Someone reviewed v on Jul 5, 2022

Pros: 555

Cons: 555

Bottom Line: 555

kerimachin reviewed v2012-09-05 on Jul 22, 2013

pretty dang good

guleb reviewed v2012-09-05 on Jan 30, 2013

best softver ever

bobad reviewed v2010-06-16 on Jul 28, 2010

I've been a big fan of Spybot S&D for several years, but it needs a refresh.

If you have 1.2 million definitions, you BETTER have a fast scanner or intelligent scanning algorithyms. Unfortuantely, it doesn't. It's way too slow, and I'm looking for alternatives. The main program freezes a lot, especially on old slow computers I sometimes must use it on. It's even slow and occasionally freezes up on my personal machine, which is top notch. Time to re-write the main app from the ground up!

As for the definitions, they're badly bloated but probably the most complete out there. 4 stars for the definitions, 3 stars for the scanner!

xNADEx reviewed v2010-01-06 on Jun 22, 2010

Easy to use, and takes care of the problem. Excellent program all around. I suggest to all friends and family, especially those without much PC understanding.

mjm01010101 reviewed v2009-08-05 on Sep 16, 2009

Abandoned.

jspratjr reviewed v2009-04-01 on Apr 2, 2009

"Now really worth the download."

Assume you meant "Not" - Totally disagree. Your points are valid IF someone uses the product ONLY to protect against the "latest and greatest" as you say. This program provides so much more, and is a great supplement to real-time protection (commercial or otherwise).

roj reviewed v2009-04-01 on Apr 1, 2009

Not really worth the download. The long-standing problem with this product is that it's free. Since it's free and maintained by ONE person, he can't possibly keep up with the latest and greatest nasties. That reduces the value of the product enormously.

Sorry, but the commercial products and even the freeware products sponsored by commercial concerns stomp all over it and the nasties sail by it laughing. Run your own tests - the truth will immediately become painfully obvious. If you really want to run something that you can use as a supplement to an AV program check out Malwarebytes. It REALLY works.

THREE stars for a good effort that falls far short.

madmike reviewed v2009-02-04 on Feb 6, 2009

The Defacto standard, nuff said

siggi reviewed v2008-12-30 on Dec 30, 2008

Excellent program...EXCEPT....PLEASE ADD: PAUSE SCANNING.
Because when I scan and I would like to PAUSE A WHILE....its NOT POSSIBLE!!

I have to stop the whole scanning process!!

Thank you very much for your cooperation with your excellent software program

Lawrence01 reviewed v2008-10-01 on Oct 1, 2008

I trust this more than some of the ones you have to pay for.

zeeZee reviewed v2008-09-03 on Sep 7, 2008

detection updates are frequent enough, still, after years of being a top piece of software.

jaguar reviewed v2008-04-16 on Apr 17, 2008

I've been using it for years on all my units (4) and I install it on all the units I build for friends. It does the job and does it very well indeed.
And for the price??...even if you paid for your version, don't grumble; other less efficient software costs more and does not come with a free option

Project51 reviewed v2008-04-16 on Apr 16, 2008

Still the best FREEWARE antispyware. PCmag will of course endorse only the paid antispyware... duh. After that it will ask you if you want to install and pay for Antispam, Antivirus, Antitrojan, Antihack, Antispyware all different product and all with difference pricetag.

RWW reviewed v2008-01-23 on Jan 26, 2008

Used this for a long time, excellent!
theqwerty: Where the hell you come from? Find a friend or brother-in-law or maybe the guy at work that knows a little bit about computers. Fix it.

mdn777901 reviewed v2008-01-16 on Jan 17, 2008

For what it does, it is intensive. But if you are having hardware problems, you can't blame software for hardware problems. Take your computer to a tech that KNOWS what he/she is doing!

marty reviewed v2008-01-16 on Jan 16, 2008

Mr or Ms theqwerty:

I have not posted a review in quite awhile. Simply put - you are an idiot. Blaming a great program like this on your misuse of your hardware sucks.

This program gets better and better. I use it on my three machines with the teatimer has just been great!

