Problems with Spybot S&D - Windows 98se

First of all, I am definitely NOT an advanced user so be gentle Here is my problem:

"I loaded the latest version of Spybot S&D three weeks ago. I am having a problem in that when I do a scan it won't finish. It goes all the way to the end and hangs. My hard drive just runs and runs and I have to manually shut down the computer. I have Windows 98SE and have read through the Fax and other information on the Spybot Homepage but don't see anything related. I even uninstalled and reinstalled and it does the same thing. I also have the current Ad-Aware on my system and have had no problems with it.

I have sent two emails to Spybot and have received no responses.

I also have both the current Spybot S&D and Ad-Aware loaded and working on my laptop with Windows XP. No problems whatsoever."

The above was cut and pasted from another forum. I have also tried running from a safe mode. One individual suggested that I might have malware or a virus causing this problem and that I work on this forum. I also have Norton Antivirus and update and run it weekly and do the other normal maintenance things at least once a month (scan disk, defrag, etc.)

Consequently, I have read the introduction and have followed all of the steps applicable down to the point where I probably need to scan with Hijack This. I have not done so yet because, if I read the instruction correctly, I am supposed to give a summary of what I have done to this point first. The only thing of significance observed during the above steps was that there was a possible "virus" detected and subsequently deleted. The quotations marks are because the wording indicated that it might or not be a virus but just recommended deletion, which I did.

I still have the same problem with Spybot S&D.

Suggestions would be appreciated.

Many thanks

rsg

 

Did you post your problem to the "official" Spybot S&D forum at http://forums.net-integration.net/?;act=ST;f=28;t=3680;r=1 ?


Some questions for more detail:

Does Spybot S&D give any error messages either within its interface or separately in another window?

Does Spybot S&D indicate what item it was last checking before the hang-up?

I presume you are using Spybot S&D version 1.3? Select the Help menu and the About option to verify.

Do you have all the latest updates?

What items are you asking Spybot S&D to check? From within Spybot select Mode/Advanced and then select Settings and File Sets.



One possible solution, which would be similar to using safe mode, is to download and install EndItAll (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,697,00.asp) to terminate all the processses before running Spybot S&D. Note this will terminate all non-essential progams/processes and you will need to reboot to restore your default application base. If this works it suggests that there is interference to Spybot S&D from another program.


PS I have Spybot S&D version 1.3 on Windows 98 without any issues.

 

No, I did not post to the Spybot S&D Forum. I simply sent two emails to their "Contact us" address for technical help. I will do so though...thanks.

No, no error messages.

Yes, the last item checked as I recall is Z-Daemon. However, unless it is an incredible coincidence I think that is just the last item in the "check list". At that point the window shows that all files have been checked (over 27,000) and the progress bar is maxed out. I will let it run a few extra minutes just to make sure that it isnt just "catching up". Unfortunately, every time that I do that it creates havoc on my system. The next time I do a defrag it will take about 4 hours instead of the normal 45 minutes. I am therefore rather hesitant to run Spybot S&D at all until I feel like I have done everything possible to fix the problem.

Yes, I am using Version 1.3 and I do have the updates. I always update before I run it. My critical Windows Updates are current also.

Spybot is checking all of the items in the default mode. That is everything except the usage tracks.

Many thanks for your suggestions. I will post the problem on the Spybot S&D Forum but I think I will hold for right now on installing and running EndItAll until I have heard from Spybot and until I have gathered any other suggestions. As noted above, everytime I run Spybot S&D it is very "painful" to the system and I would rather have as many possible fixes as I can lined up first.

 

I did scan that page and isnt this something that will be taken care of by having my critical Windows Updates current and making sure that I always update Spybot S&D before I run it? Or would none of those things fix it and I would still need the patch??