SUPER long scan times????

[gigglepot]

Hello, wondering if I did something wrong. I got the prompt to download the new version of Spybot 2.4, so I did, all went well, did the updates and then started the scan, it now says 836 minutes left to completion and it keeps going up from there! This can't be, it's never taken more than 15 minutes or so with Spybot 1.6.2. Did I do something wrong when installing? Should I just go back to Spybot 1.6.2? What happens if I just stay with 1.6.2 and don't update the software at all? Please help, thank you.

[Zenobia]

How did the scan go?Did it take 836 minutes?That would be roughly 13 hours,I think.
I just started a scan to look at the times,and my estimated time was up to 100 minutes,then dropped back down,and is currently at 49 minutes.So,perhaps if you leave the scan run,it won't take quite as much time as is estimated.

[gigglepot]

It actually crashed and I didn't want to restart it in case it was something I was doing wrong. Did yours actually take 49 minutes in the end? The Spybot 1.6.2 never took that long. Is Spybot 2.4 a completely new software that is checking more than 1.6.2 did? The start-up page for it looks completely different, like I'm not with Spybot anymore. What happens if I just stay with 1.6.2 and don't update the software at all?

[anhoutwi]

How did the scan go?Did it take 836 minutes?That would be roughly 13 hours,I think.
I just started a scan to look at the times,and my estimated time was up to 100 minutes,then dropped back down,and is currently at 49 minutes.So,perhaps if you leave the scan run,it won't take quite as much time as is estimated.

I have the same experiences as gigglepot. Scanning with the antivirus engine included takes ages. Scanning starts with 31 minutes and it increases all the time. Like most scanning applications, time measurement is absolutely inaccurate. I tried to let it keep on running, but after a few hours I quitted which resulted in a total freeze up of the system (Windows 10 Pro Technical Preview Build 10049). It seems duely impossible to install without the antivrus engine. I my opinion Spybot should have sticked to their strongpoints.

[Zenobia]

I actually stopped that scan,because I was looking at the estimated scan time to see what it was doing,so I don't know how long it would've taken.But my scan time is usually an hour or so.But no,I don't believe you did anything wrong.There isn't much for user action that would really make the scan time your fault,so no reason to worry about that.

If you wish to stay with Spybot 2.4,then you could try a scan in safe mode,to see if the time might be lower that way:
https://forums.spybot.info/showthrea...ll=1#post23629

Or,if you would prefer to go back to Spybot 1.6.2,that is still available,it's down below under other downloads:
https://www.safer-networking.org/dl/

What happens if I just stay with 1.6.2 and don't update the software at all?

Nothing that I'm aware of,you would just have the older software.You can go back to it,and still get definition updates.I didn't see anything on safer-networking indicating that Spybot 1.6.2 will be unavailable.I didn't see the prompt for Spybot 2.4,but that prompt might be intended to let people be aware there is a newer version,unless it says otherwise.If you would like to go back to the old version,you could do so,and if or when Spybot 1.6.2 is discontinued,there likely would be an announcement or something shown somewhere,so it's up to you.

[gigglepot]

Sorry for not replying sooner, I didn't get a notification that you replied.
Thank you. I think I will run both scans, one on each of the softwares and see how long they each take. Maybe I'm totally out to lunch and the "number of minutes left" totally threw me off. I will let you know how it goes.
On another note, I noticed that after I installed Spybot 2.4, something in my registry changed because my screen saver that I used to use (Bubbles) no longer works. Every other screen saver works (Windows 7) but not the one I've always been using. How can I get that back? Would it come back all on its own if I uninstall Spybot 2.4?

[gigglepot]

Ok, so I ran both Spybot 1.6.2 and Spybot 2.4........I got totally different results! 1.6.2 only took 23 minutes and said "Congratulations, no immediate threats"! When I ran 2.4, it took 49 minutes and said I have 21 results found! Why such a difference? How did 2.4 pick up 21 results but 1.6.2 picked up nothing? Why does 2.4 take more than twice as long? And lastly, are there way more things that 2.4 is checking that is not included in 1.6.2? Maybe answers to these questions might help me figure out what to do. Thank you.

[Zenobia]

No problem.If you wish,you can set up notification/subscription here.
https://forums.spybot.info/profile.php?do=editoptions
It's under Messaging & Notification,down beside Default Thread Subscription mode.

Is that the default Bubbles screensaver that comes with Windows 7?Have you gotten any prompts from teatimer lately,if you use it?
No,the Bubbles screensaver won't come back on it's own if you uninstall Spybot 2.4.

The reason that Spybot 1.6 found nothing may be because Spybot 1.6.2 is probably not set to scan for tracks,and Spybot 2.4 is.You can tell if something Spybot found are tracks by looking under category in the results window.There's a picture here where everything found is either Tracks or Browser(results in the browser category are just browser related things like cache,and are not a threat):
https://www.safer-networking.org/wp-.../11/SDScan.png
This is the explanation on tracks:
https://www.safer-networking.org/faq/usage-tracks/

No,as far as I'm aware Spybot 1.6 and Spybot 2.4 free edition scan for the same amount of antispyware related things during a scan.The Spybot Home or Pro editions check for more things because those include antivirus.
I'm not sure why the Spybot 2.4 takes longer,but some variation might be set-up,etc.,such as one scanning for tracks,or the other not.
Or,it's possible Spybot 2.4 takes longer just due to being different than Spybot 1.6.

[gigglepot]

Hello, yes it's the Bubbles screensaver that comes with Windows 7. I used it all the time and never had any issues until I installed the Spybot 2.4. I'm sorry, I don't know what Teatimer is. Can you please help me get back my bubbles?

[Zenobia]

Yes,I'll try.
Please rightclick your desktop,select Personalize,then click Screensaver.It should say Bubbles.When the new window opens,click Preview.Let me know if it shows the Bubbles.That won't fix it,but it will let me know where to look to fix it from here on out.