Reverb reviewed v2007-12-05 on Dec 6, 2007

@theqwerty:
I have a Toshiba Satellite and Thinkpad T40 and have never witnessed the error with the cooling fan you mention while running SS&D.

I do, however notice the 100% CPU consumption when performing scans and the difficulty in downloading updates (probably why they offer the detection updates here versus downloading from within the program). And still no fix for the annoying GUI bug in Teatimer? I realize I can use RESEDIT to hack and correct it but isn't that the developers' job since they have the source? It is for this reason I have reverted to WinPatrol and removed TeaTimer. SS&D still seems to be one the best on-demand freeware scanners in spite of the afore mentioned glitches since they do regular updates on the detection database.

mfarmilo reviewed v2007-11-21 on Nov 22, 2007

Still an excellent program, and far better than many of the paid ones out there. I use it regularly, on many machines. It does an extremely thorough scan, and hence takes a while (though no longer than many others). Parts of the scan are very cpu intensive, which could well cause problems with inadequately cooled processors. Notebooks in particular are notorious for attracting fur, which may not manifest until running a program like this. A notebook that overheats in that way needs cleaning, which is not the fault of the software run on it.

theqwerty reviewed v2007-11-21 on Nov 21, 2007

Never ever ever ever ever install it, whatever people say about it :-( It is soooooo bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have few free anti-virus anti-spyware programs (avg, PC Tools Spyware doctor, etc) installed. Everyone seemed to be so excited about this BS program I decided to give it a go. I have had this Toshiba Portege M200 for 1.5 years now at least. After the install and update and immunisation I let it run for about 3 min, my CPU went to 100% (all the time) and I got a following system warning "Warning. A problem with cooling system has been detected, Please turn off this computer immediately, and return it to service". I tried killing all the programs yet I would have 100% and the same warning even when no programs were running at all. Had to switch my notebook off manually, for the first time in a very long time.

I changed priority settings inside this BS program to "low". The same result. 100%, reboot with switch off button. few more attempts, the same results. I decided to uninstall this BS program, before that I tried to reverse the changes made to my system (there is an option inside this program). Had to reboot after uninstall.

Now every few hours I get the same 100% CPU Usage + cooling system problem. Who is on top of my processes list? "System idle process", "taskmgr", "explorer", opera, services.
This program sucks, to be avoided. Never done any reviews but this one is so bad I felt I had to do that.

Point Zero reviewed v2007-11-14 on Nov 14, 2007

Still one to keep.

Golden Falcon reviewed v2007-11-14 on Nov 14, 2007

Good program, had it a while. Awesome features of search before windows load (which fixes a lot of things). Good updates.

anomoly reviewed v2007-09-19 on Sep 25, 2007

It jacks my amd 2000 cpu up 100% and if you mistakenly tell it to update on startup and it gets bad checksum's, it will loop the update process repeatedly (at 100% cpu).
I stopped using this for a long time and just recently started using it again.
Rather unimpressive for a prog which has been out for years.

JonathanD reviewed v2007-07-18 on Jul 18, 2007

Its a shame that something like this is even needed... I remember a time when I didnt need a virus scanner or firewall or antispyware ! But since they ARE needed this is a darned good program and since its free that makes it all the better !

boaz reviewed v2007-06-27 on Jun 27, 2007

Nice spy-ware/ad-ware scanner & cleaner. I'm glad to see they are still updating it!

RaGhul reviewed v2007-05-23 on May 23, 2007

@clifton

Hahahah, although I too agree that Spybot is a great piece of software, don't be too quick to trash Symantec.

Sure, it's a resource hog, but it does provide very good detection. In fact, a few tech friends in my circle have very little RAM consumption with their SAV (Symantec Antivirus Corporate). Unfortunately, Syamantec concentrates their marketing efforts on pushing their bloated 'suite' packages down the line on the consumer level.

I wish Spybot 1.5 would come a little faster, but seeing as how it's developed by just one man, I'll have to wait.

clifton reviewed v2007-02-02 on Feb 5, 2007

This is the best freeware Anti-spyware that I have ever come across. And take a little advice from a professional that has been at this longer than you can count; Stay Away from anything with the name "SYMANTEC" on it.

