Sybot Scan Time

[johnb]

My OS is Vista 64bit SP2. I have 6 GB of RAM and my processor is a Intel Core i7 920 CPU. I have over 600,000 files/objects on the computer. That's about 90 GB. I run Spybot-Search & Destory 1.6.2 in advance mode.

I have avast Home Edition 4.8, Windows Defender, Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. I keep them updated; both application and database. When I use the malware/spyware/anti-virus scanners in each malware software, they take between an hour to an hour and half. In each, I choose "thorough/full" scan option each time.

Spybot-Search and Destroy 1.6.2 takes under 6 minutes!!

Although I wished the others were a little quicker, 6 minutes does not give me a lot of confidence that Spybot-Search & Destroy is doing the job of scanning and securing my computer from unwanted malware.

But 6 minutes is to quick!

I have selected "All available checks" under "File Set" tab in the hope that it will scan/check for problems a little longer. No luck.

Am I missing something?

Can anybody using Spybot S&D assure me that Spybot S&D is doing the job?

What do you, my follow forum members, think?

Thanks
johnb

[Zenobia]

Please open Spybot,click Mode,Advanced Mode,Settings,File Sets.Do you see over 20 things listed and checkmarked under Spybot-Search & Destroy?

[johnb]

Zenobia

There 21 file sets that are all marked (checked).

[Zenobia]

Ok,that sounds right.
When you run a scan,down by Running bot-check in the lower left corner,what number do you see after the slash? i.e: Running bot-check (xxxxx/647026: hotbar)

[johnb]

Zenobia

Thanks for taking time to answer my questions concerning scan time.

To answer your latest question, the number on 10/20/09 was 650075 and on 10/21/09 is 655561. I keep my spyware database upto date because every Wednesday, I download the latest databases to my security software, go off line and then scan my computer with all the security software I have.

thanks
johnb

[Zenobia]

Sure,no problem. :)
6 minutes is awfully quick for a scan time,but it seems like everything is as it should be.
And you get the Congratulations,no immediate threats were found,and/or a list of problems to be fixed at the end of the scan?

[johnb]

Yes, I get the Congratulation message.

I have been using Spybot S&D for about two years. I like it. But like I said: 6 minutes is to quick. This is not to say that Spybot S&D is not doing it's job.

This just started in the last several weeks. Prior to this, scans used to take about an hour or more.

thanks
johnb

[Zenobia]

This just started in the last several weeks. Prior to this, scans used to take about an hour or more.
That's odd.
But,if you've selected all available checks,and Spybot's scanning for the 655561 things it's supposed to,I can't think of anything that would be wrong.

[johnb]

Zenobia

Yes it is odd. I think I will download the latest Spybot software and reinstall it. First I will uninstall the current one and then install the latest. Maybe this will scan longer.

I want to thank you for all your help on this matter. If you think that there is nothing wrong then I will have to accept the 6 minutes scan.

thanks again for all your help.
johnb

[Zenobia]

You're welcome. :)

[bitman]

Interesting, someone complaining that a scan is too quick, that's a new one!

However, I wonder if by any chance they have finally found a way for the scan engines to use more than one processor core? If so, your processor utilization during the scan should exceed the normal 25% max, since I believe this would be typical on your system as it appears it's basically a quad core?

If the reinstall doesn't change anything, take a look at this possibility and let us know.

Bitman

[johnb]

Bitman

Thank you for taking an interest in my problem.

I opened the task manager and went to the resource monitor. Here is what I found:

Before launching Spybot S&D, the CPU usage was 1 to 3% and memory usage was 1.52GB.

After launching Spybot, the CPU usage was 3 to 27%, memory usage was 1.53GB, the average CPU was 15.23% and the percentage of memory used was 26 to 28%.

Note: This was after reinstall and it still took less than 6 minutes.

I hope this will answer your question.

thanks and regards
johnb

PS: I would have put the results in a table for easier reading but this crappy editor wouldn't allow it.

[bitman]

johnb,

I don't see anything in particular that seems abnormal in those numbers. I don't currently have a PC with that much processing power available, but I'd guess that is relatively normal in such a case.

Looking back at your original post, I realize you weren't asking due to a change in scan time, but rather because some AV scans were much slower. This is because Spybot S&D isn't a file scanner, instead it searches the registry at high speed amd follows the registry entries down to the actual malware.

Rob