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Entered CNET Catalog: 12/07/2005
SKU: 0705381103974
Manufacturer: Encore Software Inc.
Manufacturer description
Spyware Doctor delivers award-winning, triple protection for your PC through real-time threat blocking, advanced system scanning, and thorough immunization against infections. Defend your privacy from prying eyes and virtual trespassers with the most up to date and complete protection for your PC.Product summary
The good: Easy to use; very informative; fast and thorough scans.
The bad: Expensive.
The bottom line: Spyware Doctor is easy to use and fast, and it detects and removes an impressive variety of malware.
CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 02/28/2006
Spyware Doctor from PC Tools Software is a polished and solid contender in the antispyware category. Sporting a sleek and easy-to-use interface, Spyware Doctor also packs a lot of protection under the hood and is backed up by one of the most aggressive spyware identification programs in the business. In testing done by CNET Download.com, Spyware Doctor 3.2 did very well, finishing near the top of the list for removing known spyware and tying for fourth with Webroot Spy Sweeper for overall performance. Since the December 2005 Download.com tests, PC Tools has released Spyware Doctor 3.5, which, in addition to other minor enhancements, offers advanced rootkit protection (a feature we did not test for in other apps). Spyware Doctor costs $29.95, which entitles you to 12 months of technical support, software upgrades, and live updates to its antispyware definitions. There is a free trial version available online, but it only identifies and doesn't remove any malicious programs it finds on your system unless you buy the app, a practice we think is just plain wrong. That said, Lavasoft Ad-aware, which offers a fully functioning free version, remains our overall recommendation for best antispyware application.
Installation is a breeze, and pressing the Finish button causes Spyware Doctor to launch its Live Update feature, which goes out and checks for the latest spyware database additions and program updates, then performs a full system scan. Spyware Doctor's scans were faster than most of the other antispyware programs' we've seen, but it still managed to catch all of the spyware we threw at it. There are also options for a Quick Scan, which didn't actually seem much quicker, and a Custom Scan.
Spyware Doctor is intuitive and easy to use, and all of its features are clearly labeled and accessible. In addition to the expected spyware scanning, there's a host of system immunization and real-time monitoring features available in the OnGuard section. Spyware Doctor also now has a powerful scheduler that allows you to automate full system scans, quick scans, and even its live program updates.
Spyware Doctor is one of the most aggressive antispyware programs we've tested, going beyond the call of duty by dealing with more than just traditional adware and spyware. Spyware Doctor also manages your tracking cookies; guards against changes to your browsers, start-up, and network configurations; and defends against illicit dialer and key-logger programs, and version 3.5 discovers and immunizes your PC against rootkits.
In testing performed by CNET Download.com, PC Tools Spyware Doctor took 21 minutes, 5 seconds to finish a full scan. This app found all of the big-name apps that we knew were present, but it also offered some vague entries that we could not confirm. While we liked the itemized list of threats, Spyware Doctor offered little information within the program about those threats, though it did offer links to Web pages that included detailed information. After removal and restart, Spyware Doctor left only one trace of spyware on our test machine.
Technical support via e-mail is included in the annual subscription price, and support requests are normally processed within 24 hours. There is also an extensive FAQ and tip section on the PC Tools Web site and a very thorough integrated help system.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 User Rating: 
1/10
Total Trash!
Pros: It was cheap. The Cheap comes out Expensive!!!!
Cons: Doesn't and didn't work! No tech support online. Took over a day to answer my questions with an email full of questions!
User Rating: 1/10
Dangerous product
Pros: Easy to download and run.
Cons: Dangerous...can cause damage to your disk
User Rating: 
2/10
Absolute "WORST" Antispyware product I have ever used!!
Pros: Not One Single Thing (Oh! The little Doctor Character is cool looking)
Cons: Slows Down PC by 50% at least. Locks up PC Constantly. Missed 17 malwares on my PC One of which broke through my Firewall. Stay away from anything PC Tools sells.
User Rating: 2/10
doesnt recognize or fix about:blank
Pros: It did find some spyware on my machine.
