Travel Technology - Should "spyware" scan programs really slowwwwww down your computer?

I am not very tech savvy and hope others can bear with the newbie level query. :D

I just downloaded something called "Spyware Doctor" for $40 or whatever.

Gave me the impressive first system scan that said I had 100s of useless things on my system, and suggested I deleted them. So far so good.

And since that time the whole system is just crawwwwwwling.

Even when I type this message into FT the what I am typing "lags" well after the keystrokes are made .. often a full sentence behind.

I removed Norton Pro for the same kind of reasons that it slowed things down too much. Is this common reaction from Spyware removal programs does anyone know?

Is there a less invasive, but effective one out there you savvy folks can recommend? :cool:


Glen

Your title should read "anti-spyware...."

That is definitely not right then. There should be no lag whatsoever. Part of the problem may be due to the software's architecture, such that everything that you go through - website, Office apps, etc. - are basically filtered through this program. So basically this program has to have a very fast and efficient algorithm to filter out the bad stuff, but I think you downloaded a dud.

As for recommendations, my best (and most expensive) recommendation is to get a non-Windows OS (Mac OS X, Linux, etc.). I got fed up with updating Windows and spending so much time trying to protect it, so I just bought a MacBook Pro. No regrets there. The second best recommendation would be to go here: http://www.download.com/Best-free-security-and-spyware-software/1200-2023_4-5163183.html?tag=hed and try to find one that best suits you. I honestly don't think that there is one great app that can combat spyware.

That is definitely not right then. There should be no lag whatsoever. Part of the problem may be due to the software's architecture, such that everything that you go through - website, Office apps, etc. - are basically filtered through this program. So basically this program has to have a very fast and efficient algorithm to filter out the bad stuff, but I think you downloaded a dud.

As for recommendations, my best (and most expensive) recommendation is to get a non-Windows OS (Mac OS X, Linux, etc.). I got fed up with updating Windows and spending so much time trying to protect it, so I just bought a MacBook Pro. No regrets there. The second best recommendation would be to go here: http://www.download.com/Best-free-security-and-spyware-software/1200-2023_4-5163183.html?tag=hed and try to find one that best suits you. I honestly don't think that there is one great app that can combat spyware.


Installing sw updates on the Mac (with even less information than MS gives you as to what they fix) gets old pretty quickly too.

globetrekker84 - thanks for the helpful input. ^

Sadly I do not want to change from Windows (or to a Mac!) - I know how many tech minded folks prefer both, but I am used to it. :)

I'm just curious if this software should slow things down, or if there might be a better system others here can recommend.


Glen

I use and love webroot spysweeper.

http://www.webroot.com/consumer/products/spysweeper/?WRSID=3f0a8fef4ca656efa62092063b6240e5 (webroot spysweeper)

I don't know if this even relevant but can you set the anti-spyware to run at certain times like 3am? I think thats how mine works.

"buy a mac" is the response that is getting REALLY REALLY boring.

Glen; what kind of PC is this? Does the PC match the specifications from the vendor? Many anti-spyware apps need as much as 120Mb to run. You could consider turning off some of the realtime scanning features and resorting to a once-a-day scan of your PC instead.

Alternatively, try some of the other scanning apps, my personal pick would be Windows Defender; a free application from Microsoft that gets the job done.

Your title should read "anti-spyware...."

No; cause then it would read: anti-spyware scanning apps, which really wouldn't make sense. ;)

He has a Spyware scan program, makes perfect sense to me...

Anything that sits as a shim on disk I/O (and to a lesser extent, on inbound network streams) will eat memory and CPU, although the latter should not be an issue on a modern system. RAM and decent disks should overcome it.

I am not very tech savvy and hope others can bear with the newbie level query. :D

I just downloaded something called "Spyware Doctor" for $40 or whatever.

Gave me the impressive first system scan that said I had 100s of useless things on my system, and suggested I deleted them. So far so good.

And since that time the whole system is just crawwwwwwling.

