Ron Schenone

Is PC Tools Spyware Doctor Any Good?

Posted by on Aug 24, 2007 | 35 Comments

There was a post in one of the forums I frequent that was asking about PC Tools Spyware Doctor and how good it was. After reading the post I decided to download a demo copy and take a look at it. As most of you are aware, I only use free products for both anti-virus and spyware protections on my systems. So testing a commercial grade product doesn’t hurt just to see if any critters may have sneaked in.

Installation was a breeze and it auto updated itself with the latest protections. I did a standard scan of my system which turned up nothing more than some low level cookies. The software itself is very simple to use and I found it ran quickly as well. At the completion of the scan I was informed in order to get the cookies off the system I needed to purchase the software. No problem. A quick uninstall and all was back to normal.

I noted on the PC Tool website many awards from different vendors and magazines which spoke highly of the software. But what I look for are real world examples from those who have opted to purchase the software. This tells me more than having some paid for reviewer chanting the wonders of a product.

So my question is this. Has anyone used PC Tools Spyware Doctor and what do you think?

Comments welcome.

More information on Spyware Doctor from here.

[tags]spyware, software,spyware doctors, demo, [/tags]

  • Steve Willson

    I’ve used freeware antispyware for years, but finally decided to spring for Spyware Doctor after reading a good review.

    I uninstalled it after one day and deleted my software key. I don’t remember now exactly why I disliked it, but I usually give new apps a week or so before I decide to dump them; that goes double for programs I’ve paid dollars for so draw your own conclusions.

    So no, I wouldn’t go near it myself.

    I use Spyware Blaster, Spybot Search & Destroy, SuperAntispyware, and AdAware SE (I hated AdAware 2007!) and that seems to do me just fine.

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

    Hi Steve,
    Thanks for sharing your opinion with us. It is appreciated.
    Ron

  • http://www.fastfs.com jonah

    Used it for a few years, very good – until latest version is terrible but I think they fixed that now still its dog slow and bloated to death.

    Problem is it takes forever to initialise on startup and can slow the PC down to a crawl wjile it is doing so. Autostart off is OK but starting manually you have to leave the PC for 10 minutes to sort itself out.

    I use it occasionally on a manual run if Spybot S&D finds anything, I will not be renewing the license.

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

    Hello Jonah,
    Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
    Ron

  • James

    I enjoy this program, The free edition of Spyware Doctor detected some spyware that some commerical products couldn’t detect.I highly recommend this program. Going to purchase a license for Spyware Doctor. Didn’t notice any problems with the software.

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

    Hi James,
    Thank you for sharing your experience.
    Ron

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/05557943185210757800 Mikey Pugs

    Hey I used the free version of Spyware Doctor and it worked great, matter of fact it really did something amazing let me explain. I went and downloaded Norton 360 2008 and it was a 90 day trial, full benefits though, everything was working 100% and my computer was slow as hell. So I went and downloaded the doctor then. My relation adviced me too then. So what happened is this; The program I put the money in the bank for which was $90 was Norton 360. It turned out that one day after running Norton and having it only find 1 low risk tracking cookie I decided to run the free Spyware Doctor.

    Well to my surprise then the Spyware Doctor found 4 infected files and one of them was some kind of Trojoan Controller or something, it said high risk then. So after repeatedly writing to Norton they just kept on saying well different programs will always detect different things and blah blah blah, I said $90 you people were going to charge me for something that couldnt find 4 files that a free download off of CNET found called Spyware Doctor? They didnt know what to say, so they gave me the run around and then stopped answering my emails because I demanded one year free service or else I would leave Norton forever after being with them for almost 7 years then!!!

    So what I went and did was took $39.95 out of the original $90 which was for Norton 360 and purchased Spyware Doctor w/ Virus Protection 5.2 or something like this. It always changes the version number because it gets updated every sngle day then. Does it slow me down online, NO. I have 1 gig or RAM and a 80GB hard drive and I am using Windows Vista Home Basic then. C7-D Processor. It works fantastic then everyone. Really I dont work for PC TOOLS THEN!!! I am just a poor person to lower middle class from PA then. I downloaded Spybot and that thing is so ugly, it has no extra’s and its a little quicker than Spyware Doctor, but after running Spyware Doctor/Virus the Spybot NEVER EVER found one infection, so I chose to get rid of it then, didnt need it anymore.

