what happened to spybot???

[disenter]

Hi, I've been using spybot for years.. but recently formatted my primary drive, and reinstalled windows, i downloaded the newest spybot, which i noted is now 1.5 an thought that would be good...... wrong!

Firstly, it takes around 30 seconds to even load at all, with cpu usage at 100% just loading the program, even though its settings are by default at "normal" cpu usage..

Secondly, when it finally does load, if I click "update", it will instantly crash to desktop, every single time.

Thirdly, spybot halts every single time at scan item 24288 every single time i've tried to run the scan. The cpu usage is 100%, and i even tried leaving it for 10mins or so, it didn't move, and by that time, even the task manager was having a hard time getting a cpu cycle in to allow me to terminate spybots process.

I then thought more about updates for it, that maybe something was wrong and if i just got updates into it, which i couldn't before, that it might fix its issues.. so i found if you use the link in the start menu to update, rather than from within spybot, it works.. and will download the updates..

The problem is, that since doing that, spybot seemed to take even longer to load!! .. and all the above mentioned problems remained...

So, i tried uninstalling / reinstalling, tried the reg fix to make sure its completely removed from the system first.. tried restarting every step of the way etc.. but the problems remain exactly the same every time.

I did find in testing this, that if i went to windows safe mode, it would sucessfully load and complete a complete scan, which says to me that spybot is reacting badly with one of the normal processes within windows. I had suspected that it might be my antivirus, but i disabled that and still the same problmes..

I really am at a loss as to what to do??? can anyone help???

[Cyborg Ninja]

I have problems just trying to get Spybot to start up. I do think Spybot is past its prime and there are better alternatives out there now, like AVG's anti-spyware program, which actually detected things for me that Spybot did not.

[tashi]

Hello.

I do think Spybot is past its prime and there are better alternatives out there now, like AVG's anti-spyware program, which actually detected things for me that Spybot did not.

Are you expecting to find spyware? With antispyware programs it is usually considered good practice to have more than one installed, as each may flag items the other does not.

Regards.

[md usa spybot fan]

Firstly, it takes around 30 seconds to even load at all, with cpu usage at 100% just loading the program, even though its settings are by default at "normal" cpu usage..

I have problems just trying to get Spybot to start up.

There were many reports of SpybotSD.exe (version 1.5.1.15) itself starting slowly and consuming a lot of CPU time. The problem has been found and fixed. See the following tracking task (which includes a link for a fix to the problem):

• Find out about delayed user interface startup
  http://forums.spybot.info/project.php?issueid=85

In addition there are another beta versions of Spybot 1.5 that solve the slow start as well as other known problems that have been encountered since the original release of Spybot 1.5. One of them is:

• http://www.spybotupdates.biz/files/b...15he-beta2.exe

If the cause of your problem is actually a extremely slow start, perhaps that beta version may work better for you.

[Cyborg Ninja]

Md_usa: your reply only confirms what I said. Improper QA testing is quite sad to see in a popular application such as this, and then releasing a product with known issues as a stable build is pitiful. I'll just uninstall the program instead, after I get an underlying issue (in another topic) fixed.

Tashi: Of course I would expect an anti-spyware program to detect spyware. Perhaps you phrased your reply poorly? I have no issues running two different anti-spyware programs on the same computer, and I'm computer-savvy enough to know what is actually spyware and what is not.

[tashi]

Tashi: Of course I would expect an anti-spyware program to detect spyware. Perhaps you phrased your reply poorly?

No.

I don't usually expect my security programs to find malware of any kind, I practice safe surfing and keep my machines clean.

Thus in all honesty I asked were you expecting to find spyware. As in is your machine showing signs of infection.

Cheers.

[luckyarthur]

There were many reports of SpybotSD.exe (version 1.5.1.15) itself starting slowly and consuming a lot of CPU time. The problem has been found and fixed. See the following tracking task (which includes a link for a fix to the problem):

• Find out about delayed user interface startup
  http://forums.spybot.info/project.php?issueid=85

In addition there are another beta versions of Spybot 1.5 that solve the slow start as well as other known problems that have been encountered since the original release of Spybot 1.5. One of them is:

• http://www.spybotupdates.biz/files/b...15he-beta2.exe

If the cause of your problem is actually a extremely slow start, perhaps that beta version may work better for you.

If the beta version fixes these problems, which I too am having, I don't understand why it is still in beta and hasn't been released in gold.

Can someone give an appropriate answer to this because I'm never comfortable with beta versions.

Thank you.

[Cyborg Ninja]

Tashi: I have in fact never had spyware or viruses on any of my computers. You sound a bit elitist. But as most people know, anti-spyware programs will often flag what could be an issue on a computer even if it turns out not to be so. I even have a lesser-known program that can be used to hack on my desktop, and only AVG detected this. So what would I prefer: AVG with its superior detection system, intuitive and attractive GUI, and proper QA testing, or Spybot? I'll pick the former. Spybot has since been uninstalled.

[tashi]

Have a nice day.

[disenter]

please explain then why it constantly crashes at scan item 24288 every single time, and yet can complete the scan in safe mode?.. this tells me that spybot is conflicting with one or more windows services! - when i say crash, i mean that cpu utilisation gets stuck at 100%, and the program becomes non responsive, it locks so badly that i cannot do anything else with the system, but wait for task manager and terminate the program, at which point my system comes back to life..

I have never had problems with spybot in previous versions, and this is on the same system to.. so the fault is not with my own systems or services, but with the newly released spybot.