Even when I type this message into FT the what I am typing "lags" well after the keystrokes are made .. often a full sentence behind.

I removed Norton Pro for the same kind of reasons that it slowed things down too much. Is this common reaction from Spyware removal programs does anyone know?

Is there a less invasive, but effective one out there you savvy folks can recommend? :cool:


Glen
Oz....try this freewarware Spybot - Search & Destroy

Overview [link]
Spybot - Search & Destroy detects and removes spyware, a relatively new kind of threat not yet covered by common anti-virus applications. Spyware silently tracks your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile for you that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies. If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you haven't intentionally installed, if your browser crashes inexplicably, or if your home page has been "hijacked" (or changed without your knowledge), your computer is most probably infected with spyware. Even if you don't see the symptoms, your computer may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging. Spybot-S&D is free, so there's no harm giving it a try to see if something has invaded your computer.

To see a list of threats Spybot-S&D can remove, in the navigation bar at the left click on Support --> Threats. For an introduction to Spybot-S&D, please read the tutorial. If you fear incompatibility with other software you are now using, although we can assure you that there is no dangeryou can review our compatibility overview which lists some software whose compatibility has been analyzed.

Spybot-S&D can also clean usage tracks, an interesting function if you share your computer with other users and don't want them to see what you have been working on. And for professional users, Spybot-S&D allows you to fix some registry inconsistencies and extended reports. A list of all the apllication's features is also available.

ScottC is on the money!
Alternatively, try some of the other scanning apps, my personal pick would be Windows Defender; a free application from Microsoft that gets the job done.

Anything that sits as a shim on disk I/O (and to a lesser extent, on inbound network streams) will eat memory and CPU, although the latter should not be an issue on a modern system. RAM and decent disks should overcome it.

Thanks. I have a quite new system with 1GB RAM, 80 meg HD and fast twin core Pentium processors which I know is not super large compared to what some folks here must use, but I would have thought would handle most common add ons like this fairly effortlessly.

Just curious it bogged down so fast. :mad:

"buy a mac" is the response that is getting REALLY REALLY boring.

It is quite boring and a shameless plug, but eh, it works for me. :)

To answer your question - no, it shouldn't. I have a virtual army of memory-resident spyware/virus/etc. scanning software running on my 2 yr old system and it's fine. Try uninstalling and see if it is better. One of the hundreds of items the software removed may have been important.

Try a reboot in safe mode. Try one of the other scanning programs (Spybot, Defender, etc.) if needed.



Don't just go "buy a Mac". Unless you're one of "them". ;)


And the police use radar detector detectors, so why not anti-spyware scanning programs ;)

"buy a mac" is the response that is getting REALLY REALLY boring.

Glen; what kind of PC is this? Does the PC match the specifications from the vendor? Many anti-spyware apps need as much as 120Mb to run. You could consider turning off some of the realtime scanning features and resorting to a once-a-day scan of your PC instead.

Alternatively, try some of the other scanning apps, my personal pick would be Windows Defender; a free application from Microsoft that gets the job done.

Sorry Scott I had not seen your post before adding a quick summary of my specs above.

It is just a new vanilla (yawn ;)) Dell system with pretty much top end (for them!) RAM and Intel processors, so I had hoped mainline spyware stuff would work OK with it.

So Windows Defender does the job? I tend to assume FREE and almost useless go hand in hand in these areas so and interested to hear this seems useful.

The other thing I have no idea if this new thing does, is remove ad-ware which I gather is different to spyware? I really am not up with all this stuff except to know it is not good. :D

Sorry for the bog basic questions, but you guys know this stuff backwards, and I do not. :cool:

Glen

Is there a less invasive, but effective one out there you savvy folks can recommend? :cool:

Glen

move to mac or linux.. so you dont have to worry about virus or spywares...
no need to run any of the anti-spyware or anti-virus programs.