    I will say one thing though, PC TOOLS advertises that the Spyware Virus Doctor picks up Adware too, and it does trust me it does. However, when I follow up my Spyware/Virus Doctor Full System Scan and then run my free version of Adaware 2007, it always usually 90% of the time finds atleast 2 or 4 files then that are infected with Adware!!! So I dont think any program is perfect, the long they take the safer I feel, it means they are taking their time and doing things slow and steady and correctly, and why didnt is pick up all the adware? Simple; It is a Spyware and Virus Doctor, not Adware. They advertise that yeah, but it just picks up basic adware then, so if you go with Spyware/Virus Doctor 5.0 or now 5.2, I would follow it up with the free download from CNET in their top 10 called Adaware 2007 then for sure. Better to be safe than sorry.

    I am waiting on PC TOOLS to contact me now to find out if I can use their new Virus Program with my Spyware/Virus Doctor, ya know for added protection then? They didnt answer yet.

    One last thing I will brag about or talk up; PC TOOLS; REGISTRY MECHANIC!!! ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC PROGRAM!!! IT FOUND OVER 400 ERRORS IN MY REGISTRY, CREATED A RESTORE POINT AND THEN FIXED OR DELETED THEM ALL, AND THEN COMPRESSED MY REGISTRY FILES AND THEN OPTIMIZED MY PC AND NOW ITS RUNNING LIKE YOU ALL WOULD NOT BELIEVE THEN!!! That is the safest, I dont know about the best, but the safest Registry Cleaner I have ever seen in my life then!!!

    Dont ever use Windows Advanced Care, it messed up my whole PC and stuff and ruined it totally then. Deleted alot of important system 32 files that I had no idea at the time what they were exactly then. Now I know, but it cost me a good Dell PC then in the process.

    SO IN CLOSING; WOULD MIKEY RECOMMEND PC TOOLS PRODUCTS??? ALL BUT ONE; DO NOT DOWNLOAD “THREATFIRE” THEY DONT MAKE THAT BUT THEY TRY TO SELL IT AND THEY PROMOTE IT FOR A FRIEND ORGANIZATION. IT SUCKS AND FROZE UP ON ME AFTER I PAID THE $30 FOR THE PRO VERSION TOO, ITS DAMN JUNK!!! ALL THEIR OTHER STUFF, ESPECIALLY THE NEW SPYWARE/VIRUS DOCTOR, IS FANTASTIC. SLOWER YEAH, BUT YOU CAN SET THAT INSIDE THERE TO LOWER THE ITS POWER ON YOUR PROCESSOR THEN, SO YOU CAN SURF AND LISTEN TO YOUTUBE VIDEOS LIKE I AM NOW FOR HOURS WHILE IT RUNS AND NEVER KNOW THEN!!!

    Its under settings then; (Lower Scan Priority) This cuts down on your processor or virtual memory then, sure it will increase the scan time, but who cares. Besides most peoplel schedule their PC scans when they are gonig to bed then. I know I do. Defrag and all. I wake up and fix the errors and stuff and I am ready to go then. PC TOOLS is one great company too, they actually care about you too. 24/7 phone and email support, they answer you back personally. They already wrote me back within one day, and now I am waiting on their second email to answer me question then; Can I have another Virus Program on top of my Spyware/Virus Doctor for added protection??? I know you can use threatfire, they advertise it even, but that didnt work out so good then. I trust the Spyware Doctor alot, but the Virus part of it is new and I would like to have a back up then always. If anyone can tell me the answer or if you know this; WHAT IS THE BEST VIRUS AND ALL AROUND PROTECTION OUT IN THE WORLD TODAY I CAN GET FOR MY MONEY THEN??? I WANT IT, AND I DONT CARE IF IT COSTS $200, I NEED IT THEN FOR MY JOB HERE AT HOME.

    Please help me now that I answered you guys
    Take Care thanks so much everyone & RON!!!
    I really enjoyed posting here and I hope its not too long that anyone gets totally upset with me then, I am sorry about that I love to type.

    God Bless
    Happy Holidays Early then
    Mikey/PA

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

    Hi Mikey,
    Thanks for sharing all of the info. with us.

    To answer your question, you can use another anti-virus program. However, you can not have BOTH programs scanning your system since they will interfere with each other. Another words, disable auto scanning on which ever program you wish and do your scans manually. Just make sure you keep all of the programs updated or they become useless.

    Recommendations:
    For a paid program may I recommend Nod32. I’m using it on my Vista Ultimate box and it works very well.

    If you wish to try some freebies, both AVG and Avast also work well.