Cons: The fully paid for version doesnt work!!!
User Rating: 1/10
If you hate money, but love spyware! BUY THIS PRODUCT!
Pros: Um, a false sense of security, for a day or so?
Cons: Doesn't work
Support does not respond, EVER
Doesn't work
Impossible to get a refund
Doesn't work
User Rating: 1/10
Total Failure
Pros: None at all
Cons: failed to remove spyware
User Rating: 
9/10
Fanatastic product served as advertised.
Pros: Removed all of the adware and trogans attacking my system very quickly and is easy to operate.
Cons: Did have a couple hiccups at first after installation as the SpyDoc intigrated intself into my PC.
It wasnt until I gave up on Norton and went with SpyDoctor ( after spending over 30 hours trying to rid my system of the crap ) did my troubles finally get resolved in a very timely manner with little effort on my end. Would reccomend it to others.
User Rating: 1/10
Finally just gave up
Pros: There are no Pros
Cons: difficult to use
I finally just deleted the entire product although I still had over six months of paid subscription. I purchased SD after reading reviews on several "reliable" sites including but not limited to CNET.
User Rating: 
3/10
Don't buy this!
Pros: easy to install; you can get 6 months license
Cons: SLOWS your computer to a crawl
User Rating: 3/10
Good product with ROTTEN updates
Pros: Easy to use and navigate, operates very well, keeps you well, informed on functions that it has performed.
Cons: You will learn to fear using the "Automatic Update". There is always a problem afer updating that usually takes an hour or more to resolve.
The problems start when they send you the first "Automatic Update" and will continue on EVERY future "Automatic Update". Spyware Doctor products do NOT operate when other Virus protectins are present within the same computer!!! Thus the Support Staff informed me....I removed EVERY and ANY virus protection I had in my computer.....and still had problems with their "Automatic Updates".....the only way to fix the issue is to perform a FULL removal of Spyware Doctor Products and go to the Spyware Doctor site and RE-Download the product that you purchased, thus you will run with the new update....until the next "Automatic Update" is requested.
Figure this out before your first 30 days of using the prduct or your money is gone. They have an excellent support site....they have every error listed that you see after an "Automatic Update" unfortunatley, you will not be able to access the Program on your PC, your PC is locked up, or the problem has locked your system from accessing the web. Have access to another PC, you may need it to access the support site.
User Rating: 9/10
Best Perfect
Pros: Best Perfect
Cons: Best Perfect
User Rating: 
5/10
Okay, but not a 10
Pros: Works fairly well
Cons: Works very slowly
User Rating: 5/10
Computer slowed down considerably using Spyware Doctor
Pros: I guess it worked
Cons: Crashed and slowed down computer. Locked up after upgrading to SD 5.0. The daily manual apdates are annoying
User Rating: 
4/10
Work well, very very slow
Pros: Cleans well
Cons: Slows web browsing and system startup way down
User Rating: 
8/10
Knute Rockne Would be Proud.A block of Granite!
Pros: Count on it-It is good to reliable to excellent
Cons: This does so much however it can do it very fast,maybe to fast?
User Rating: 9/10
Not a problem
Pros: Fast & Effective
Cons: None worse than any other program
User Rating: 9/10
Renewed for another year...
Pros: Scans are intensive. Finds alot of my spyware issues
Cons: Email support is slow so use online chat
I did have an issue in renewing my subscription for my id key was not recognized, but I used the online chat which was available and got my issue resolved. I saved 10 dollars since I was a return customer.
User Rating: 1/10
spyware doctor is a QUACK
Pros: effective, I guess ...
Cons: they trick you into thinking it's free...
User Rating: 9/10
I love Spyware Doctor
Pros: Kicks but on spyware.
Cons: Smart update
User Rating: 9/10
Best Spyware Protection I have used
Pros: Excellent protection
Cons: Uses lots of memory, automatic updating could be better.