There is a major problem in the world of spyware/adware scanners; they all try to look the "best" by scanning the "most", and in the course of events they'll set off alarms for all kinds of stuff. Most of them claim that cookies are bad (they are not), many of them even set off alarms when they find a banner in your browser cache. REAL spyware is nasty stuff, it isn't a banner and it isn't a cookie; it is stuff that captures keystrokes, it sends whatever you do to someone else, and it allows others to hijack your PC to send spam. Adware is as vicious but its main intent is to use your PC and your browser to force you to see their ad's. This could mean any time you enter a URL it takes you to their search engine, or any time you enter something in Google it pops up an ad from them instead.

Windows defender (to me) is the best because it just sticks to the nasty stuff, it doesn't try and alarm you when it finds a cookie

On my PC I scan once a week, sometimes twice. I am not afraid of spyware/adware because I use Firefox and Thunderbird, plus I keep an eye out for downloads I know may not be legit. Despite all the hyperbole from the "fruity" side of the PC world it really is easy to prevent this stuff. I know people that run 2 different virus scanners, 2 spyware scanners, firewall software AND still manage to open stuff they shouldn't (someone I know brings his PC to me at least once a month to have it cleaned, despite all the scanners he installs).

Common sense is the best scanner, that and always installing the most recent windows updates.

Windows Defender used to be a product from a different company, but I guess Microsoft felt so guilty for all their bugs that they purchased this firm and not offer the product for free.

Anything that sits as a shim on disk I/O (and to a lesser extent, on inbound network streams) will eat memory and CPU, although the latter should not be an issue on a modern system. RAM and decent disks should overcome it.

what you say? up to the end of (). I understand ram and cpu. what's a shim on disk of I/O? whatsa inbound network stream? Is that like warp drives, and tractor beams?

move to mac or linux.. so you dont have to worry about virus or spywares...
no need to run any of the anti-spyware or anti-virus programs.

YAWN. These replies are getting REALLY annoying. The OP already said he doesn't want to switch, he just got a new Dell PC and you expect him to move to a Mac, or worse... Linux?

what you say? up to the end of (). I understand ram and cpu. what's a shim on disk of I/O? whatsa inbound network stream? Is that like warp drives, and tractor beams?

I assume Cluebyfour mean anything that "hangs onto" a realtime stream of data. In the case of disk I/O it means the scanner checks every single file access/write/read and makes sure it isn't "nasty", the same for network stream; it checks in REALTIME what is coming in/out of the nasty big Internet. These realtime scans put a lot of strain on your PC as the machine is suddenly doing 10x more than it normally does.

YAWN. These replies are getting REALLY annoying. The OP already said he doesn't want to switch, he just got a new Dell PC and you expect him to move to a Mac, or worse... Linux?


Sorry but i either use these or use Firefox as the browser to avoid all the
annoying cookies/spyware and viruses. Its been pretty effective.

I just hate the idea of cleaning up after the fact.. while you can stop these
nasty things from infecting your computer in the first place.


if you cannot switch the OS, atleast try to avoid IE as a browser..
most of your issues will be resolved.
And also avoid Outlook.

Sorry Scott I had not seen your post before adding a quick summary of my specs above.

It is just a new vanilla (yawn ;)) Dell system with pretty much top end (for them!) RAM and Intel processors, so I had hoped mainline spyware stuff would work OK with it.

So Windows Defender does the job? I tend to assume FREE and almost useless go hand in hand in these areas so and interested to hear this seems useful.

The other thing I have no idea if this new thing does, is remove ad-ware which I gather is different to spyware? I really am not up with all this stuff except to know it is not good. :D

Sorry for the bog basic questions, but you guys know this stuff backwards, and I do not. :cool:

Glen

OZ. Re: ad-ware = Beware! I got rid of ad-ware years ago...The free version of Ad-aware doesn't monitor things as they happen, so after you install it they want you run it occasionally when you have a spare minute - and remember to keep it updated! Creating more junk! Listen to ScottC..ad-ware is really intrusive. Don't even think about it!

