View Full Version : Slow scanning
I updated to 1.6 of Spybot because the scanning feature was supposed to be faster. Well, the former version took at least an hour and got hung up for long periods in the middle. Now it takes 1½ hours and still gets hung up. Is it because there are so many things to scan or is it just plain defective? It would help to know how long the scan takes for others out there.
maybe this is of interest to you http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=32170
I have Windows XP and the slow speed of the scan is my chief complaint. What do I need to do to make it faster.
Veeger & betts
There is no "standard" time for a scan. It depends on many things such as your CPU speed, the characteristics of your motherboard, how much memory you have, what size hard drive you have, how much is on it, what operating system you use, how you have set up your system, what other software is running and how well you have been doing your housekeeping, and the list goes on.
Keeping all of your data files on a different partition to your operating system and program files is a good way to start. After that you should ensure that temporary files and cache cleanouts are done regularly, and that the operating system drive is defragmented on a regular basis. Keep the number of in memory processes to a minimum. Scans are best done off line and certainly not with your browser open. Expect there to be some interaction during the Spybot scan from the AV system, and in this regard some are way worse than others. Using the setting "run program once at next system startup" will reduce the number of other things running during the scan and might help, as might doing the scan with the PC in safe mode.
Version 1.6.0.30 did have significantly reduced scan times, and many of us are really pleased with its performance, but that may not be apparent on all setups because of the points mentioned above.
In the end though, providing you have done all the right things, the length of time it takes to scan your machine is what it is. If you want to heat up your cup of coffee quicker, either make the cup smaller, or use two matches under it instead of one.
Thanks for your replies. I did the Spybot scan with the AV turned off and went from 1½ hours to 18 minutes. Obviously, this was the major problem, and I can live with the better time now.
Thanks for your replies. I did the Spybot scan with the AV turned off and went from 1½ hours to 18 minutes. Obviously, this was the major problem, and I can live with the better time now.
At a guess perhaps AVG 8?
Sorry---not AVG 8.0.
I have CA Antivirus. Except for the interaction with the Spybot scanning, I have been very satisfied with it.
Thanks again.