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Webroot Spy Sweeper - Windows Review
User Submitted Webroot Spy Sweeper - Windows Reviews
Date: 2008-12-29
Good program, poor customer service
Spysweeper seems to work well, but do not expect much in the way of customer service. E-mails may be answered only with links to "boilerplate" standard "solutions" which do not address the specific problems for which help was sought, and attempts to reach customer service by telephone are often unsuccessful due to long wait times or simply no answer at all. Sales pitches are prominent with this program. For example, the most recent version offers an online backup service for your files, but unfortunately the offer is made in the form of a pop-up which insistently and repeatedly demands that the subscriber establish a "backup account," and you may experience difficulty in silencing this annoying feature. (An inquiry as to how to turn it off was never answered, although I was eventually able to stop the pop-ups from appearing.) Despite these inconveniences, however, the program seems to work well. Once configured, it is fairly easy to use and finds more cookies, etc., than other programs I've tried. (Note: These comments refer to the basic program, not the anti-virus version.)
Date: 2008-12-18
Good Product - satisfied with customer support
I have used the plain vanilla version of spysweeper for several years on my two XP machines. I have run several spyware programs including Adware (free version), windows defender (MS)(free software) and Spybot also free software.
I run spysweeper on two different XP machines, one several years old. The only annoyance I have found was that spysweeper will run during bootup on my slower machine really slowing down the boot up time. I disabled spysweeper to run only on demand on my slower machine.
I have never found spyware with any of my spyware programs as I regularly update their definitions and run all of them at least once a week. I keep XP updated with the latest security updates with the exception of SP3 as I have heard people have had problems with SP3.
I found customer support good and overall recommend the product. Definitions are updated regularly and there can be several free program updates through the year. There have been no issues (program hangs, etc)running the software.
Remember to disable the email shield checking if you have other software that checks email like norton. i found with my slower system that everytime i would send an email from outlook express spysweeper would run slowing down the system. I have zone alarm as my firewall and disabled email checking there also to keep my system from bogging down.
I run Spysweeper, Ad-aware, Norton AV 2007, Zone Alarm, and windows defender with no compatibility issues. The spyware programs are run separately on demand.
Date: 2008-12-17
Glad to be rid of this one
This program suffered from repeated lock-ups on my Windows XP computer. I'm glad my subscription expired and am rid of it. I don't think it every found any malware, just caused problems.
Date: 2008-12-01
Competent product, diminished by cookie reporting deficiencies, and ill-advised sales nags.
This version of Spysweeper is somewhat improved over version 5.X. In particular, the availability of a "no extra charge" firewall, i.e., the Webroot Desktop Firewall, is a nice advance. It means that the chances of incompatibility between your anti-malware, anti-virus, and software firewall are now significantly reduced.
As noted in my earlier review of version 5.x, Spysweeper was one of the first quality anti-malware programs available. Although there are now a number of free products with similar or, arguably, enhanced capabilities. So an important question is how does this version stack up.
The software has not changed greatly. The interface is essentially identical. Full sweeps are still quite long, even on a quad core system with four gigabytes of RAM. Although one reviewer for an earlier version mentioned sweeps completed in 5-6 minutes, I've never had sweep times even approach those results for the earlier version or this later one. With this version my sweep times have been reduced below an hour, while they exceeded an hour with the earlier 5.X version. It's uncertain if inherent sweep speed has actually gone down or not, as my CPU, memory, and disk speeds are better than with the original system. Of course, it's also not clear if the relatively long sweep times are due to thoroughness or to inefficient algorithm designs. Faster sweeps can be achieved using the "quick sweep" option. However, if you're going to check you system for malware, it seems a "full sweep" is most appropriate.
Spysweeper continues to have implementation deficiencies. It still specifies the number of cookies it finds. However, unless it determines a cookie is a problem, e.g., a tracking cookie, it provides no further information. A clearly better approach would be for Spysweeper to list all cookies it finds with their location and allow users to decide which, if any, cookies to keep. However, Spysweeper has not advanced in this area from their previous versions.
Some of my disappointment with Spysweeper relates to the company's intrusive sales "nags" after purchase, while making it difficult to avoid or eliminate them. For example, when you select "Check for Updates" manually from the Spysweeper "Home" page, your browser is opened and you are taken to one of the company's web pages (nag screens) -- even if your product is up-to-date. There you'll find the option to add (buy) "Webroot Internet Security Essentials". This is an unnecessary, and time-wasting annoyance. Other competitor's products, some available for free, simply download program updates automatically if needed, without requiring your browser to be opened, and presenting you with nag ads each time you request a manual update. Spysweeper should certainly consider removing this "feature" in the near future.
During a Spysweeper installation, Spysweeper may not be the only software you will be installing. The default during the Spysweeper installation process is to also install the "Ask" search bar in your browser without requiring your specific approval. If you are not alert this will be done automatically. Clearly an "op-in" for a possibly undesired feature would be more appropriate than Webroot's "op-out" requirement. As the Ask toolbar is available for free download from Ask at anytime, the current default installation is not a service to Webroot customers. If you do not want the Ask toolbar added to your browser, carefully check your options as you install Spysweeper
Spysweeper is still a quite competent product, albeit, with some technical issues. However, in rating it I considered not only its technical features, but also how user-friendly I felt it was for a purchased product. In this comparison, Spysweeper's unnecessary sales pitch each time you manually check for an update, and its ill-advised tactic of opting you in for the installation of a browser toolbar without your explicit approval, were significant negatives. The value difference and user-friendliness between Spysweeper and free competitors appears to be diminishing.
Date: 2008-11-30
OK but clumsy for limited account
It seems OK, but it pesters you if you don't do scheduted scans for BOTH the administrator and each limited user; the limited user scans should not be necessary.
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