Why so sloooooooooowwwwwwwww?

[trustme]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but I can't find a good answer!

Spybot is soooo slow on my computer. I know it says it's "fast," but it takes several hours each time to scan my computer - and never finds anything. I have the latest Spybot update.

I have a Dell Latitude Laptop, Windows XP, 512MB RAM, 15.3GB out of 37.2 GB used.

Thanks!!!

[drragostea]

RAM doesn't seem to be a problem, so we can rule that out.

What version of Spybot-SD are you running (Help>About)?

Have you cleared all the cache, temp. files (both browsers and computer), and cookies from your computer?

Can you give the amount of time that Spybot takes to scan, about roughly?

[trustme]

Thank you so much for responding!! I appreciate it.

Just updated my Spybot virus definitions...looks like I have Version 1.5.2.20. (I recently downloaded it but admit I'm not up to the absolute latest on most things in life....)

I regularly clear the cache/bookmarks/temp files/etc. with CCCleaner.

[trustme]

PS Last time I ran Spybot it took approximately 2-3 hours

[drragostea]

Ah. Okay, then. I was wondering if you have any other processes/programs running that might be interfering with a Spybot-SD scan.

I too, have 512MB of RAM on my computer, so I usually run it when there is minimal activity on the computer.

You see, there are several variables that might determine the scanning time:
The processor speed of your computer
The amount of RAM
The number of files on your computer (the larger, the longer it takes to scan)
The amount of temp. files on your computer
Any memory intensive processes that might interfere

trustme, the list may be sound long but you should get the idea.

Spybot-SD 1.6.0.30 does significantly reduce the scanning time, so you should give it shot.
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html
--
Generally, you can overwrite the current version with no problems, but you can also take the extra step and uninstall Spybot-SD 1.5.2.20 to avoid any potential errors.

Upon uninstalling, reboot and upgrade.

Report back.

[funfunfun]

I have also found that background processes slow SD scan. Especially stealthies like ThreatFire, SpySweeper, StopZILLA, MS LiveOne Care. If you turn them off (even while you are in mid stream of a scan) you'll notice SD accelerate to rocket speed.

[trustme]

So I downloaded the newest version....still takes about 1-2 hours to scan. I don't have any of those other processes running....maybe I just need patience!

[drragostea]

RAM and disk space we can rule out.

Open your Task Manager. Is there any processes that is "out of the ordinary"? In other words, is there any processes that happen to be using CPU or using like 70MB or 100+ MB processes? Are you doing anything else on the computer during a scan? Do you have any other browsers open during a scan?