View Full Version : Spybot 1.6 causes massive IE7 slowdown
Just recently happily updated to Spybot 1.6, but noticed massive slowdowns in IE7 when opening IE7 for the first time, and opening any new tabs. It could take literally up to a minute. This also coincided with the most recent Windows Update, so at first I suspected that. But then I ran IE7 without any addons, and it worked flawlessly as before. Doing trial-and-error I uncovered that the two Spybot addons were responsible for this effect. This is with both Vista and XP.
Have you checked if this is due to the large size of the Hosts file immunisation? You can test this by disabling just this specific immunisation - if this is the cause there is a fix some are already using. Try disabling the DNS Client Service (works on both XP and Vista) to avoid this symptom - which can be caused by an overload of the DNS Cache.
Run Services.msc and Stop the DNS Client Service and then change the Startup Type to Manual or Disabled. Any problems or this doesn't fix the problem then you just turn it back on.
Despite the MS description this service is not required for normal DNS resolution (unless you use Active Directory domains) and my systems seem to run just fine without it. Turning this service off just disables the DNS cache - all lookups go to the DNS servers direct. In my tests this doesn't seem to slow DNS lookups as long as your ISP's DNS servers are quick.
Just disabled DNS Client Service in Services and reenabled the Spybot addons in IE7. IE7 went back to the very slow startup and opening new tabs.
wyrmrider
2008-07-15, 21:10
are you running T-timer?
lots of threads on t-timer perceived slowness
also track the fix on the False Positive issue for Dos commands
I am running TeaTimer, of course. Can you give me a bit more direction as to what I could do?
wyrmrider
2008-07-16, 02:14
I'd take a look at the t-timer related threads in this forum and
http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=30994
track this thread
then just let t-timer do its thing till all the dust settles
I take it that you do NOT have any other Antispyware active- right?
i'm actually having this problem with SDHelper and not TeaTimer. And It's not just a problem in IE. It affects Windows Explorer as well.
Yes, looks like the offending software is the Spybot IE7 addon:
"Spybot-SD IE Protection" (SDHelper.dll)"
I have it disabled in my IE7 via Manage Addons, and IE7 works fine. If I enable it, IE7 becomes exceedingly slow.
wyrmrider
2008-07-16, 22:37
There is a reason there is a Firefox:)
PepiMK is on top of the perceived slowness with T-timer
and
Zero has reported what may be a bug with T-timer hanging
anything out there on SD-Helper?
There is a reason there is a Firefox:)
I have both. For me personally IE7 is faster. But this is not the point. Hopefully SDHelper.dll will soon be fixed to work properly with IE7 as before.
So looks like there's been no word on this bug?
Since reports of issues with SDHelper are extremely rare, I'd guess you have some other conflict. Do you have anything else that works as an 'add-on' to Internet Explorer, especially another anti-malware application of any sort?
If I was trouble-shooting this on my own PC, I'd first try removing any other 'extras' and then finally try resetting via the 'Reset Internet Explorer settings' button on the Advanced tab of Internet Options. This will clear all your existing IE configuration and cookie passwords of course, but it should give you a known state to trouble-shoot from.
If you discover something that conflicts with Spybot, please be sure to mention it in this thread. If that still doesn't work, I'd be looking for something deeper in the system, like leftovers of an old antivirus or something else which could cause such a low-level conflict.
Bitman
I have the following addons installed in IE: Google Toolbar, IE7pro, and the IE DevTollbar. All of these worked were installed with the previous version of Spybot and this slowing down of IE7 did not occur. It happened only after upgrading to 1.6, and none of the additional software was modified or newly installed.
I too have a problem that I have tracked to the SD Helper addon - but for me it affects only Windows Explorer.
I get a 3 second delay when opening any folders in Windows Explorer or My Computer - switching off the SD Helper (Resident IE) eliminates the delay. At first I believed it was due to me still running IE6 but an upgrade to IE7 has NOT fixed this problem on the offending computers. I have done a full undo of all protections, uninstall and reinstall of Spybot v1.6 without any change.
TeaTimer is no problem and the new Beta version is a great improvement.
I'm having the same issue with Sd helper, and in one thread there are a dozen of us who are having the issue. It's not to do with any other BHO, as the delay occurs even when SD Helper is the only BHO loaded.
Sounds like you are as frustrated as myself about this "bug".
I just posted a query for you on another thread that you started.
