaints) SWD V4.
    SWD V4 still tests #1 on my favorite indepentent adwarereport.com (check it out!).
    I'll stay with slower V4 (as long as SWD still supports it?!), or...?
    Better yet!- Hopefully they will get V5 working to my satisfaction!
     
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2007
  14. coolbluewater

    coolbluewater Registered Member

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    I've recently installed v5.0.0.179 on a desktop PC running WinXP SP2 and disconnected my NIC for the install, as it automatically tries to update at the end of the installation before the reboot. I'm guessing most of the freezups are from the OnGuard shields becoming active also from the end of the install; I just forced SD to close after install, restarted the app, disabled OnGuard and auto-update then rebooted and had no problems. After enabling the NIC I was able to run a manual update, did an on-demand scan, then stopped its service and set it to manual and rebooted again. All seems fine after enabling the service for doing on-demand scanning with no slowdowns, then stopping and resetting its service back to manual again and rebooting (which I also have to do with SpySweeper, whenever I update or run on-demand scans).

    Here's an eye-opening thread from the SD forum, though ;)
    http://www.pctools.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46592
     
  15. Long View

    Long View Registered Member

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    I just tried 5.0.0.179 and found it to be one of the worst I have tried.
    It managed to find SVKP.sys which is NOT a problem but the real problem was simply the noticeable speed reduction with OnGuard Protection running.

    Thumbs down
     
  16. sweetrosette

    sweetrosette Registered Member

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    *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

    Hello, All......interesting topic and many takes on the worthiness of SWD 4 and 5.0

    I am by no stretch of the imagination anywhere near a comupter whiz, either pertaining to software or hardware, but there are a few things I learned from my last PC.....the first one being it's ALL about the RAM.....:) .....

    So, when I bought this new PC I had 2 additional gigs of RAM installed, for a total of 4 gigs. Well, actually it's only 3.5 according to the tech who installed the cards for me, but that's close enough.....;).......And now, with this much RAM, my start-up is the fastest I've ever had. Everything just falls into place without even a whimper.......

    I have, among other programs, SWD 5.0 and Norton Internet Security Suite 2005 (I'm about to upgrade to Norton SS 2007), which are both huge programs, continuously running every program option available in the background and in my opinion without enough RAM to drive all these processes one's PC will freeze up on a continual basis.

    Like I said, I'm not a tech and my opinion on this could be just so much hogwash, but bigger RAM is working for me.


    Cordially,

    sweet rosette.....

    edited for typoitis....


    HP Pavillion 1440, WinXP SP2 Media Center, Samsung 250 H/D, Intel Pentium D 830 2.8 GHZ,
    4(3.5) DDR2 SDRAM, LightScribe DVD-CDW, NVIDIA GeForce 7300


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    "Keep in mind this daily notion: there are no ordinary moments." ~Dan Millman~
     
    Last edited: Apr 18, 2007
  17. lodore

    lodore Registered Member

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    a processer upgrade would be helpful as well if you want a faster pc.
    less bloated software would help as well:D
    spyware doctor uses to much ram and isnt really needed if you use a third party browser such as firefox or opera.
    has spyware doctor blocked anything or not in the time you have beening using it?
    if the answer is no just use it for on demand only.
    that way your pc will load up faster and run better.
    norton 2005 is a monster and norton 2007 is meant to be alot lighter so upgrade to the 2007 version or try other secuirty programs.
    so uninstalling norton 2005 then running the norton removal tools before installing norton 2007 you will see a pc that is quite alot faster.
    also windows XP wont see over 3.5gb of ram and i dont think anyone really needs 4gb of ram atm anyway.
    most people's pc has 1gb of ram and that is enough.
    so ditch the bloated software and have a faster pc.
    the better upgrade would of been to get a intel core duo 2 and only had e.g. 2gb of ram
    lodore
     
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