SpySweeper new version released 5.2.3 2125

This morning I got an update form Webroot for SpySweeper 5.2.3 build 2125. Anyone know what are the improvements over 2120?

 

Webroot has a habit of not publishing the changelog every time a new version is out.

 

I upgraded to 5.2, a few weeks ago, and since then, my browsing speed has become shocking, really slow at loading pages, so much so I reverted back to 5.0 and everything speeded up again. Maybe its because i subscribed to the AV too, but they said on their support pages, it would not cause any conflicts with BitDefender, I think thats an eror in their judgement.

 

Hi DVD+R,

The loading page problem would probably has nothing to do with the AV shield. I have tested the AV shield compability and it can co-exists in harmony with KAV, BOD32, BitDefender, BOClean, SUPERAntispyware, Online Armor, Process Guard, Comodo Firewall, A-Squared and Ewido (AVG). I don't think it is a conflict with BitDefender, your page loading problem would most probably be a problem of the other shields. Try turning off all shields and see if the browsing speed remains slow.

 

Re: SpySweeper new version released 5.2.3 2125 -=RESOLVED=-

Actually, this seemed oddly familiar, like build 709 of version 4.5, it turned out to be the same thing. All you need to do is turn off the "ActiveX Shield" this should fix your problem. I can't believe they did it again, "He who forgets his history lessons are doomed to repeat them." Come on Webroot, stay on top of things, if they only had a clue of how many customers are going to bring their PCs to my work (Best Buy - Geek Squad) to resolve an issue they should have prevented in the first place.

You may have resolved this by now, but I wanted to make sure you aren't surfing without any shield enabled.

~Jack

 

Do these new versions incorporate a complete AV solution, or just sophos definitions for the spy sweeper engine to compare against? Read somewhere that all it used was the definitions and not the sophos heuristics engine.
Seems to be a little weak if that is the case.

 

Hi 337,

If you go to the AntiVirus folder within the Spy Sweeper, you will see only 3 dll files that are responsible for the antivirus engine. I would suppose that the Genotype heuristic engine has not been used in Spy Sweeper 5.2. As you can see, the antivirus portion in Spy Sweeper is not configurable. You don't have a single option to tweak how files are to be scanned for virus, both realtime and on-demand.

If you want a full antivirus solution, you might need to use other antivirus software, I think. I have recently raised a ticket to ask the technical support staff why the Sophos plug-in engine is incapable of detecting the EICAR.COM test virus in real time, although it was detected when you run a sweep.

 

Re: SpySweeper new version released 5.2.3 2125 -=RESOLVED=-

By turning all shields off, the user can check if the slow down is due to the shields or something else. Then you can turn the shields back on one by one to identify the shields that may cause the slow down.

 

I see, so it is too weak to rely on.... I am surprised they would take that kind of risk!! Oh well.. thanks for clearing that up for me!!

 

There isn't any problem for me about detecting viruses on-access. I've tried with both eicar and real malwares.

 

Hm...Not sure what the cause is, but technical support was able to reproduce the issue. They have confirmed that the Virus Shield failed to detect the EICAR.COM test file in real-time, although an on-demand sweep detected the test virus. They are seeking clarification from Sophos and I am waiting for an answer.

 

I give you a good advice, forget this ressource hungry hooking software, according to my scans, spy sweeper aka steganos antispyware is nothing in comparison to XoftSpy.

 

xoftspy has the most false possitives i have ever seen in my life.
it even detected kaspersky as spyware as reported in the kaspersky forum.

I will not defend spy sweeper thou because it has caused me enough blue screens and hogs alot of resourse.
but i will recommend avg antispyware,trend micro antispyware, counterspy when 2.0 comes out. etc.
lodore

 

Exactly, blue screens, blue screens, slow downs, slow downs, that is nothing helpful.

Okay, XoftSpy has damn lot false-positives, true,true, but if you are a little bit experienced you will ignore them and see many things that most antispy don´t see and it´s so light for your system, no probs, no slow-downs, everything fine!

 

Well that offers some encouragement.

 

does this version have less bsod's?
lodore

 

Actually, I was lucky and I never get BSOD with any versions of Spy Sweeper.

 

WOW! lucky you i get them atm like sometimes twice aday and i know my pc is malware free. and only happerns when i install the newest versions of spysweeper 5.0 early versions and 5.2 early versions etc.
webroot fix you crappy software and stop it causing blue screen on my pc!
sure i like the detection rate on it but all those quick shutdowns could damage my hard drive.
lodore

 

ive got a problem with updating, i have atm got 5.2.3 2120 build and i clicked the update button in spysweeper it gave me the option to update. I clicked on the update now button and it gave me a 5.0 older version whats up with that?
I want to new build because the current version is causing blue screens.
lodore

 

Sorry Chubb, Cant help it again: ditch it.

I did, XPSP2 now flying: everything is faster.

Other equally capable anti-spyware apps

No ridiculous "juggling" of shields: what, is this still another beta version in the 5 series?

If you were like me, I had it on the box for years and was happy,then tears+++
Just uninstall or a while and see: If you want then go back.
YMMV.
Regards.

 

i am planing on that and my license is gonna run out in a few months.
so f-secure is going is a few weeks and spysweeper is going soon to.
lodore

 

Hi lodore,

Hm...It is strange, but updating within SS should give you a link to 5.2.3.2125, because the update window told me that my version is updated and current, and as far as I know, the 5.0.X version is not on their server anymore. The direct download link points to the new installer for 5.2.3.2125. Maybe you can try getting the new version from the Support Centre:

http://www.webroot.com/updates/redownload/request

F-Secure may be the reason for BSOD, since the beta release notes of 5.0 beta revealed that SS has a compatability problem with F-Secure. Since I don't use F-Secure, I have no idea if the developers are still investigating the problem or it has been solved in 5.2. During beta testing of 5.2, I have tried Spy Sweeper (all shields up in real-time) with BOClean, A-Squared, AVG AS, SUPERAntispyware, Comodo Firewall, Outpost, NOD32, BitDefender AV, KAV, Online Armor and Process Guard, all running in real-time altogether (except for the AV which is tried one by one). I intentionally created this over-kill environment to test SS to see if any of these software would have conflict with SS and I was surprised to see that there is no BSOD, although some slow down occurred with Outpost and KAV.

 

i clicked on the download update now and it gave me the 5.07 version and not the 5.2 version.

spysweeper stops its spyware communication shield which conflicts with f-secure so it dont think thats the problem.

the bsod's must be by eiether f-secure or spysweeper and spysweeper has caused bsods in the past.
lodore

 

I just think they need to improve how the shields work before working on the next version. They are simply creating troubles for themselves. Whenever a new version is released, I can see a banner in the Support Centre saying that they are receiving a high volume of phone calls for support. If the developers can spend more time to make the shields work smarter, they will receive less phone calls for help. I can see that from 5.0 onwards, response from the tickets has been slower than before, since they may be busy answering phone calls during office hours, leaving little time to answer tickets.

Although I am lucky to have SS in my system quite stable, I am sure the lack of customer care from Webroot will ruin SS eventually.

 

Hi lodore,

They may have a problem in re-directing to the correct version, I mean the one you obtained from using the program update function in SS. But I am sure the one you get from http://www.webroot.com/updates/redownload/request will be the correct one, because I have just tried the direct link again and it is 5.2.3.2125.