Please can you check my post at the end of this thread http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=32403
deejag94
2008-08-13, 11:06
I am also having big problems with vers 1.6. on my XP pro SP2, It will allow IE6 to run once after start up but not again. I also had this problem with Version 1.5
my pc does appear to work ok when I shut down SD helper (not running tea timer at all)
I have returned to the good old 1.4 version yet again.!!!
There are so many threads / complaints about this problem starting from version 1.5 when is it going to be FIXED!!
Any suggestions anyone....please
gamebroo
2008-08-13, 22:19
Same problem with me. Had to sign up just to post this comment after reading Bitman's comment.
I'm XP pro SP3 using IE7. There would be a 2-3 second delay after clicking a link on a webpage before anything happens. I found that Spybot's IE addon was causing the issue so I uninstalled Spybot 1.6 and installed 1.52 with the hope of upgrading once they get this sorted out. Downgrading solved the problem and the Spybot's explorer addon (helper) in 1.52 does not slow anything down.
They are going to sort this out, aren't they?
I'm sure there are some users suffering the same problem who might be unaware that Spybot 1.6 might be the cause.
Oh I was thinking that as well, so far no fix has been posted, and no responses, other than to try to make sure it is exclusively SD Helper and not in conjunction with another BHO, which I have confirmed myself. The lack of response concerns me a bit, and perhaps they need to wait for more complaints? IE7 is totally unusable for me with it running, and so I'm using Firefox for what I can til they get it sorted. If they don't soon, I'll have to revert to 1.52.
I too have eliminated everything I can think of to identify what is causing this problem with SDHelper. Short of doing a clean install of Windows to track when the problem appears I am stumped. This really should become a problem for Team Spybot to investigate.
Doug,
This issue would appear likely to be a complex one, given that there are many cases where there is no significant slow down in either IE6, IE7 or Windows Explorer being experienced. For example, I have 3 machines on a network and access to another two on a different network. All are XP, but a mixture of XP Pro and XP Home, a mixture of SP2 and SP3. There is a mixture of CPU types, and there is no significant slow down on any of them.
The only commonality is that they all have 1GB memory, they all use Avast Home Edition AV, they all have Zone Alarm Free firewall 7.3.483.000, 3 have Spybot 1.6.0.30, two 1.6.0.31, and none of them use any 3rd Party add on Tool bars. Three have Teatimer 1.6.1.22 active, the other two don't use Teatimer. All have the SD browser helper active. Only one has any additional blocked items (only 4) added to the SD browser helper.
Your thought about having to start from scratch with a clean install of whatever version of Windows is being used, then add in Spybot and the SD browser helper and if the problem isn't present then gradually add in the other software may shed some more light. The problem will be finding someone who actually has the problem (or is it two different problems - one where the browser is affected, one where Windows Explorer is affected) who is prepared to do this in a very methodical way.
Thank you for your response Greyfox.
I agree with all your observations - this is not a problem that most are seeing - but enough people are reporting a problem with SDHelper to make it clear something is causing a bad interaction. As you say we may have two different problems one affecting Windows Explorer and one affecting the IE browser. I'm not entirely sure but it seems to me that the IE slowdown problem is mostly reported by Vista users - while the Windows Explorer problem is more common for XP users like myself.
Spybotsandra has just responded with a suggestion in this post - http://forums.spybot.info/showpost.php?p=223254&postcount=44 and I am awaiting a response as to whether her theory can expalin both symptoms.
I have installed Spybot v1.6 on four XP computers so far - and have seen the Windows Explorer delay problem on two of them - but have not seen the IE slowdown problem. I do however run with the DNS Client service disabled to avoid the browser startup delay caused by the large Hosts file. I just tried restarting this service but it doesn't cure the Windows Explorer delay problem.
So far the only common theme for the computers where I have had a problem is that they were all single core Intel P4 3Ghz machines running XP-Pro with 1Gb Ram all running AVG Free v8 and the Windows Firewall. The two computers without the problem were XP-Home running on AMD processors also running AVG Free v8 and the Windows Firewall.
At present I am just turning off SDHelper and keeping my fingers crossed that the anti-spyware monitoring of AVG Free v8 and TeaTimers resident process checker will deal with the deficit.
gamebroo
2008-08-15, 00:53
So far the only common theme for the computers where I have had a problem is that they were all single core Intel P4 3Ghz machines running XP-Pro with 1Gb Ram all running AVG Free v8 and the Windows Firewall. The two computers without the problem were XP-Home running on AMD processors also running AVG Free v8 and the Windows Firewall
I'm Dualcore and I'm having these problems. XP-Pro (sp3), Intel E6550 Core2 Duo 2.33GHz with 3.5GB ram available.