Mlatino187 reviewed v2006-12-22 on Dec 30, 2006

free...is the best!!!

BUSIAK reviewed v2006-12-08 on Dec 10, 2006

Yeah Right! Sorry, SteveJohnSteele inspired me.

BUSIAK reviewed v2006-11-17 on Nov 18, 2006

Symantec... Year ago I wanted to install Norton AntiVirus 2005 after Norton AntiVirus 2004 and that was impossible. So I change my antivirus software for Avira solution. I don't use Symantec anymore and that's all I want to say about Symantec.

SteveJohnSteele reviewed v2006-11-10 on Nov 10, 2006

unfortunately Symantec have decided not to allow Norton Internet Security 2007 and SpyBot to be installed on the same PC

Shame on you Symantec

read more here...
http://www.safer-network...en/news/2006-09-29.html

paulm reviewed v2006-11-03 on Nov 4, 2006

"Have no need for it on my system since I don't install spyware "

Constust,
Um, your mistaken. Spyware is usually installed without your consent or knowledge. This is where products like Spybot are necessary. The only way you will often know your system is "infected" with spyware is running 2 or 3 antispyware scanners. If you claim to have NO spyware, you either haven't run a scan or you only visit a handfull of sites that are clean. Lucky you if you do.

Frostek reviewed v2006-11-03 on Nov 4, 2006

"I recently had my first and only spyware infection in several years (a trojan horse). Spybot missed it completely. So, for me the effectiveness of this software is 0%"

Given trojan horses have been around for YEARS I'd class them as a virus (albeit one that doesn't actually spread), not spyware. Didn't your virus checker catch it?

If you only run anti-spyware and no virus-checking software, that's not so good - the two applications are different, and although Spybot might count some trojans as spyware (eg. keyloggers), it's not really what it's meant for.

zapatero reviewed v2006-11-03 on Nov 3, 2006

I recently had my first and only spyware infection in several years (a trojan horse). Spybot missed it completely. So, for me the effectiveness of this software is 0%.

constust reviewed v2006-10-20 on Oct 20, 2006

Have no need for it on my system since I don't install spyware but it's great for cleaning out my relatives computers.

NyaR reviewed v2006-10-20 on Oct 20, 2006

spybot DOES have an autoupdate tool.. its had it from the start, years ago

utomo reviewed v2006-08-25 on Aug 25, 2006

Spybot need to update the software too. so it will become better, and include the latest definitions.
it will make more people download and use it, and more satisfy.
Thanks

Orbitration reviewed v2006-08-18 on Aug 19, 2006

There are 3 essential apps I use for most of my clients....
This is one of them. It usually gets around 99% of the issues out of the systems when they get infected.
HiJack This gets the other 1%.
Antivir does a decent job for free, and SpywareBlaster helps to prevent infection.
I haven't found one program, free or not, that does it all.
Free, did I mention that ? Well, you could donate if you wanted, but it's not required, esp. for home users.

mjm01010101 reviewed v2006-08-18 on Aug 19, 2006

months later, still no spyware.

I don't mean to harp on the point, but really, I haven't seen it in years. It's no longer the issue it was 2+ years ago.

jspratjr reviewed v2006-08-11 on Aug 12, 2006

Can't beat the price and continues to do it's job just fine.

marrix reviewed v2006-08-04 on Aug 5, 2006

Cutterschoice,
This is an interesting link in your post, indeed what is most curious is that the thread was started 17 March 2005, and the most recent post is 24 April'06.
Strange indeed!

Cutterschoice reviewed v2006-08-04 on Aug 4, 2006

Again this is a review, please read what your writing, although it's dated 2005, you don’t think spyware makers improve as time goes on, all I’m saying is still use free protection, although firefox is better for protection against spyware it is NOT a spyware remover, spybot if free if you don’t use it or a similar item then your a fool, if it picks up nothing then great, but one day it may surprise you, come on a little commonsense, try reading before commenting.

mjm01010101 reviewed v2006-08-04 on Aug 4, 2006

It's not an issue. I manage a 300 node domain, and we don't have spyware.
1. Run end-users as users. always.
2. Push firefox as their primary browser.
3. No spyware.

