Suddenly v 1.51 wouldn't run - beta2 fixed the problem.

Why the sudden problems with version 1.51? After not running Spybot S&D for about a month, I decided to run the program, update and run it. Unfortunately, I kept getting a message that said Spybotsd.exe has generated errors and is closing. I then uninstalled the program, downloaded another version from this site, ran it, and then nothing. The task manager showed spybotsd.exe was running and using about 95% of the CPU, but the program never loaded.

I had read in the forums that some versions were causing very slow load times, so I uninstalled Spybot again and went back to the forums looking for a beta.

I don't know how I found it, because I can't find the thread again, but the "Helloween" version, spybotsd15he-beta2.exe. solved the problem. The program is running fine now (although a scan took nearly a half hour).

Why is it that when I search for the beta2 version using your search feature, there are no matches? I've tried searching for "beta2" and "spybotsd15he", no matches appear (after about 4 attempts at image verification and trying to figure out which letters are capitalized!) I'm sure I saw a link to it posted in a thread. When I just opened several beta threads again, I saw one link to scanwith.com that lead to the beta2 version, but I can't find the first sticky post I saw that linked to it.

One suggestion - can the administrator place the beta links or a link to a summary beta thread on the download url page? It's not easy to find the beta versions, and quite often those are the only ones that work for some reason.

Is it possible that because I have Spybot set to download beta files during updates, it's possible that the last update with the old 1.5 version that crashed downloaded a version of Spybot that didn't agree with my OS security setup?

Update:

It took me quite a bit of time, but I finally found the thread that linked to the beta2 version (spybotsd15he-beta2.exe)!

It's the 2nd post here:

http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=21868



This should be prominently placed on the download page with a description of what it fixes or changes with a link to a bug report thread. Most freeware programs link to their beta version on the main page. There's no reason why one of the most popular security software programs, with one of the most informative forums shouldn't as well. The last stable release should be clearly labeled for the average user, but for the advanced or experienced person, the beta versions should be easier to download. Wouldn't that result in more feedback and make it easier to finalize a version?