PC Tools announces the launch of the latest release of multi-award winning Spyware Doctor, Version 5.5.

PC Tools announces the launch of the latest release of multi-award winning PC Tools Spyware Doctor®, Version 5.5.

Building on the success of PC Tools Spyware Doctor 5, version 5.5 has been upgraded to provide minimal impact to computer performance and user friendly functionality.

New features include enhanced rootkit detection and removal, enhanced real-time protection at the kernel level, reduced memory usage, network guard enhancements and automated threat evaluation.

“PC Tools has recognised the inability of most anti-spyware products to provide consumers with an advanced, yet user friendly offering that provides superior protection and reduces both user interaction and memory usage,” said Simon Clausen, Chief Executive Officer, PC Tools. “We are confident that the latest release of PC Tools Spyware Doctor meets these objectives and continues to be the most advanced product on the market” said Clausen.

Consistently awarded Editor’s Choice awards by leading PC Magazines and testing laboratories worldwide and downloaded by over a hundred million users globally, PC Tools Spyware Doctor continues to detect, remove and block all types of malware including spyware, adware, spyware Trojans, rootkits, keyloggers and a variety of other security related risks. OnGuard real-time protection also protects the user from malicious phishing websites.

PC Tools Spyware Doctor 5.5 provides

Enhanced Rootkit Removal - PC Tools Spyware Doctor 5.5 now has upgraded rootkit removal techniques that reduce the number of system reboots previously required to remove some of the most difficult rootkits.

Improved Real - time Kernel Level Protection - unlike previous versions, the OnGuard real-time protection in PC Tools Spyware Doctor 5.5 can now make decisions on threats earlier, at the kernel level, to help improve performance.

Reduced Memory Usage - the overall memory usage and footprint for PC Tools Spyware Doctor 5.5 has been reduced to ensure minimal impact to computer performance.

Network Guard Enhancement - Network Guard has been upgraded to include additional protection against new threats that attack network registry settings, thus preventing them from interfering with your Internet connection.

Intelli-risk Rating - in previous versions of PC Tools Spyware Doctor unnecessary warnings may have occurred with inactive traces of threats rated as high risk. Now in PC Tools Spyware Doctor 5.5, the intelli-risk rating system ranks threats by rating inactive traces of threats detected according to the actual risk posed.

Automated Threat Evaluation – PC Tools Spyware Doctor 5.5 now incorporates automatic threat evaluation, providing standardised descriptions that allow easy differentiation and understand detected threats.

PC Tools Software products

PC Tools Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus , PC Tools Desktop Maestro - Registry Cleaning, System Monitoring & Privacy Cleaning , PC Tools Registry Mechanic - Improves PC Reliability & Performance , PC Tools Free PC Scan - Spyware Doctor , PC Tools All-in-one Security featuring , PC Tools Software Awards , PC Tools Internet Security product information

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PC Tools Spyware Doctor 2007

PC Tools Spyware Doctor 2007

from: reviews.cnet.com

The good: Spyware Doctor's interface is intuitive and easy to use.

The bad: Spyware Doctor 5 suffers from software glitches; failed to identify or remove a test Trojan horse; returned a high number of false positive or extremely low-risk results; doesn't include telephone support.

The bottom line: Until this recent release, Spyware Doctor was one of the better antispyware choices. Nettlesome glitches and a low rate of spyware removal, however, keep us from recommending Spyware Doctor 5 for now

Reviewed on 3/22/07

Updated on: 4/23/07

Release date: 3/15/07

PCTools Spyware Doctor is one of the last independent antispyware apps on the market, and, until this recent release, was one of the better choices. Version 5 introduces new under-the-hood protection--and a number of nettlesome software glitches. In testing done by CNET Labs, Spyware Doctor did shield us from and identify already installed spyware in six out of eight test cases, but it failed to remove the load points for more than half the spyware samples within our test group.

