Webroot Spysweeper Question

Hi,

I posted in another thread with a password manager question, about IE7 being slow. I reverted to IE6 and it acted the same so I installed IE7 again. I remembered that it started after I installed spy sweeper yesterday. I chose to shut down spy sweeper today and now IE7 is a lot faster. The problem for me was that when I clicked a link on a page it was taking 15 to 20 seconds before IE7 would take me to what I clicked. Now it takes me there almost instantly. Anyone have any suggestions other than turning off spysweeper and just using it to scan my system? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

I have a HP Pavillion 560w, Windows XP home, Pentium 4 1.5 GHz, 1.25 GB of RAM. Webroot Spysweper 5.2 paid version. Specs should be more than enough according to what is on the box. Spysweeper was reccomended to me on this site that is why I went out and bought it. I am wishing I would not have.

 

Yes I have tried firefox. Spysweeper does not seem to interfere with it, just IE7. I also use spyware blaster. When I disable spysweeper IE7 flies like normal. I enable it and IE7 slows down a lot. That is the only program that I have installed recently, it is the only thing that I have installed at all recently. I use spybot and ad-aware weekly, I defrag weekly, and I scan for viruses weekly. Virus scan has never picked up anything, spyware scans pick up cookies and mru's and that is it. As far as I know my system is clean. I have read and used the information on this site to keep my PC as clean as I possibly can. It might be something to do with the 5.2 release because I have read on these boards as well as others that there are other people having similar issues.

 

Processor type- Intel Pentium 4
Processor speed- 1500 MHz
Amount of RAM- 1.25 GB
free disk space- 58 GB free of 120 BG total

I will try disabling protection features to see which one is causing the problem.

 

Hi,
I tried disabling the real time features one by one and it really didn't make a difference. The only thing that made a difference was shutting it down completely. I uninstalled it, rebooted, defragged, and ran ccleaner. Then I reinstalled spysweeper 5.0 from the disc. I updated the definition file I declined the update to the 5.2 version. IE7 now flies just like it did before I installed the program. I have read here and other places on the web that people are having problems similiar to mine with the 5.2 version. I think I will hold off on the 5.2 update for awhile. Things seem to be just fine now. Thank you to everyone that gave me input on what to do. I have always received great information here. Thanks again.

 

Yes chaslang, I wrote to webroot today, I am waiting to hear back from them. I will let you and the rest of the board know what I find out. I am still using the 5.0 version and things are great. I will wait to find out what they suggest. I have seen lots of people are having trouble with the 5.2 version. Hopefully they will fix the issue.

 

Yes I totally agree. I have not heard anything from them yet. I also agree about McAfee and Symantec being resource hogs. I used McAfee for a short time and really didn't like it. Then I was a Symantec user but I recently uninstalled it as well. I am using Zone Alarm and AVG right now. From what I have read here and other places on the web it seems to be better to use a stand alone firewall and a stand alone antivirus program. The bloating seems to come from all the "extra" stuff included in suiete programs.

Once again I want to thank you and the others that have helped me on this issue. You guys do a great job. I will keep you posted on what I find out from webroot.

 

Hi,
This is what I found out so far.

From Webroot--
Solution: Hello,

I want to check how much RAM you have availalble on your machine. To do this please......

1. Click Start from your Windows system tray.

2. Click Run.

3. Type winmsd into the textbox and click OK.

Please let me know what it say's under 'total physical memory' and 'available physical memory'.

I did that for them and there does not seem to be a problem there because of the next thing they wanted me to do.

From Webroot--
Solution:

Hello
Open Spy Sweeper. To the right of the home button you will see a Spy Sweeper logo. Put the mouse over this logo and hold down the ctrl and alt key (see picture below). Double mouse click. Choose download full definitions. This should resolve the problem.
Thank you

I updated to the 5.2 version and did the above and internet performance went to hell again. I shut down the program and internet performance was normal again. I once again uninstalled the program and reinstalled the 5.0 version and things are normal. There has to be an issue with the upgrade. I have let them know again I will see what they come up with next. I basically told them if they can't come up with a valid solution i would like a refund. No one likes software that does not perform the right way. I don't quite see how updating a definition file is going to resolve internet speed issues. I will keep you posted on what they say next. Right now I won't suggest this program to anyone. I told them that too.

 

Hi,
Yes I know it is hard to get any company to admit that there is a problem with their product. I could not beleive that a definition download would solve the problem either. When things are fine on the 5.0 and all messed up on the 5.2 version that tells me there is a problem with the product. I initially suspected a faulty download the first time. Things like that have been known to happen. But when it happens three seperate times that can't be the case. I am not a computer genius but I am no dummy either. I think these companies sometimes think that people don't know much about how a computer works. The approach always seems to be that it can't possibly be their product or service, it must be something else or something that you did, no matter if it is a computer, software, or what ever other kind of product or service. I take what I consider to be great care of my system. I know how it operates, what is normal and what isn't normal for my particular system.

The answer to your question is no. I do not have the version with the antivirus. That costs extra. I use AVG for antivirus.

