SuperAntispyware 99% CPU usage on loading

Discussion in 'other anti-malware software' started by ghodgson, Jul 17, 2009.

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  1. ghodgson

    ghodgson Registered Member

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    Hi,
    I have been a satisfied user of SAS (free) for over a year now and for the last couple of months or so when I am simply loading or updating the prog everything hangs/freezes. I can just about open task manager which says SAS is sucking up 99% CPU usage and upto 145 MB RAM. Obviously I cannot 'take' a screenshot as nothing will work for a few minutes until it has finished loading or updating, when CPU usage and Ram goes back to near normal. Curiously when scanning it seems fine and doesn't hog resources.
    Has anybody else noticed this problem ??
    Is it my system, possible conflict ?

    Sysytem- Windows XP, 2GB RAM,

    Thanks for any suggestions.

    Gordon
     
    ghodgson, Jul 17, 2009
    #1
  2. disinter1

    disinter1 Guest

    I'm not too sure if I have the same problem, but SAS Pro is always last to load on my computer and it's not due to first chance prevention, oh well I hope they improve on this problem.
     
    disinter1, Jul 17, 2009
    #2
  3. prairie dog

    prairie dog Registered Member

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    running xp sp3 1GB of Ram and haven't noticed anything.
     
    prairie dog, Jul 17, 2009
    #3
  4. bollity

    bollity Registered Member

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    not only this
    it slows down the system as it running and updating also suspending other running programs
     
    bollity, Jul 17, 2009
    #4
  5. prairie dog

    prairie dog Registered Member

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    disregard my last post. Just checked during an update and mine was running at about 99% as well during the update. o_O
     
    prairie dog, Jul 17, 2009
    #5
  6. JerryM

    JerryM Registered Member

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    I have found that when SAS Pro first opens it ties up my system for a couple of minutes. I am unable to open a browser. In a couple of minutes all is well.
    As a result I do not set it to open when Windows starts.

    This is the case with both computers with security as shown in my signature.

    Regards,
    Jerry
     
    JerryM, Jul 17, 2009
    #6
  7. prairie dog

    prairie dog Registered Member

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    I have posted on their forum to see what they have to say
     
    prairie dog, Jul 17, 2009
    #7
  8. JerryM

    JerryM Registered Member

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    Good, as it seems to be a problem that is more prevalent than I thought.
    Thanks.

    Regards,
    Jerry
     
    JerryM, Jul 17, 2009
    #8
  9. lodore

    lodore Registered Member

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    I have that problem as well.
    on my pc it only uses 25percent (one core) of my quad core so no slowdowns.
    but on my parents computer it uses all the cpu for awhile and i cant use it until it finishes.
     
    lodore, Jul 17, 2009
    #9
  10. prairie dog

    prairie dog Registered Member

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    prairie dog, Jul 17, 2009
    #10
  11. JerryM

    JerryM Registered Member

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    A great help, wasn't it? They used to do much better.
    Thanks for trying.

    The problem is on both my computers and the browser does not make a difference.

    Regards,
    Jerry
     
    JerryM, Jul 17, 2009
    #11
  12. prairie dog

    prairie dog Registered Member

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    Your right. They used to have much better support :doubt: . I'll see if I can find anything else out.
     
    prairie dog, Jul 17, 2009
    #12
  13. prairie dog

    prairie dog Registered Member

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    prairie dog, Jul 17, 2009
    #13
  14. renegade08

    renegade08 Registered Member

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    I have the same problem.
    The issue started from some time ago, but i don't remember with what build release.
    I don't run anything besides SAS, just SAS update and it consumes more than 150 MB of memory, and it freezes my PC for several minutes.
    Also starting the SAS is slower than usual and sluggish.

    Seems to me that SAS has big problem to solve.
     
    renegade08, Jul 18, 2009
    #14
  15. Dark_Hanzo

    Dark_Hanzo Registered Member

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    SAS pro is updating and running without any problems on my vista. It updated just fine few minutes ago.
     
    Dark_Hanzo, Jul 18, 2009
    #15
  16. ghodgson

    ghodgson Registered Member

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    Hi Guys,
    Thanks for your replies and input,-- it looks like a lot of people are having this same problem with SAS (so thankfully I have no need to worry that it is my PC playing up.)
    Thanks also to Prairie dog for posting this problem on their forum although I see there are no plans to do anything about it.
    SAS seems to hog resources for a lot of people, making things impossible until it finishes what it is doing.
    Opening/closing browsers (as was suggested on their forum) has no effect whatsoever.
    Incidentally I did uninstall SAS and then did a clean install, but it is just the same,-- a resource hog !

    I suppose we are going to have to live with it or find something else which behaves more moderately.

    Thanks guys.