Last year, we liked Spyware Doctor 3.2, praising its "sleek and easy-to-use interface" and noting that it "packs a lot of protection under the hood and is backed up by one of the most aggressive spyware identification programs in the business." What a difference a year makes. PC Tools appears to be heading somewhere significant with the changes introduced in Spyware Doctor 5; it's just not there yet.

Setup
From the start, we found the Spyware Doctor download process to be confusing. The Start Spyware Scan Now button on the PCTools site is the button to start the file download, but that could be made more clear. Once downloaded, Spyware Doctors launches an installation wizard that walks you through the process. We like that the Spyware Doctor Smart Update is automatic, and this is accomplished before first use. But the download files themselves are a la carte, with the option not to download and install any one piece, and you have to hit Next to continue the process. Dial-up users may be tempted to download only a few of the recommended updates, which would be a mistake.

Note: The free trial copy of Spyware Doctor will not remove any spyware found until you purchase the full product. You can also download the free Spyware Doctor Starter Edition via Google Pack, however you'll also be downloading a fair number of other apps that you may or may not want.

Should you want to remove Spyware Doctor 5, there's a handy uninstall icon provided in the All Programs list. After uninstall, however, we found several traces of Spyware Doctor still in the system registry. This surprised us, since most of the antispyware apps we tested had totally clean uninstalls.

Interface
In general, we found Spyware Doctor 5 to be buggy. On different machines, the Spyware Doctor 5 sometimes crashed upon launch, or froze while finalizing a scan; in a few cases, we had to use the Windows Task Manager to kill the executable and start over. Once running, the Spyware Doctor's interface is intuitive and easy to use.

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 includes a powerful scheduler that allows you to automate full system scans, quick scans, and even live program updates.

But for every action--if we initiated a scan, or wanted to enable a feature, for instance--we noticed several personal firewall alerts; Spyware Doctor appears to call home for every detail. Even so, after a full system scan, our attempt to learn more about an item that Spyware Doctor had labeled as a high-risk cookie went unsatisfied.

The link for "more information" opened our default browser and took us to a PC Tools page, but it was a page that talked generally about phishing threats and not specifically about what Spyware Doctor found on our machine.
FeaturesOther than antispyware protection, Spyware Doctor 5 doesn't offer a lot of additional features; the improvements, we're told, are internal.

The enhanced antirootkit protection within Spyware Doctor 5 is disabled by default. There's a warning on the configuration screen that enabling this feature requires vigilance, as the PCTools antirootkit heuristic findings may include false positives.

Real-time protection can be enabled or disabled, a curious distinction. One might disable real-time protection, for example, to lessen the impact on system resources, relying upon a thorough scan of the system to root out any spyware that had recently installed.

But we found during various scans that Spyware Doctor never consumed more than 20 percent of our system resources.

PerformanceOverall, Spyware Doctor earned a slightly below average rating among the 10 antispyware apps we tested.

Spyware Doctor 5.0 did find more cookies than any other product we tested, although in a number of cases we were unable to confirm the severity of the specific cookies on independent antispyware sites, leaving us to wonder whether these suspicious cookies were truly dangerous.

In exclusive testing by CNET Labs, Spyware Doctor's active shields identified and blocked six out of eight spyware samples we attempted to install, missing only Compare-prices.zip and Marketscore. When scanning and removing existing spyware samples, Spyware Doctor also caught six out of eight, missing Compare-prices.zip and Clickpix.

But when it comes to spyware removal, in a majority of the cases-- five out of eight--Spyware Doctor didn't completely remove the registry load-point entries even on spyware it identified, lowering the product's overall score. In our tests, Spyware Doctor left traces of Compare-Prices.zip, ClickPix, JustFindIt toolbar, MarketScore, NewDotNet/eZula.