Sorry but i either use these or use Firefox as the browser to avoid all the
annoying cookies/spyware and viruses. Its been pretty effective.

I just hate the idea of cleaning up after the fact.. while you can stop these
nasty things from infecting your computer in the first place.


if you cannot switch the OS, atleast try to avoid IE as a browser..
most of your issues will be resolved.
And also avoid Outlook.

THOSE are good tips; Firefox and Thunderbird are probably the best spy/adware protectors you can get. If it can't get on your PC there is no need to clean it afterwards.

And yes; Outlook should be avoided like the plague, at least for email.

THOSE are good tips; Firefox and Thunderbird are probably the best spy/adware protectors you can get. If it can't get on your PC there is no need to clean it afterwards.

And yes; Outlook should be avoided like the plague, at least for email.

^ glad you agree.. My computers have been spyware and virus free for
years.. .. even the ones that run MS windows :)

There is a major problem in the world of spyware/adware scanners; they all try to look the "best" by scanning the "most", and in the course of events they'll set off alarms for all kinds of stuff. Most of them claim that cookies are bad (they are not), many of them even set off alarms when they find a banner in your browser cache. REAL spyware is nasty stuff, it isn't a banner and it isn't a cookie; it is stuff that captures keystrokes, it sends whatever you do to someone else, and it allows others to hijack your PC to send spam. Adware is as vicious but its main intent is to use your PC and your browser to force you to see their ad's. This could mean any time you enter a URL it takes you to their search engine, or any time you enter something in Google it pops up an ad from them instead.

Windows defender (to me) is the best because it just sticks to the nasty stuff, it doesn't try and alarm you when it finds a cookie

On my PC I scan once a week, sometimes twice. I am not afraid of spyware/adware because I use Firefox and Thunderbird, plus I keep an eye out for downloads I know may not be legit. Despite all the hyperbole from the "fruity" side of the PC world it really is easy to prevent this stuff. I know people that run 2 different virus scanners, 2 spyware scanners, firewall software AND still manage to open stuff they shouldn't (someone I know brings his PC to me at least once a month to have it cleaned, despite all the scanners he installs).

Common sense is the best scanner, that and always installing the most recent windows updates.

Windows Defender used to be a product from a different company, but I guess Microsoft felt so guilty for all their bugs that they purchased this firm and not offer the product for free.

Thanks ScottC - good advice, and a most helpful explanation!

cpx - I'm sure you are 100% correct. Sadly Troggs like me will always use Outlook Express, Windows and PCs as we simply do not have a clue about anything else. (Nor want to experiment!) I tired Firefox for 2 days and hated it. That's just me.

Posts like that to Jewish folks in the Religious forum suggesting they try out Hinduism, Muslim-ism and Catholicism (or v.v.) as they are "better" are equally unlikely to win any converts either I'd guess. ;)

We are what we are, and within those parameters just want to do as good as we can with the system we choose.

Glen

I assume Cluebyfour mean anything that "hangs onto" a realtime stream of data. In the case of disk I/O it means the scanner checks every single file access/write/read and makes sure it isn't "nasty", the same for network stream; it checks in REALTIME what is coming in/out of the nasty big Internet. These realtime scans put a lot of strain on your PC as the machine is suddenly doing 10x more than it normally does.

That's basically it. With any "realtime" scanner, you end up not only committing a write to the disk (or from the network, as the case may be) but checking/scanning it. Constantly. A screen will slow down the breeze thru your window, a water filter will lower your water pressure--only in the case of a computer, your cpu has to hold up the virtual screen/filter all the time.

(Scott knows all this--I'm just expounding a bit).

That said, Glen's system seems to be spec'd in such a way that this really should not make a difference.

I'm a big fan of Trend's (http://www.trendmicro.com) stuff, but that's because I've used their enterprise stuff at work for years with great success and I can get the home products gratis. It's not free, but I've found that it's less "heavy" on system resources than norton or mcaffe. YMMV.

