Advice, please.

Well it's not surprising that your spyware doctor is running all the time. It's job is to monitor for bad stuff so it does always need to be on. Just like virus protectors too.

That being said, could it be running excess stuff as well? Sure. But you said your computer is running slower. Do you mean it's been running slower ever since you got the Spyware Doctor program or has it just been running slower in general?

Try this out Jim, it works really well... Reader's Digest even did an article on it...

http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

Don't worry, it's free...

CCleaner is more of a cache and history flush program, not a spyware/malware control tool. Spyware doctor is great, but it is also not uncommon for a lot of anti-spyware software to become compromised by spyware themselves.

I would recommend updating your actual anti-virus software (which do you use?) and then doing a scan with that. Also, Spybot - Search and Destroy is a great piece of free software, which you can do a one-off scan of your computer with to double check if there are any malware infections.

In terms of anti-virus in general, there are a lot of really good free ones available now. Microsoft's offering (Security Essentials) is actually really good and I suggest downloading and installing that. It will essentially replace the need for a separate Arti-virus and spyware software, as it is a good all-in-one package already.

Avast! is also a great piece of free anti-virus software (I have been using if for years)... and combining that with the occasional scan using "Spybot Search and Destroy", and also "Malware Bytes - Anti Malware", I have been pretty much virus and malware free for years.

Hope this helps!

-Cub. =o)

All he said was that his computer was Slowing down... CCleaner helps clean your Registry, all those keys left over when you uninstall programs and whatnot will slow your computer down...

I wasn't recommending it as a Spyware tool... For Spyware I would recommend Ad-Watch by lavasoft...

http://lavasoft.com/

It is also free, unless you want the Pro version, which you don't need, the free one works well enough...

I used use spyware doctor for a few years & got rid of it about 1 year ago. Boggs down your system too much. it was okay until they included antivirus in the package. When I used it there were heaps of people complaining to Pc tools about it. I still use registry mechanic.

I now use eset nod 32 which is very light in the background .

I also use Malwarebytes Anti-Malware whenever I want to check for spyware. It's a great program. Other than that I've also tried Spybot - Search And Destroy although it hasn't been perfect at removing everything I might have encountered. I also tried with Lavasoft Ad-Aware but that didn't cut it either for me.

I've actually grown to use and love the free Comodo Internet Security which is both Antivirus and Firewall. It grabs a lot of stuff and warns you about it before it infects the computer. I know at first that one would have to make a lot of "Allow Request" clicks, but it works great.

AVG is actually a good program too which I recommend to others who don't want to go through the trouble of allowing requests from Comodo all the time, so they can just have AVG installed and use the Windows Firewall.

First, thank you all for your help; you continue to amaze!

Second, I really like Spyware Doctor for some of the reasons mentioned above. I do not want to stop it because it really works! Spybot and other free programs do not remove most viruses although I do not get many of those anyway. Still, it is frustrating to have my computer run so slow.

Third, I used the PC cleaner Baf recommended and that seemed to help a lot. Also, I noticed, when using Task Manager, a program called dumprep.exe that was using a lot of my cpu. I did a google search and found out what it was and learned how to turn it off. That helped too!

Now my computer is moving much faster. Thanks again!

love the photo jim

plumgas wrote:love the photo jim

Yeah me too... are you doing a Dr Evil post in that shot, Jim?

-Cub. =o)

Not exactly. You see, I had hair back then and I was trying to straighten it a bit before the photo was taken.

Actually, I don't remember this pic at all. I was only 2 years old.

it's a shame it's so far away, can't see your face

Hey Jim what Browser do you use???


I was looking around and found something out about Firefox that might be causing you to run slower if you are using Firefox...

I haven't tried it yet, but I have noticed Firefox being a little sluggish, so I might give it a try myself...




Anyone know about plugin-container.exe???

Either IE or Mozilla Firefox.

What is plugin-container.exe?

plugin-container.exe is something that Firefox put into their Browsers 3.6 and higher... It is a safety feature for plugins like shockwave and flash and others... What it does is if those plugins crash, instead of your whole browser crashing, that file absorbs the crash and allows you to continue browsing and I guess it kind of reboots the plugin without you having to reload your browser... A pretty good feature, but it tends to slow down a lot of people's browsers and computers...

Here is a page that tells you how to disable plugin-container.exe if you continue to see Firefox running kind of glitchy...

http://www.technogadge.com/how-to-stop- ... e-process/


I followed the steps and have noticed Firefox running a bit better... I have some other problems with my computer that tend to slow me up, but I haven't found anything I can do about those...

Can't wait for my X-Mas present to myself, a New Computer... lol