Yes I still use AV tools, and yes I still scan for spyware, but it doesn't come up anymore.

Cutterschoice reviewed v2006-07-28 on Aug 3, 2006

I'm surprised there's comments about spyware no longer being an issue, it's not the stuff you know about, it's the ones that you don't know about you have to worry about, and for a free program, get it use it, update it, what do you lose, nothing, but don't rely on this as your only spyware remover it's just a bit outdated, also no one can recommend a product, it's personal preference.

mjm01010101 reviewed v2006-07-21 on Jul 22, 2006

Indeed, it's less of an issue. I haven't had spyware period since moving to firefox, and I charge more per hour on machines where IE is the primary browser, so spyware isn't as big an issue anymore.

CGDracoKZ reviewed v2006-07-21 on Jul 21, 2006

I like it, but i don't like it's interface!

Psychlone reviewed v2006-07-14 on Jul 14, 2006

I use Spybot at least weekly on 5 different machines, and it is an invaluable tool that wouldn't be removed from my rigs if they started to charge money!
However, I have only 1 concern. Apparently, Spybot and the Vista themepack available out there are incompatible.
On my main rig, I have a Vista themepack (not the Brico pack, but another better one) and every time I try to download updates, it pops up a window with "Cannot start AVI" - and will not let me download anything...so I'm stuck downloading the updates manually.
To the devs of Spybot: Is there something that can be done to overcome this minor limitation of this outstanding software? - With so many people in bated anticipation of Vista, and utilizing the Vista themepacks while in wait, I can see this as an escalating problem (imagine all the people who won't immediately be able to get Vista when it's released, but still want the Vista 'Glass' look!!!)
4 Stars for an excellent product.
-1 Star for not fixing this ongoing issue (1+ year now)

Psychlone

ZenWarrior reviewed v2006-07-14 on Jul 14, 2006

Spyware is less of an issue?! And from what planet are you?

However, Spybot has indeed fallen far behind the times. It has not detected anything (that I *know* is there) in many, many, many scans now.

I use it only for its Tools section, and not for spyware.

arossetti reviewed v2006-07-14 on Jul 14, 2006

"as spyware seems less of an issue these days"

That may be one of the strangest, most bizarre comments I've read in a long, long time.

Great app. Wouldn't want to do without it.

mjm01010101 reviewed v2006-06-16 on Jun 16, 2006

Sadly, (or perhaps happily) I'm starting to rely less and less on this product. I think it was a pioneer upon it's introduction and over the years, but it's become less vital as spyware seems less of an issue these days. mjm01010101 will cease to review this one. bye! ;)

mjm01010101 reviewed v2006-05-19 on May 19, 2006

1. It needs better timeout detection.
2. It needs a better cancellation dialog for when you do update at startup.

Spybot needs better network speed detection. i.e., it's not always picking the fastest link for def updates, and often will stall and NOT timeout.

Otherwise, great app. I give it a 4.4

roj reviewed v2006-05-16 on May 16, 2006

Spybot was a great product. Let me clarify. The program itself is a good one. However, it is useless without adequate definition updates. This operation is essentially one individual who is swamped and cannot hope to keep up with what is happening out in NetLand. Windows Defender on the other hand has a major corporation behind it and catches about 85% of all the spyware thrown at it versus the 30 percent that Spybot does in our corporate tests.

If Spybot had the team behind it that Defender does, it would surely shine. As it is, it's next to useless.

In terms of useful ness it's worth ONE star. I'll give it THREE because it's a valient, if losing, effort to stand against the dark.

rip_pit reviewed v2006-05-12 on May 15, 2006

To fix the pop-up size in TeaTimer (when answers buttons are out of the window) you should look for the S&D14GUIPatch file which resolve the bug. Maybe it's fixed in the latests releases but in case you need it, browse this link: http://forums.spybot.inf...ad.php?t=122&page=5
S&D is one of the best in it's category, I mean freeware, powerfull and with regular updates.

mjm01010101 reviewed v2006-05-05 on May 5, 2006

I tested the reg monitor and decided it was a stupid feature and never used it again.