    Gordon
     
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2009
    ghodgson, Jul 18, 2009
    #16
  17. Meriadoc

    Meriadoc Registered Member

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    pmed ya Nick
     
    Meriadoc, Jul 18, 2009
    #17
  18. lightning slinger

    lightning slinger Registered Member

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    Hi guys,

    This problem also affects the older versions of SAS.

    I run v.4.24.1004 on 98SE as the later versions run very poorly on 98SE. This old version used to open within 5 seconds and now is taking just under 30 seconds to open and it also consumes 99% CPU on opening.

    However I cannot comment if this is significantly worse than previously as I have never had cause to check it before.

    So the problem is certainly not version orientated.

    HTH
     
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2009
    lightning slinger, Jul 18, 2009
    #18
  19. TerryWood

    TerryWood Registered Member

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    Hi All

    The same CPU problem here plus looooong boot up time for SAS plus it takes ages to download updates.

    Terry

    ps posted in SAS forum in the thread started from Wilders
     
    TerryWood, Jul 18, 2009
    #19
  20. JRViejo

    JRViejo Super Moderator

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    I'm also experiencing 99% CPU peaks during opening and updating SAS, to the point that my fans are kicking in while updating, so I ran a little experiment.
    Rig: Win XP SP2, Intel Celeron 2.93 GHz CPU, 2 GB RAM. Using Task Manager, I opened SAS:

    SASopening.gif

    As you can see above, it took 29 seconds of total CPU time to open the program. So, I checked it against MBAM:

    MBAMopening.gif

    MBAM only took 6 seconds of total CPU time to open (also spiking to 99% CPU during opening), yet notice that MBAM is running higher Memory Usage, Peak Memory Usage, User & GDI Objects, but less Handles than SAS.

    I did update MBAM (Database version 2461) but since my SAS is up-to-date, I will try the experiment again, once I see a new SAS update.
     
    JRViejo, Jul 18, 2009
    #20
  21. JRViejo

    JRViejo Super Moderator

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    Taking advantage of today's SAS update, I ran a second comparison test. Rig: Win XP SP2, Intel Celeron 2.93 GHz CPU, 2 GB RAM. Running Task Manager, I opened SAS:

    SASopening2.gif

    Again, it took 29 seconds of total CPU time to open the program, while noticing 88% to 99% CPU fluctuations. I checked it against MBAM:

    MBAMopening2.gif

    MBAM again took 6 seconds of total CPU time to open (also spiking to 99% CPU during opening, like SAS).

    I updated SAS (Definition Database Core 4004 Trace 1944 --> 3578KB & 159KB respectively according to the SAS Definitions page) and after it was done, this is the result:

    SASupdating2.gif

    It took one minute, 18 seconds to update SAS, with 98 to 99 % CPU steady usage and PC fans blasting away during the last 20 seconds! Notice how Mem usage has really gone up, after updating.

    I updated MBAM (Database version 2464 --> 2472KB, according to its download window) and this is the result:

    MBAMupdating2.gif

    It took 7 seconds to update MBAM and while it also spiked to 99% CPU, no fans were triggered. Mem usage also went up slightly, but not as severe as SAS.

    While it could be deemed unfair to compare SAS to MBAM, they both compete for the same market and there is definitely something going on with SAS and its CPU usage lately.
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2009
    JRViejo, Jul 19, 2009
    #21
  22. ghodgson

    ghodgson Registered Member

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    Thanks JRViejo, it confirms what I have been experiencing.
    SAS is becoming a pain to update and the bottom line is- do I stick with SAS or dump it for something else. If SAS's scanning wasn't so good it would be easy to go to something else, ...................decisions decisions.

    Regards Gordon
     
    ghodgson, Jul 20, 2009
    #22
  23. Atomic_Ed

    Atomic_Ed Registered Member

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    I have the exact same behaviour on my machine as well.
     
    Atomic_Ed, Jul 20, 2009
    #23
  24. JRViejo

    JRViejo Super Moderator

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    Gordon, you're welcome! I do believe SAS is a keeper, yet based on the present situation, I've been updating and scanning with SAS only once a month, instead of weekly. Today, we have an answer from SAS to this thread: 99% CPU Usage:
    Perhaps this means that SAS was tweaked for higher core PCs and those of us running single cores are SOL. Maybe an expert on cores can chime in.
     
    JRViejo, Jul 20, 2009
    #24
  25. Ade 1

    Ade 1 Registered Member

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    Ok. I've always used SAS Free as an on demand scanner but bought I license at discount about a month ago. However, I experienced the same as everyone else here. I had it enabled to start with Windows but noticed instantly my PC freezing whilst SAS checked for a new program version and also for updates so I disabled it starting up with Windows and have gone back to using it as just an on demand scanner.

    This is on a rig running Vista x64, an i7 quad core at 3.2ghz with 12gb of ram and it still affected it.
     
    Ade 1, Jul 20, 2009
    #25
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