User Rating: 1/10
Plan on getting to know Tech Support
Pros: There aren't any
Cons: Slow scans, many bugs, no fixes
User Rating: 3/10
Still waiting for support response
Pros: Product works very well
Cons: Still no response from support
pctools has resolved my problem.
pctools support has resolved my problem.
User Rating: 9/10
easy to use, competent product, I have been
Pros: easy to use, competent product, I have been
Cons: really not any to speak of except the price
it for more than 2 years and I find it to be trustworthy. I am really writing this to contradict a couple of user comments that are negative to this product. They Are Nuts!!! Only a week user would have bad things to say; sure the free version, like so many others is not a fully operable product, So I say, Break out the $30.00 and find out how it really works. After all, there is a money back guarantee. Also the support people are nice and very helpfull!!
User Rating: 9/10
Only Webroot spysweeper can match it
Pros: Rated 1st or second in removal
Cons: Update system dated
User Rating: 8/10
Spyware doctor caught many items the top products failed to, including Mcaffee.
Pros: Removes items thoroughly, and quickly.
Cons: Application load time is somewhat slow, and opens slightly offscreen.
User Rating: 1/10
Waste of time!!!!!
Pros: Absolutely none
Cons: Too many to list
User Rating: 2/10
The most annoying spyware program I've ever used!
Pros: Seems to take care of most problems
Cons: Can't get it to stop taking over IE & takes long to start up
User Rating: 1/10
This is not a useful product, and is even dangerous to your system.
Pros: Spyware Doctor seems able to find some spy ware that Norton has overlooked. That in itself is a matter of opinion, but let's give them the benefit of the doubt.
Cons: The so-called Shareware test version is not. It downloads, gives you a long list of presumed spyware on your machine, but will not clean. To clean, you must pay them first.
User Rating: 3/10
Use caution with this software.
Pros: The software found a lot of potential spyware.
Cons: Caused problems with windows xp
The other computer began operating very slowly.
Software only had a temporary effect on sweepstakes.com IE hijacking.
User Rating: 9/10
Absolutely superior spyware detection and removal!
Pros: Extremely effective!!
Cons: Runs very slow (and I have a Pentium D @ 2.8 with 2GB of RAM)
Spyware Doctor was the only program that was able to rid me of the problem. In that respect, it is a superior program.
However, the interface is not as sleek and user-friendly as Spy Sweeper which is why I still use Spy Sweeper as my full-time guardian while using Spyware Doctor periodically to do full system scans. And despite me having a very fast computer, it runs slow. The average full system scan for me takes about an hour. Sometimes longer. Considering the most effective way to rid yourself of spyware is to run three consecutive scans in safe mode, this is obviously time-comsuming. That (plus the interface) is the only reason I didn't give it a perfect 10.
User Rating: 1/10
Worst of the worst
Pros: None don't waste your time
Cons: Poorly designed, want an arm and a leg to use it
deff don't pay for it if you want a great
program that works try Counter Spy, it works
very well and like AVG you can test it for
yourself..and decide, Spyware Doctor is
over rated and over priced for poor programing.
User Rating: 9/10
wowa good good good
Pros: easy to use
Cons: price sadly every good pro is so expensive
User Rating: 9/10
The best I've used (so far)
Pros: Cleaned up our laptops at work better than the others.
Cons: Tends to slow down your PC when monitoring is enabled.
I've installed Spyware doctor on about 6 Laptops at work (so far).
User Rating: 2/10
Editor's Choice???
Pros: Too angry to consider
Cons: Absolutely.
It's loaded with "functions" under OnGuard. I have had to systematically disable nearly every one due to conflicts with other software on my systems (see other post re: chkdsk as example). In fact, whenever there's a strange problem... apps not working, crashes, freezes, etc. the thing I do first is disable SpyWare Doctor. 99% of the time, the problem is solved.
Tech Support has had me disable their "features" one-by-one. One example is "Process Guard". I remember being told to add conflicting programs to its ignore list. That list became so long that I of course just disabled the "feature".