The advanced features are great, hidden for the newbs, and there for the people who need it.

bourgeoisdude reviewed v2006-05-05 on May 5, 2006

skulker: Update to the latest definition files (5-5-2006 or later). They fix this problem...

skulker reviewed v2006-05-02 on May 4, 2006

It seems people are posting general reviews of Spybot 1.4 here as well as reviewing the latest release, so I will too.
I liked Spybot 1.3 better than 1.4 though it was not as tunable......or maybe because of that! This version, as of early May 2006, still has a malformed popup window when a registry update is detected, and it is not readable, so hard to know what to click on to Ok or deny a change. I'm not the only one to report this on other sites.
Also, the tunables are too complex in Advanced in my opinion, or maybe it is just that the tutorial/help pages are not fleshed out enough to know how to wisely use the Advanced features. They need to come out with a Spybot 1.4.1 with improvements!!! Midniteskulker

Orbitration reviewed v2006-05-02 on May 2, 2006

Seems to work now, no false positives. Thanks for the update ;)

bourgeoisdude reviewed v2006-05-02 on May 2, 2006

Last version did have a few false positives--I think this release, rather than adding new detections, removed the false positives. No issues like the ones listed below...Spybot works fine with me.

Orbitration reviewed v2006-04-21 on Apr 21, 2006

Although I use this almost religiously, this update marked two valid files as a dialer and spyware.
It called my explorer shortcut (that I made on my quick launch bar) as Sfonditalia Dialer (which it certainly isn't), and it marked a valid Windows file (threadapi.tlb) as BPS Spyware, which is not.

I wrote them a quick email about the false positives, but no reply.

Just beware of blanketly accepting what Spybot marks as spyware, is all I can say.

All of a sudden I don't trust this program like I used to.

mjm01010101 reviewed v2006-04-14 on Apr 14, 2006

My old trusted padre. Many have come after you, but you and ad-aware are my good, trusted friends.

Bachalor reviewed v2006-03-10 on Mar 15, 2006

This software support us all, thanks a lot for this.

utomo reviewed v2006-02-10 on Feb 12, 2006

Good, they need to continuously update the software too.
it need some improvements to make the user feel more secure by using this products.

terracesider reviewed v2006-02-03 on Feb 4, 2006

A working mirror at last. Well done, File Forum.

Don Juan reviewed v2005-12-09 on Dec 9, 2005

Great piece of software. Download speed isn't an issue anymore since this site is now offered as a mirror to get the updates.

Inu-Ya reviewed v2005-11-03 on Nov 5, 2005

Updated, yet it still is slow on Downloading and Installing. I give it a 4 just cause I feel they can Improve on the speed of Installing the Updates and mainly Downloading them.

bourgeoisdude reviewed v2005-10-21 on Oct 21, 2005

Yes! Finally a mirror that will always work! Thanks betanews!

1uk3 reviewed v2005-10-21 on Oct 21, 2005

Great program! Full marks!

And I agree with wincement, nice one for becoming a mirror BetaNews/FileForum :) you rule!

wincement reviewed v2005-10-21 on Oct 21, 2005

Wow. It's nice to see Betanews has become an update mirror for Spybot updates. Run the update from inside Spybot, you'll see "BN FileForum (World)" listed as one of the mirrors!

BetaNews rocks.

As always, Spybot is the single best spyware solution. However, I always recommend using more than one anti-spyware program to make sure you're covered.

pyridox reviewed v2005-10-21 on Oct 21, 2005

Excellent. Highly reccomend it. I use Spybot & Ad-Aware. What one doesn't find, the other one does.