Also navigating folders was painfully slow, too. I went back to Spybot 1.5.2 and the problem disappeared.
So far the only common theme for the computers where I have had a problem is that they were all single core Intel P4 3Ghz machines running XP-Pro with 1Gb Ram all running AVG Free v8 and the Windows Firewall. The two computers without the problem were XP-Home running on AMD processors also running AVG Free v8 and the Windows Firewall.
Doug,
Of the computers I mentioned in my earlier post that are NOT experiencing the problems, one is a 2.40GH Core 2 Duo, one (a portable) is a Solo core and the others are all P4's. Three of the five originally had AVG 7.5 AV which was OK, and were then updated briefly to AVG 8. They were then shifted to Avast because of the significant loss of performance with AVG 8, and adverse interaction with Spybot's scan. The other two were using CA Antivirus which again was OK, but were transferred to Avast when the last contract period finished.
I'm not sure exactly what Spybot Sandra means in her reference to domains, but perhaps she is referring to stripping down the currently 18,879 blacklisted sites and files used by SD helper to only those known to be active at the moment. No doubt this will become clearer in time.
One thing I would be interested in is whether there is any difference in regards to either of the problems in having SD Helper not used at all (via the tick box in Tools/Resident), or left ticked there but then disabled in the IE 7/Tools menu/Manage Add ons/Enable or Disable Add-ons?
Greyfox I just tested your suggestion about disabling SDHelper totally or just in the IE Manage Addons - and observed an interesting result. My problem is purely a 3 second delay opening folders in Windows Explorer - however both methods of disabling SDHelper remove this 3 second delay. I have tested this with two configs - XP-Pro_SP3 + IE7 and XP-Pro_SP2 + IE6 both react the same.
I know several other members have reported curing the IE slowdown via either route - but I was suprised the Manage Addons route cured my Windows Explorer delay - although I suppose they are functionally the same. But how a BHO that is only supposed to load when you start IE can affect the operation of Windows Explorer/My Computer - when IE is not running - is puzzling and the reason I feel we need some technical input from the developers.
I think you must be correct about the domains that Spybot Sandra refers to in her post - do you have any idea if the number of entries (18,879) has increased significantly since v1.5.2 of Spybot? Seems unlikely to be the sole cause unless it has exceeded an IE size limit allocated to handle such lists - which is not impossible as the new Hosts file causes such a problem due to its size.
I held off the AVG Free v8 upgrade until they released the SP1 update (build 138) and even now I do not install the Linkscanner/Toolbar or MS Office plugins (choose custom install and untick the boxes). I also disable the automatic daily scans to keep things under my control - but I used to do that in v7.5 as well. The overall performance is now very acceptable - startup is a little slower than with v7.5 and full scans take a bit longer due to the added Anti-Spyware instead of just plain Anti-virus.
Doug,
Just for the heck of it - If you look in c:\Program Files\Spybot - Search & Destroy\Includes, you will find a file called Domains.sbs. With your browser closed, temporarily rename this file to xDomains.sbs. Then restart your browser. You will find that the Black listed sites and files for SD helper has dropped from 18,879 on my PC, to 600 odd (I forget the exact figure). It would be interesting to see what that does for your problem.
I'm not totally surprised that things to do with IE6 or IE7 also affect Windows Explorer, they have always had significant interaction.
Re AVG 8. I haven't tried the SP1 update - I was so pleased with Avast when I moved to it, that I haven't bothered with AVG since. One of the problems I had with the original AVG 8 apart from it incorrectly classing Spybot immunisations as problems, was the amount of time it added to the Spybot scans. It might be interesting to compare the times for a Spybot scan with and without the AVG8 SP1.
Greyfox - interesting suggestion re Domains.sbs
Renaming this file does as you say reduce the "Sites & Files" reported as protected by SDHelper - but has no effect on the 3 second delay seen in Windows Explorer. I made sure with a reboot but the delay remains. You can also see the reduced protected items count in the main program on the Immunize screen due to Domains.sbs being awol. I renamed the file back to normal and rebooted again with no change to the 3 second delay in Windows Explorer.
I then extended your idea and removed ALL immunisations via the Undo in the main program - and to top it off also renamed Domains.sbs again - so there was no chance SDHelper could find it - and rebooted to ensure new settings were in use. No effect at all - the 3 second delay remains. But disable SDHelper and the delay is instantly gone.