Support
Upon installation, PcTools offers Spyware Doctor users a Quick Start guide, a general one-page guide to the program's basic features. Online, we found the Spyware Doctor FAQ to be adequate. After viewing the FAQ, you can answer whether the questions and answers were helpful. Saying "No" moves you to an e-mail feedback page. PCTools offers 24-7 telephone technical support at 1-800-764-5783.

Conclusion
Within a year, Spyware Doctor went from version 3 to version 5, and along the way it appears to have encountered many problems, including some software glitches. We assume the software will be fixed soon enough, and we look forward to seeing future enhancements of this Spyware Doctor--including antivirus protection--in next year's review.

Other PC Tools products:

PC Tools Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus, PC Tools Desktop Maestro - Registry Cleaning, System Monitoring & Privacy Cleaning, PC Tools Registry Mechanic - Improves PC Reliability & Performance, PC Tools Free PC Scan - Spyware Doctor, PC Tools All-in-one Security featuring, PC Tools Software Awards, PC Tools Internet Security product information

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CA Anti-Virus Plus CA Anti-Spyware 2008

by zdnet.com :

The good: CA Ani-Virus Plus CA Ani-Spyware 2008 combines antivirus and antispyware protection, and it's faster than last year's offering.

The bad: CA Ani-Virus Plus CA Ani-Spyware 2008 lacks adequate technical support. It also attempts to download the Yahoo toolbar during installation.

The bottom line: CA Ani-Virus Plus CA Ani-Spyware 2008 holds the middle ground this year, featuring faster code but lacking any compelling "must-have" features.

CA Ani-Virus Plus CA Ani-Spyware 2008 holds the middle ground, neither improving nor declining with this year's offering. The code is leaner, resulting in faster scans; however, there are too few features here to warrant much excitement. Also, this is the only antivirus product we tested that attempted to download a third-party toolbar during installation. And we are puzzled why a major security company like CA doesn't provide more technical support for its consumer products. If you're looking for economy, choose BitDefender Anivirus 2008. If you're looking the best antivirus product for 2008, we recommend Kaspersky Ani-Virus 2008, our Editors' Choice.

Setup
CA Ani-Virus Plus CA Ani-Spyware 2008 includes three PC licenses at $49.95. By comparison, BitDefender Antivirus offers its three-user license for $29.95. Kaspersky offers its single license at $49.95, and charges $59.95 for its three-user license. CA Ani-Virus Plus CA Ani-Spyware 2008 runs on Windows 2000, XP, and Vista, while Norton AntiVirus 2008 only works on XP and Vista.

There is a very good reason not to blow through the installation of CA Ani-Virus Plus CA Ani-Spyware 2008 without reading each screen carefully. One thing we always hate to find is the Yahoo toolbar hiding within any installation, and it's lurking here. By all means, uncheck the box asking you to install it along with CA Ani-Virus Plus CA Ani-Spyware 2008. Worse, Yahoo also asks permission to make it your search engine by default. We prefer the freedom to choose our own search engines, thank you. CA is the only antivirus vendor we reviewed that included third-party piggyback applications within its install.

Also, we were unable to continue with our CA installation without registering. Other antivirus vendors allow you to skip registration or, in the case with Symantec, click Next three times to continue. Not with CA. Although the information collected is negligible, given the Yahoo toolbar lurking in the installer package, we didn't like handing over any additional information.

Should you want to remove CA Ani-Virus Plus CA Ani-Spyware 2008, there is no All Programs option to uninstall. You will need to use Windows Add/Remove Software. In doing so, a CA uninstall wizard will then ask if you want to remove the antivirus, the antispyware, or both from your machine. After reboot, we found no traces of CA products on our machine.

However, if you installed the Yahoo toolbar or made it your default search engine, you'll need to remove these separately. Removing CA alone will not change the status of these Yahoo applications.

The CA interface is consistent among all its products, but also serves to remind you of other products offered by the company.