 

Here is their new suggestion...

Webroot---
Solution: Try this,,

1. Close all Internet Explorer Windows
2. Open Spy Sweeper
3. Click on the "Shields" button
4. Go to the "Web Browser" tab
5. Click the "Edit BHO's used by Internet Explorer" button
6. Uncheck the "java 2 platform standard edition 5.0 update 6 - c:\program files\java\jre1.5.0_06\bin\ssv.dll" Item
7. Click "Ok"

Once that is done, please open an Internet Explorer window. Your load and response times should be back to normal

I updated the program to the 5.2 version again and did as requested. So far the solution seems to work. I did not have any problems with it in the 5.0 version so it seems like a software problem to me. It doesn't seem right that you have to disable things in order to make the program behave. I guess this solution is better than none. Since they know what to do they obviously know that there is a problem. They should just fix it. I told them that when I replied that the solution seems to work. I also told them if this goes back the other way again that they will hear from me again.

I did some looking online last night about spysweeper 5.2 problems and there are quite a few out there with problems. A lot of them are switching to spyware doctor.

I just thought I would let you know what was going on. Hopefully they will fix the problem instead of giving people the run around. Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

 

Here is the latest--

From Webroot--
Solution: This is a problem with the Java Script...Sun Microsystems is working with Spy Sweeper to resolve this issue.

Thank You

I think unchecking the item just keeps spysweeper from monitering it. I visit some sites that use java and have not had a problem with it. So it must not disable the program just the monitering of the program. I am also using the most current version of Sun Java. I checked just to make sure. I am going to see if they will let people know when this issue is resolved so everyone can have peace of mind. I also included the items in your post that you were wondering about to see what they tell me as it makes me wonder too. I will report what I find out. Thanks again and have a great Thanksgiving!!

 

No I was using 5.0 update 9. I googled the update because it wasn't listed on sun java I found the update on another site. I downloaded it and installed it, but it didn't change anything still have to uncheck the bho for things to work well. I am waiting to hear from webroot with the questions I sent last night. I will let you know what I find out. Happy Turkey Day!

 

Hi,
Just an update, they have another new build that is suppose to take care of the issue. The build is 5.2.3.2132. It is a bit better than before in terms of the speed in opening the links. But it is not near as good as disabling that bho. Just thought that I would let you all know.

 

No they just say it is sun java's problem. They released a new build that was suppose to fix the problem, but I still have better internet speed by disabling the bho.

Now I have a new problem, the program will not update. I have submitted a ticket to webroot on the issue. It tells me that the firewall is blocking it, I don't think that is the problem I have checked the firewall and spysweeper is allowed internet access. Besides it updated a week ago with the same firewall now it won't. I basically told webroot that I want my cash back. I really do not like this problematic program.

 

They won't say what they feel the problem with sun java is, I have asked. All they say is that it is a problem with them but they were working together to solve it. No I have not tried sun java 6. I will download that and see what happens.

I have been reading else where on the web that other people who are experiencing problems with spysweeper are switching to spyware doctor. I have done some reading on this program and some of the pc magazines give it pretty good reviews. I agree that programs are not perfect and that malware evolves very fast. I do not expect programs to be 100% perfect, but I do expect that they should not cause problems and then the creators play the blame game. I have installed a lot of software over the years and I have never had these kinds of issues. I am at the point where I want to persue a refund and get something else. It is just frustrating to have software that you can't really use. It is frustrating that you fix one thing and something else goes haywire. I had similar issues with a lexmark printer, the program would just quit working and you would have to reinstall it. I went out and bought a new printer from hp and have been using it for three years with no problems. As such I am not a fan of lexmark. That might be the case with spysweeper as well.

Again I want to thank you for your replies they are really appreciated.

 

Well just an update. I had to use a "special removal tool" that they sent me to get rid of the program then reinstall it yet again. Sounds a lot like norton to me. It is still not playing nice with my system so I am getting rid of it once and for all. I tried the refund route and was denied because I have had the program more than 30 days. Well I have also been having problems since I installed it. I have decided not to use it or recommend it to anyone. I still see by searching the net that a lot of people are having similar problems. Just once it would be nice if a company or corporation would admit that it made a mistake and fix the mistake instead of playing the blame game.

Well later for now. Have happy holidays everyone.

 

Yeah I know it is too bad it wouldn't work. I think I might give spyware doctor a try. I have seen some good reviews of that program in my pc magazines.

 

Yeah I understand what you mean. I have used some so called trial versions before and they tell you what you have and then you had to buy it to get it to fix things. Then you buy the program only to find out that it can't remove the problem anyway. As far as I know I have only had one problem and that was with Cool Web Search or something to that effect I searched it on the net and removed it manually. Since that time I learned about the value of having a spyware blocker. I am not sure when I will buy spyware doctor but it will be soon. I will let you know how it works for me.

The only thing I could tell someone about spysweeper is that it did not work for my system and if they have problems and want a refund to make sure they request it before 30 days is up. I can't say that it is a bad program I just had a really crappy experience with it. That is the way life goes though.

Happy holidays to one and all!