Re: Has anyone tried free Google version of Spyware Doctor?

[VanguardLH]

<hmmm@hmmm.org> wrote in message
news:cN-dnaXDAM_-K3HbnZ2dnUVZ_judnZ2d@giganews.com...
> "VanguardLH" <VanguardLH@mail.invalid> wrote in news:RfadnSWPnJVz-
> HHbnZ2dnUVZ_jqdnZ2d@comcast.com:
>
>
>> Perhaps you were unaware of all the crap included in the Google
>> Pack
>> (go to http://pack.google.com/intl/en/learn...frameset.html),
>> like
>> their Google Desktop, RealPlayer, and a very crippled version of
>> Norton's Internet Security suite (that they call Norton Security
>> *SCAN*). I don't want all that fluffware and crapware on my host
>> just
>> to get STARTER EDITION of Spyware Doctor.
>
>
>
> Are you sure the install procedure doesn't give you the option to
> install
> just the Spyware Doctor?


Even if it does, that's not the point of the bundle. The expectation
or hope is that the user just says Yes to the default install
selections which will be all the products in the bundle. Why do users
***** about the bloatware for Norton or McAfee products? Because
they're stupid and install everything in the bundle rather than, say,
just the anti-virus product. Besides, the Starter Edition is too
crippled for my taste.

[use_a_hammer2@yahoo.com]

On Sep 16, 6:39 pm, "VanguardLH" <Vanguar...@mail.invalid> wrote:
> <h...@hmmm.org> wrote in message
>
> news:cN-dnaXDAM_-K3HbnZ2dnUVZ_judnZ2d@giganews.com...
>
>
>
> > "VanguardLH" <Vanguar...@mail.invalid> wrote in news:RfadnSWPnJVz-
> > HHbnZ2dnUVZ_jqdn...@comcast.com:
>
> >> Perhaps you were unaware of all the crap included in the Google
> >> Pack
> >> (go tohttp://pack.google.com/intl/en/learn_more_frameset.html),
> >> like
> >> their Google Desktop, RealPlayer, and a very crippled version of
> >> Norton's Internet Security suite (that they call Norton Security
> >> *SCAN*). I don't want all that fluffware and crapware on my host
> >> just
> >> to get STARTER EDITION of Spyware Doctor.
>
> > Are you sure the install procedure doesn't give you the option to
> > install
> > just the Spyware Doctor?
>
> Even if it does, that's not the point of the bundle. The expectation
> or hope is that the user just says Yes to the default install
> selections which will be all the products in the bundle. Why do users
> ***** about the bloatware for Norton or McAfee products? Because
> they're stupid and install everything in the bundle rather than, say,
> just the anti-virus product. Besides, the Starter Edition is too
> crippled for my taste.

So, can you install *just* Spyware Doctor?

[VanguardLH]

<use_a_hammer2@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1189997466.696947.182810@k79g2000hse.googlegr oups.com...
> On Sep 16, 6:39 pm, "VanguardLH" <Vanguar...@mail.invalid> wrote:
>> <h...@hmmm.org> wrote in message
>>
>> news:cN-dnaXDAM_-K3HbnZ2dnUVZ_judnZ2d@giganews.com...
>>
>>
>>
>> > "VanguardLH" <Vanguar...@mail.invalid> wrote in
>> > news:RfadnSWPnJVz-
>> > HHbnZ2dnUVZ_jqdn...@comcast.com:
>>
>> >> Perhaps you were unaware of all the crap included in the Google
>> >> Pack
>> >> (go tohttp://pack.google.com/intl/en/learn_more_frameset.html),
>> >> like
>> >> their Google Desktop, RealPlayer, and a very crippled version of
>> >> Norton's Internet Security suite (that they call Norton Security
>> >> *SCAN*). I don't want all that fluffware and crapware on my
>> >> host
>> >> just
>> >> to get STARTER EDITION of Spyware Doctor.
>>
>> > Are you sure the install procedure doesn't give you the option to
>> > install
>> > just the Spyware Doctor?
>>
>> Even if it does, that's not the point of the bundle. The
>> expectation
>> or hope is that the user just says Yes to the default install
>> selections which will be all the products in the bundle. Why do
>> users
>> ***** about the bloatware for Norton or McAfee products? Because
>> they're stupid and install everything in the bundle rather than,
>> say,
>> just the anti-virus product. Besides, the Starter Edition is too
>> crippled for my taste.
>
> So, can you install *just* Spyware Doctor?
>


Yep. In a VM under VMWare, I ran their "install". It takes me to a
Google Pack download page where you get checkboxes as to which
components you want to install. I selected only the STARTER EDITION
of Spyware Doctor and that's all that got install - well, except to
Google's Updater product which I then had to uninstall after
completing the install of Spyware Doctor.

Both the Starter Edition and Trial versions of Spyware Doctor will
only *scan* for pests. Be warned that the settings for the Start and
Trial versions are differen regarding what they will scan. Make sure
to set them to do a FULL scan. Scanning of just specific filetypes
(which they have the gall to call an Intelli-Scan) is worthless since
any filetype that contains an executable header can be executed once
loaded into memory (i.e., executables don't reside only in executable
filetypes).

Although I configured both versions to NOT list low-level threats
(i.e., cookies), it still listed a cookie as a threat. I suppose they
want to prod you into buying their commercialware despite that cookies
are not spyware. From other user reviews, false positives are not
uncommon for the trial version even under fresh installs of Windows.
Many users complain that the full version severely impacts the
responsiveness and usability of their hosts. The Starter version
doesn't include all the features of the full version so I didn't
notice a severe impact (but then I am only testing the product while
it exists in the VM). Same for the trial version.

Both versions (after updating them) said they had a list of 181,577
signatures to use for scanning for pests. Seems pretty low. When
scanning files, polymorphic versiosns of the same pest must be scanned
for (but not for HIPS programs watching memory since polymorphism
vapories upon load into memory). For the trial version, it consumed
27MB real plus 156MB virtual memory so it isn't exactly a lightweight
security product. And I thought Windows Defender at 51MB real + 29MB
virtual and Comodo's AV beta with HIPS at 96MB (total real + virtual)
were resource pigs.

Since both the Starter and Trial versions will only scan and not
repair the pest, I didn't see a point in using the product. The other
freebies that I have aren't so crippled. So I shutdown the VM and
restored it back to its snapshot (to get rid of the test of Spyware
Doctor).

It will be interesting to read av-comparatives.org report on PC Tools
Spyware Doctor + AntiVirus to see how it fares. Current status on
their whitepaper is pending (so they've written it but are probably
letting PC Tools address the report which is suspicious that
av-comparatives.org found problems or lackluster coverage). Hopefully
they will separate the coverages provided by Spyware Doctor from those
for the AV product. They did manage to get the VB100 award in June
but then they only had that one entry (i.e., they are brand new).

If all you want to do is add yet another tool to your suite of
on-demand scanners (but, in this, cannot repair/fix any found pests)
then go ahead. As of yet, I don't feel compelled to include it in my
suite of security tools but that decision could change in a month or
two.