Interface
CA uses a consistent interface for all its offerings. While we like this, we don't like the confusing up-sell that goes along with this implementation. For example, after finding out that you don't have a firewall, instead of offering to turn on the free Windows Firewall, CA takes you to a Web page that talks about why you should upgrade and install the CA Firewall. The page is dry, no graphics, no sales pitch, but might cause people to think that it's an FAQ page. It's not.

Features
With CA Ani-Virus Plus CA Ani-Spyware 2008, that's what you get; no firewall, no antiphishing tools, no extras.

Within the antivirus protection, the scans are faster than last year. The features touted in marketing materials--real-time scanning, advanced heuristic scanning, and automatic e-mail scanning--are standard and do not stand out from the competition.

Same with the antispyware protection. CA, which bought PestPatrol many years ago, now includes more information about the specific spyware found on your machine rather than requiring you to click to a Web site for more information. Again, none of the features--real-time protection, automatic updates, and custom scans--are standard and do not stand out from the competition.

Performance
CA Ani-Virus Plus CA Ani-Spyware 2008 stays in the middle of the pack, sometimes trending toward the lower, faster end of the middle in our test results. On our iTunes test, CA Ani-Virus Plus CA Ani-Spyware 2008 took the longest, at 273 seconds to complete. In our Microsoft Office test, CA Ani-Virus Plus CA Ani-Spyware 2008 completed the fastest, at 1,191 seconds. In a test scanning a single folder with compressed and media files, CA scored 187 seconds, again, toward the faster end of our middle group. And in terms of boot speed, CA was in the middle at 36 seconds. To find out how we test antivirus software, see CNET Labs' How we test: Anivirus software page.

In terms of whether or not CA Ani-Virus Plus CA Ani-Spyware 2008 will protect your PC, CNET uses results from two leading independent antivirus testing organizations. CA Ani-Virus Plus CA Ani-Spyware 2008 was not included in the latest test results from AV-Comparatives.org, for on-demand scans and retrospective/proactive tests. CA Ani-Virus Plus CA Ani-Spyware 2008 was included in the latest test results from CheckVir.com and earned a Standard rating, which means it was tested on finding but not removing viruses.

For antispyware protection, check back in November for these results.

Support
Once again, we were disappointed by CA's lack of technical support shown for its products. The built-in help file is light on details, and there is no manual. There is no online chat service nor online forums. In fact, finding the online technical support for this product is not easy (the CA Web site is primarily designed for corporate customers, not consumers). The online FAQ (once found) contains information for the 2007 version, not the current 2008 edition. And if you want to talk to someone about the product, that costs $19.95 per incident, although live telephone tech support is available 24-7.

Conclusion
Call us crabby, but CA still isn't up to speed with the competition on its consumer antivirus and antispyware offerings and thus not yet up to our standards. CA is known for its enterprise security and has over the years tried to break into the consumer market with limited success. This year's offering is a solid base, but that's it. In the future, we'd really like to see CA challenge Trend Micro, McAfee, and Symantec. We know CA has the corporate security tools, so how about bringing some of them down to the consumer level?

from http://review.zdnet.com/internet-security-firewall/ca-anti-virus-plus/4505-3667_16-32653564.html

CA Products:

CA Internet Securty Suite 2008 - includes CA Ani-Spyware and CA Ani-Virus, CA Resource Center for Free Downloads, Free Scans from CA: PC Pitstop Optimize, CA DNA Desktop Migrator 2008,CA Personal Firewall 2008, CA FREE Spyware Removal, CA FREE PC Optimize Scan,CA Anti-Virus 2008, CA Ani-Spam 2008, CA Ani-Spyware, CA PC MacLan, CA PC PitStop

Kaspersky labs Products:

Kaspersky Personal Network Security Package for Linux and Windows, Kaspersky Internet Securty 7.0, Kaspersky Open Space Securty, Kaspersky business products, Kaspersky Ani-Virus Mobile, Kaspersky Free Trial Page, Kaspersky Lab Free Trials, Kaspersky Lab E-Store, Kaspersky Ani-Virus 7.0