    Regards, Ron

  • Reded

    I agree with Mikey, In general PC Tools does a very good job, when working it finds the most number of horribles. But they have a kack of releasing new versions too soon. As one of the other guys said it was bloated and slowed his machine down….it was when that particular version was released, but they fixed it withinn a month or so. Likewise version 5.5 is horrible and it frooze up my machine. Give it a month and they will sort it. Borring but worth the wait.
    Threadfire is a bit of an issue. It works great on one of my machines but causes problems on another………again not enough testing…but will get there in the end.

  • Kompanyx

    I downloaded Spyware Doctor and paid for a subscription also. I did this after I acquired a virus and spyware in my browser. My system already had Norton 360 and Windows Defender but these didn’t detect or get rid of the probem. When I installed the free version of Spyware, it quickly downloaded and detected all the viruses and spyware. Norton 360 couldn’t do this after a full scan which took about two hours. I highly recommend Spyware Doctor with Antivirus if you can spring for it.

  • Mark W

    Ditto Kompanyx!!!Had Norton 360 Didn’t fix the horrible virus I picked up. As you know a virus will get worse and worse,…click on anything even to close a pop up and you’ve just spread the virus more! I was almost unable to control my P.C. and all with all the crap coming up (pop up after popup) and was really getting upset. In a desperate attempt I did a search online for a new Virus program and right away found PC tools Spyware Doctor. I downloaded and paid for it right away. Almost instantly It killed the virus and pop ups. I have it run a scan everytime I boot up which seems to do the trick.I have been to sites that tried to download a malicious program which PC tools Spyware Doctor grabs before it can attach itself (A window pops up when this happens to let you know Spyware Doctor has done its job).For my computer use I love this Software.

  • jack

    i have used spyware doctor for about 3 years on the paid version, i have upgraded to spywaredoctor with antivirus. i think for what it costs it does its job, but not one pyware detector will catch every thing so i run superantispware prog as well am trialing the pro version.. people cant allways expect everything for free, let me say when you have been a victim of internet fraud by withdrawing money from your account, you cant get enough protection. i have no probs with spyware doctor, it works

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

    Thanks for the comments. They are appreciated.

  • Fil

    I currently have spyware doctor. After 3 days i had to uninstall due to my computer taking more than 10 minutes to start up. I got infected with the Infosteal.gamer trojan which Norton detected and couldnt get rid of. I decided to download Spyware Doctor to see if it could find and delete the trojan but it didnt find it at all. If anybody knows a spyware program that can search for this type of trojan i would be most gratefull! Overall, i think spyware does the trick but i found it to be very laggy on my comps performance

  • callum

    I think this program is great since I got it I havent detected any spyware with all my other programs.

  • http://www.myspace.com/matt_ait13 Matt

    Spyware Doctor is fantastic, I think it is the best anti-virus software on the market because of it’s detailed scanning. It’s amazing to see what it finds and the relief after deleting a trojan virus after having no idea where it came from or how it got there. This just shows how important running regular scans and updating your security software is. The average person at home may think that their safe because they dont click on pop ups etc, WRONG! There are a million ways viruses can get into your machine. If you run a full scan with spyware doctor, it scans every single file on your system! Filtering out all the nasties.

    Highly Recommended.

  • czl

    I agree completely. Also, the support is great when you need it.
    Over the years I tried many different programs of this kind, and sofar this is the best one. It complements Online Armour without any conflicts, which is an added benefit.

  • http://psph4ck3r.blogspot.com Alex Alvarez

    Don’t use this product it will give you the thing it supposetly supposed to remove it runs on a script ND once you press remove it will go code-crazy on r computer and put 3 trojans on there anybody ever noticed that it will always show the same virus dude go to bestbuy buy norton scan your system and ACTUALLY DELETE THOSE PESKY VIRUSES which norton ctually did. do this before you get blue screen of death (BSOD) or kapersky or AVG FREE. You wont be sorry.

  • Padd

    S.Doc?…Just great..After my experiences with Norton 360, who couldn’t take out a fake security that had horribly infected my comp..the free S.D DOWNLOAD from Google did the trick, in a matter of seconds, so i bought it…….At first the Intel scan took ten mins, whereas the free version only took 3 mins,,So i reinstalled it, and that sorted the prob…….Then for a few bucks more, i linked the Antivirus as well, disinstalling Avast free…..Then i got a nasty VIR that s.d Antivirus didn’t detect, and my comp went round the bend,,didn’t even know it was a virus…..Reinstalling Avast did the trick, and she got out two nasties, and infected files….So now i work with Spy Doc n Avast, and i’ more than happy….Ithink Avast free is also a fantastic free prog, as i’ve worked with some paid anti virs…but always go back to Avast, God Bless her….padd

  • Grant Sankner

    Well there is one thing I must say after reading the comments. Most of you are praising it for finding the “most” viruses and adware and junk. One thing though is it can simply say there are lots of infections to make you think your computer is in lots of “danger” just so you will continue to buy it. Like Norton…After my subscription to Norton ended suddenly it said there were a bunch of viruses and other things that it could’t fix until I renewed my subscription, and it would use up ALOT of CPU and what not and slow my computer to a crawl but when I deactivated it and scanned with Spy bot search and destroy it found nothing but a few tracking cookies. Thats my take on it….