Watching in Task Manager the CPU usage of Explorer jumps to 50% and stays there during the 3 second delay - but only shows a momentary spike when SDHelper is disabled. Without SDHelper the CPU usage in Task Manger (Performance graph tab) appears to reduce when you revisit the same folder again (caching?). You see the spikes on the graph get smaller - but with SDHelper running the CPU usage always rises to exactly 50% stays there for 3 seconds and then falls back to zero.
It would appear SDHelper is causing Explorer to get stuck - doing what I have no idea - any suggestions as to how to track this down? I have various utilities including Sysinternals Process Explorer but am not sure what to look for. Just had a first look and Sysinternals Process Explorer v11.04 does actually allow you to see that it is the BROWSEUI.DLL thread that accounts for all the CPU usage of Explorer during the 3 second delay. That might be an important clue to the right person?
Please note I am also reporting these suggestions and observations in the other current SDHelper thread http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=30943&page=5 - just in case some SDHelper sufferers are not following both threads.
This parallel thread is titled "Resident SDHelper slow in 1.6" and is more centred on the Windows Explorer delay problem - whereas this current thread was initially more about the IE Browser slowdown problem.
Note to anyone who is suffering the IE7 slowdown due to SDHelper.
You might like to try Greyfox's test in post #27 above regarding renaming the Domains.sbs file. The size of this file is the only cause that Team Spybot (Spybot Sandra) have so far suggested as a cause of this problem - this renaming test should prove or disprove this theory. A reboot after the rename would be a good idea just to ensure it is active.
I only suffer the Windows Explorer/My Compter 3 second delay myself - which is not improved by this test.
Please report back in this thread any results - positive or negative.
julian81
2008-08-16, 19:51
Hello,
I tried Greyfox's test as described but it does not help.
Regards, Julian
Thanks for the test result julian81
Well this seems to cast further doubt on the only theory from Team Spybot about a cause for this problem. Removing the large Domains list used by SDHelper doesn't fix the slowdown/delay of either IE7 or Windows Explorer seen by some users of Spybot v1.6 - disabling SDHelper seems to be the only fix.
Any more members with the IE slowdown want try the test suggested in post #27 above - and report back with a result?
Julian81 has just reported in another thread that clearing the Cookies folder has solved his IE7 slowdown problem.
See THIS (http://forums.spybot.info/showpost.php?p=224743&postcount=59) post from the thread Resident SDHelper slow in 1.6 (http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=30943&page=6)
Not sure where this takes us - as I did not experience this symptom using XP.
Clearing the Cookies folder does cure the delay seen in Windows Explorer.
Maybe Vista reacts differently to XP.
Julian81 has just reported in another thread that clearing the Cookies folder has solved his IE7 slowdown problem.
See THIS (http://forums.spybot.info/showpost.php?p=224743&postcount=59) post from the thread Resident SDHelper slow in 1.6 (http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=30943&page=6)
Not sure where this takes us - as I did not experience this symptom using XP.
Clearing the Cookies folder does cure the delay seen in Windows Explorer.
Maybe Vista reacts differently to XP.
I can confirm that clearing cookies on Vista restores IE7 functionality. No more slowdown.
However, this is a workaround, not a fix. This is not normal operation, and the previous versions of Spybot worked fine with a large cache of cookies.
It appears that SDHelper has a problem with excessive numbers of cookies but expresses this in two different ways according to whether you are running XP or Vista.
Under XP you see a delay in Windows Explorer/My Computer
Under Vista you see a delay/slowdown in the IE7 Browser
Clearing the Cookies Folder appears to cure both these problems.
As stated this is a new behaviour for Spybot v1.6 - neither problem occured under Spybot v1.5
This really needs to be addressed by the developers.
I'm also running Vista and have IE7 and can confirm that deleting cookies speeds things up
I just checked into this forum for the first time because of the IE slow down. I'm running SB1.60 on WIN2K(SP4), IE6. I've been running a SB 1.4 for a long time, no problems. Installed 1.60. Noticed an immediate and very pronounced (read dial up speeds on a cable connection) slow down even opening IE6.
Found no place to disable SB functionality in IE6 so I uninstalled SB1.60. Immediately IE6 was back to normal. Installed SB1.60 again....exact same problem again. Uninstalled SB again....and again IE6 was back to normal speeds. All download speeds appeared to be affected, not just webpages, but DL'ing anything while in IE6.
Definately appears to me to be a bug in SB1.60.
Machine is a Vanilla Box, Intel 945 MB, 2gigs ram, 3.2 P4.
JohnnyB
You do not mention if you checked the number of Cookies stored on your system - so far this is the only confirmed cause of the slowdown due to SDHelper. However it appears the version of Windows in use may affect the exact symptoms seen and maybe even what triggers SDHelper to misbehave in this way.