I try to tweak my systems for optimum performance for extensive multimedia use. But sometimes they will seem to grind to a crawl. Bring up Task Manager and 99% of the time, there's SpyWare Dr. churning away at the top of the CPU hog list.
Even the smallest of things can be a hair-pulling experience. I mean, is it absolutely necessary for it to throw up a large splash screen that WON'T GET OUT OF THE WAY so that you can use your other software? Being a hog, that splash screen seems to be up forever. Guess I'm just memory-challenged, but by the time the splash screen disappears, I've forgotten what I was going to do. Maybe I should start writing things on a piece of paper. Hmmm. Thought that's what my computer was for.
And after all this time you still cannot control/deactivate its sounds. This was acknowledged by their Tech Support and is quite important on my audio processing systems.
It's an "Editor's Choice" over at pcmag.com and maybe it's the same, but I thought I saw it here on C-net with an "Editor's Choice" designation. I could be wrong. But I do wonder why reviews don't seem to care about system, application and resource hogs and conflicts. This is an eye opener. I will certainly rely far less on "editor reviews" from now on. I'll look for other users' opinions.
User Rating: 1/10
poor spyware program
Pros: identified and got rid of spy ware
Cons: Slowed internet use
Poor refund policy. One must submit a written affadavit with a number provided by the company. To date, no number has been provided.
User Rating: 8/10
Saved me a ton of trouble
Pros: Worked great for removing all the nasties.
Cons: Didn't remove registry problems from spyware
User Rating: 1/10
Sorry this didn't do it for me!
Pros: Did a thorough system scan
Cons: Wouldn't let me fix anything without purchasing and now I can't get rid of it!
User Rating: 8/10
Works for me.
Pros: I've never had a problem with it.
Cons: It doesn't get everything.
User Rating: 1/10
Product sucks worse than a black hole
Pros: Easy to use if you want to use it
Cons: gives false positives, won't let you use chkdsk
User Rating: 8/10
accurate,easy to use interface
Pros: detects most of the spyware,adware,keyloggers
Cons: eats ram, pop ups asking for active protection
User Rating: 9/10
excellent, no more spyware disturbing you
Pros: excellent, no more spyware disturbing you
Cons: excellent, no more spyware disturbing you
User Rating: 4/10
OK, but stops you from checking or defragging your drives!
Pros: Very Aggressive at spyware removal
Cons: Misses some Data Miner cookies, Stops XP Utilities
User Rating: 9/10
Easy to use, excellent performance, pricey
Pros: Removed spyware that were missed by MS Anti-spyware, Lavasoft Ad-Aware and Spybot
Cons: Free version identifies but does not remove spyware - that hardly qualifies as a free VERSION
I also like that it blocks pop-ups and provides watch-dog functions far beyond that of the garden variety anti-spyware programs.
As the CNET review mentions, it is inexcusable that they advertise a "free" version that only identifies spyware but does not actually remove them. That one gripe aside, I am thrilled at having rid my PC of all that junk. Great job!
User Rating: 
6/10
Depends on the OS
Pros: Great for XP
Cons: Not good for W98
The first run got rid of my major problem, and subsequent runs removed more and more garbage from my computer.
I wish I could say that the program worked as well on my W98 computer, but each time I tried to load it, it froze the computer with no obvious way to get past the block. The computer ignored the 'three-finger salute' and any other attempts to get it past the SD load.
The support page for the product gives instructions on how to disable SD at startup, but you must get past the startup freeze to try it.
I was able to bypass the startup of SD buy constantly checking the windows 98 task list and stopping SD as soon as I found it. I then deleted the program and tried the install again with the same results.
So, my opinion is...
If you are using the program on a XP machine, then this product is great. If you are a 98 user, forget it.
Worst still, I could find no information on any website that could offer any help
User Rating: 9/10
I have been very satisfied.
Pros: Simple,Clean,quick,updates daily
Cons: Nothing significant
User Rating: 2/10
Awful Support, Poor Product
Pros: Works in Safe Mode!
Cons: Freezes machine on start-up