  • Rona

    I have spyware doctor free version PCtools free and avast free edition and none can do the job on my windows XP computer!!

    I have low virtual memory and bad browsing now because they take up too much memory!

    I will have to uninstall and try downlaoding AVG free trial..any suggestions people?

  • Rona

    the problem with Avast! is it says on every sacn..it cannot read files! or unable to scan?? whats the point?

  • cesar

    I am not sure about the product, but my question is how to get rid of trojan.win32.agent.azsy?????

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone
  • cesar

    that isthe spyware doctor and i have to buy it,but I don’t want to,since everything becomes so slow,any other ideas??

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone
  • cesar

    It slows my computer like the spyware doctor, anyhow I will seek help somewhere else, thanks

  • RCS Tech

    Spyware Doctor was ran on a pc and then I ran Norton 360… Norton found 2 Trojan Horse and 1 Infostealer.Daonol

  • Jaclen

    I ran the free version of Spyware Doctor and it showed I had a kabillion infections. Of course I paid for a subscription to get rid of them all, and as noted previously by many others, nothing else would run because my computer dragged like a snail. It was much better after the initial run, but still slows everything else down when scanning.

    Someone else mentioned this, but how do you know you have all those infections and threats found by Spyware Doctor? It’s such a great way to identify a problem, and then solve the problem for you, but it also gets you to buy the product! On the other hand, I really liked the fact that it uncovered adware, malware, and a couple of high risk infections that my paid for antivirus never found! In that respect, I thought it was a great product, if it actually uncovered infections.

    This is day 4 or 5 now since I bought the subscription to Spyware Doctor, and I don’t run my antivirus program at the same time as Spyware Doc. However, something is booting my antivirus out of the lower right hand tray, and it’s not running on it’s autopilot schedule as it did before I downloaded Spyware Doc. I’ve had to search for my missing antivirus twice now, and turn it back on since it wasn’t scanning or protecting in “real time”. That’s never happened in the 3 yrs that I’ve had it, and that kind of protection is important when you’re opening emails!

    Another interesting thing happened today too. We cannot access our bank account online. No clue what’s going on,
    but tomorrow we’ll be going to the bank! And possibly changing banks as well as uninstalling and unsubscribing to Spyware Doctor.

    Thanks for asking what I thought of this product!

    • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

      Hello Jaclen,
      Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
      If you suspect your system is infected, try the FREE versions of Malwarebytes.
      http://www.malwarebytes.org/
      All the best, Ron

  • Richard

    I have had this program for about 18 months. It expires in July ’11. I did not realize until a few months ago that it uses 100% of my memory. It scans for 2-4 minutes each time and 2-4 scans per hour that I am online. My screen tends to freeze and the computer is useless until the scan ends. I will uninstall this program as soon as I find a suitable anti-virus program. I am looking at a page called the ten best anti-virus programs trying to decide which to use.

    • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

      Hello Richard,
      If you do a Google for 10 best a/v programs, you will find many links, and tons of information.
      You may also wish to take a look at Virus Bulletin, which is an independent source.
      Currently Avast and Anti-Vir seem to be what most consumers are using. Both are
      free. Neither uses a heavy does of resources.

      Hope this helps. Ron

  • http://twitter.com/_DaleOD_ Dale O’Donnell

    I was thinking about upgrading from my iPhone 4 while watching you live on YouTube from Google+. But is there much point? The iPhone 5 will be released next year and everybody will be expected to fork out more money. My iPhone 4 isn’t causing any problems, therefore, it’s just a want – not a NEED.

    • http://twitter.com/timothyeric TiMOThY ERiC

      agreed

  • http://twitter.com/timothyeric TiMOThY ERiC

    In truth, the improvements, as they are laid out here, are not worth the $$.  Looks like the biggest upgrade for me would be Siri.  However, Vlingo has been doing all and more of what Siri promises for well over a year now (on Android phones)… at any rate, they tout a huge update for iOS 5 this Fall and the app will probably run about $20 soaking wet.  Better that I stay with the 4…