One other user with Win2K has posted that cookies did not appear to be the issue with his IE slowdown - see here: http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=33006
Either we have a different cause for your SDHelper problem - or Win2K exhibits a new variant of the problem.
Vista and XP already appear to show different symptoms when SDHelper chokes on excessive cookies.
Terminator
2008-08-23, 16:47
I've made an Important breakthough (in my case anyway). I disabled all my IE 7 Add-ons and then re-enabled them one by one and when I re-enabled the Java Console (latest Version), Google Toolbar (Latest version of 4.0) and something called "Research" there was instant lag on load-up, With these Add-ons disabled load-up was almost instantaneous:eek:.
If anyone else has these add-ons installed please post back here with your results.
I think we are getting closer to solving this mystery:cool:!
PS: I tried the Cookie Clearing idea and it had no effect on my Vista machine.
EDIT: The google toolbar seems to be the main culprit especialy if you have Google set as your homepage.
Doug --
I am running Windows 2000 SP4 (with all the up-to-date Micro$oft patches) (FWIW) and posted a reply to you in another section of the forum ( http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?p=227250&posted=1#post227250 ) in which I related my success story in overcoming the annoying Windows Explorer lag by clearing cookies in my Internet Explorer 6.0.2800.1106.
(I was actually doing a search on the newest TeaTimer with its animated system tray feature when I came across your post. After posting, I discovered that I had neglected to read down to the final page of that post and therefore thought you had not yet arrived at a solution.)
:oops:
Terminator
2008-08-24, 13:10
I've done further Experimentation and the Google Toolbar is the icing on the cake. The real underlying cause is the Java Plug-in, the Google toolbar just exacerbates the problem.
I did not update to the new version 6 Java due to a few reported problems - and I have not experienced any slowdown issues from the older version 5 Java runtime. It might be interesting to run a test with the older Java JRE version 5 - the last release was Java SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 15 available HERE (https://cds.sun.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/CDS-CDS_Developer-Site/en_US/-/USD/ViewProductDetail-Start?ProductRef=jre-1.5.0_15-oth-JPR@CDS-CDS_Developer)
You would have uninstall version 6 if not already done - you also need to disable the auto update if you want to stick at version 5.
Terminator
2008-08-26, 22:50
For those of you who have experianced Slowdown caused by the Java Plugin read this (http://reliancepc.com/menu/tips/IE7tuning/index.php) Webpage for more info on resolving the problem.
Terminator
2008-09-25, 18:29
Also you can try un-installing and then re-installing your software firewall or try using a different one, I ditched Zone Alarm 8.0 and went with Comodo Pro, along with the latest SD helper Beta, and virtually all my problems have now disappeared:beerbeerb:.
There is an update for SD-Helper (v1.6.1 from September 24th) - does it resolve the slow-down issue?
drragostea
2008-10-05, 03:40
The latest version of TeaTimer (beta) is 1.6.3.25. This version will resolve the slow-down issue. You'll have to enable Spybot to download beta updates (via Advanced Mode).
There is an update for SD-Helper (v1.6.1 from September 24th) - does it resolve the slow-down issue?
The beta version of SDHelper.dll that was originally put forward to overcome the slow down problem with IE was
http://www.spybotupdates.biz/files/beta/sdhelper161-beta1.exe
The latest version of SDHelper.dll is now 1.6.2.14, which should also resolve that problem. It was offered recently during the normal detection updates but was no longer available from that source today. It is not the one that you get if you download the current full installation package for Spybot.
At the moment I don't know where the link to this particular version is, and I have raised a query about that in the beta forum.
drragostea
2008-10-05, 19:46
The latest version of TeaTimer (beta) is 1.6.3.25. This version will resolve the slow-down issue. You'll have to enable Spybot to download beta updates (via Advanced Mode).
:oops: My apologies.
RolaPL,
Refer to PepiMK's post
http://forums.spybot.info/showpost.php?p=240830&postcount=2
Seems that when IE Plugin update 1.6.1 (2008-09-24) is installed it becomes SDHelper.dll version 1.6.2.14 so the answer to your query is yes, that update should help with the IE slow down problem.
georgia bulldog
2010-06-30, 22:21
I am having a major slow down since I updated to spybot 1.6.2. It takes much longer to access a website and it holds pages and will not release for a minute or longer. Any fix other than deleting spybot or going back to an earlier release, if that is possible? thanks for any help.
spybotsandra
2010-07-01, 11:36
doublepost (http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=58330)