For "free" (as in beer), the microsoft product is okay (or so I've heard). I do agree that use of Firefox (or anything but IE) is probably a good idea, but that's a flamefest for another thread :D .

Found this link the other day. Some pretty good links and ideas.

How to recover form a malware attack:
http://www.redferret.net/?p=7802

^

Posts like that to Jewish folks in the Religious forum suggesting they try out Hinduism, Muslim-ism and Catholicism (or v.v.) as they are "better" are equally unlikely to win any converts either I'd guess. ;)

Glen

Islam ;)

fuzz

And yes; Outlook should be avoided like the plague, at least for email.

So what is a good integrated email/calendar client that can be sync'd to a Nokia E61? I hate outlook but have found other programs lacking in that they don't have a calendar function built in.

So what is a good integrated email/calendar client that can be sync'd to a Nokia E61? I hate outlook but have found other programs lacking in that they don't have a calendar function built in.

Sadly there isn't really one. So I just use Outlook for contacts/calendar and thunderbird for email.

Glen:

This information concerning syware was moved to OMNI:

Microsoft will offer anti-spyware app

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=6705211#post6705211

---

Also, if you are still using Ie6, I would think about upgrading to IE7 as soon as possible, as noted here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=6590048&highlight=ie7#post6590048


Some additional information was also posted here in a new thread in Travel Tech, since the earlier thread was locked, but it also can now apparently be found over in OMNI:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=622057&highlight=ie7


And, btw, I do not like the Trend Micro tool at all.

The free Windows defender antispyware, and occassional scans with spybot S&D and/or adaware, all free, have been great for me and almost everyone I know.


And, FWIW while your at it, you may also want to take a look at "blink" as well:

Blink Personal Edition launched FREE of charge

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=616610&highlight=blink


Hope this helps,

Mark

Sadly there isn't really one. So I just use Outlook for contacts/calendar and thunderbird for email.

So if I do that, can I sync both to my E61?

And, btw, I do not like the Trend Micro tool at all.

I'm curious as to why. Granted, the home version does come at a price, however, I can assure you that their officescan and anti-spyware products at the enterprise level are top notch. The home version gets the same quick updates and relatively good technical support and they are pretty quick on new patterns. As I mentioned, I've had pretty good luck with the enterprise version, albeit merely at a fortune 250 with 400+ locations and something on the order of 30k PCs across 6 continents (and you basically get the same engine in the home version without the nifty remote/central management features).

As always, YMMV.

The free Windows defender antispyware, and occassional scans with spybot S&D and/or adaware, all free, have been great for me and almost everyone I know.

The cost of the MS product and the others are hard to ignore. However, I'd suggest to you that letting the same people who brought you windows (the OS which is basically responsible for allowing virii and spyware to proliferate in the first place) and who brought you IE (ditto) might not be in one's best interests from a technical and/or risk management standpoint.

As above, YMMV.

Thanks ScottC - good advice, and a most helpful explanation!

cpx - I'm sure you are 100% correct. Sadly Troggs like me will always use Outlook Express, Windows and PCs as we simply do not have a clue about anything else. (Nor want to experiment!) I tired Firefox for 2 days and hated it. That's just me.

Posts like that to Jewish folks in the Religious forum suggesting they try out Hinduism, Muslim-ism and Catholicism (or v.v.) as they are "better" are equally unlikely to win any converts either I'd guess. ;)

We are what we are, and within those parameters just want to do as good as we can with the system we choose.

Glen

Take heart, Glen. I've been running XP Home/IE6 on PC for nearly 5 years with NIS, Spybot S&D, and Lavasoft Adaware (the free version) with nary a virus, worm, spyware or adware problem.

Have XP Pro/IE6 on laptop with NIS, Spybot, Lavasoft and Spyware Blaster, and have had no infestations there either.

So it is possible, if you're sensible about your email and web activities and keep everything patched and up-to-date.

(Not that I would actually recommend Symantec products as they tend to be memory hogs, but they came preinstalled on my machines and I've been too lazy to make a change.)