DIRKES reviewed v2005-10-17 on Oct 18, 2005

Only good experiences with it. Thanks to the author.

rafaelcage reviewed v2005-09-23 on Sep 24, 2005

It is fantastic and freeware!!!

guevara reviewed v2005-08-26 on Aug 27, 2005

exelent

Master- reviewed v2005-08-26 on Aug 26, 2005

Yes, one of the best! 5/5

tmaioli reviewed v2005-08-26 on Aug 26, 2005

Great product...always updating....and a must have. Thanks for a great product, one of the best.

kuncung reviewed v2005-06-24 on Jun 24, 2005

I think we all use & need this programs because we connected to internet almost all times. And that's where ads and spy's came into our computers. So, if you're not connected to the internet, you wouldn't need this update or this program at all.
So, i think the statement should be "if you have difficulty to use internal update" or something like that.
I use it, and powerfull enough for me.

cricri_pingouin reviewed v2005-06-17 on Jun 20, 2005

It is better because you can download the update, put it on whatever portable drive/media, and update the software on the computer of whoever do NOT have access to the internet! I can't believe some people actually need to be explained stuff like that.
Anyway, 5 from me, Spybot works great on all the machines I have it installed on, along with Ad-Aware Personal.

anomoly reviewed v2005-06-10 on Jun 11, 2005

"without the need for the included web update"? Let's see. I am on a web page now. How is this better? stupid a** statement

Bachalor reviewed v2005-06-02 on Jun 3, 2005

Absolutely helpfully and meaningfully - thanks for this Freeware.

mark777 reviewed v2003-09-13 on Sep 14, 2003

Correction -- the program is good, but the updater should check if the program had been installed prior to proceeding with its install.

christoofar reviewed v2003-09-03 on Sep 6, 2003

I've been using this freeware app for quite some time now (& have donated to the author for it) It works well, is often updated, and has found several exploits & scumware for me.
I never used a stopwatch to time it. I could care less...

Great app!

ogman reviewed v2003-09-03 on Sep 5, 2003

A great program just gets better. Kudos to the developers.

Floodland reviewed v2003-09-03 on Sep 5, 2003

Spybot is the best spyware remover upto date. I was using just adaware before, and tried spybot curiosly. Well, I found that is GREAT, the best, and it is more customizable, have inmunization against some spywares and is FAST.
I saw adaware 6 hanging (while scanning) for no aparent reason too much times lately. I expected a better program in adaware 6, and I think they made it worse than 5.xx, not better.
I can't understand who said spybot is slower than adaware: Adaware scans every file/registry key on hard disks, and spybot just scan for known bad folder/files/registry keys. So, adaware could be faster only if you have a really small hard disk to scan and and a pretty small registry. Otherwise, spybot is faster. I used both products on LARGE amount of different machines and found spybot is faster, allways.

chichiri reviewed v2003-09-03 on Sep 5, 2003

Yes jcgamer, you're right, I tested both on my AthlonXP 1700+ here and SSD takes 92 seconds where Ad-Aware takes a mere 29 seconds. Thats a breathtaking Difference of 62 seconds and as you are probably a very important person, whos minutes are worth 1000s, you are more than justified in giving that 1 star rating and making it look like a bad piece of software for the casual viewer here....

Bluezion reviewed v2003-09-03 on Sep 5, 2003

Ok...Adaware is really faster than Spybot. But since you mention that the latter is a good program, how is it that it worths a "bad rating"?!? Just because it's slower, it sucks? Pathetic...

jcgamer60 reviewed v2003-09-03 on Sep 5, 2003

look spybot is a good program but its not even close to the speed of adware. 20-30 seconds? Are you idiot the new adware 181 built is MUCH faster.

drzeyd reviewed v2003-08-14 on Aug 16, 2003

I like Spybot Search & Destroy, but this updater contains at least 2 files whose checksums are in error so it does not install properly. After using it, you will NOT be able to scan your system. Instead, use the UPDATE button on the program and try one of the mirror sites to download the Aug 15 updates--some of these also have the checksum error. There is one site in Australia that can be used to successfully used to download the updated files.

mikisu reviewed v2003-08-14 on Aug 15, 2003

Its there on the official site under SOFTWARE

jasinwa reviewed v2003-07-21 on Aug 1, 2003

Unknown...but how come my actual program updater won't find this and it's not on the Spybot website...

I'd be cautious on this one!