6.0.0.383 eats up CPU time

[lferg8]

I woke up this morning with a message from Spyware Doctor stating I needed to reboot my system for new updates to take effect. This is normal, because all my computers automatically let Spyware Doctor update. After I rebooted, I noticed my computer was VERY slow. Turns out...on ALL FIVE computers that updated, pctsSvc.exe is eating up 50-60% of the CPU time on the dual core processors, and 100% of the CPU time on a single core processor I have. Spyware Doctor was not doing anything (like a scan), but was eating up at least 1/2 if not all the CPU time. I uninstalled Spyware Doctor and reinstalled an older version, then ran the updates (which made the version I have 6.0.0.383 again). After doing this uninstall and reinstall on ALL FIVE computers, the problem seemed to be solved. Anyone have any ideas on this one? Seems rather strange this would happen on EVERY computer I have after this last update.

[c_edge]

Hi,

Not sure what could of cause this. Very bizarre behavior, but as long as its fixed, then its all good.

c_edge

[scalextric59]

I am experiencing the same problem. PctsSvc.exe is using 80-90 percent of the CPU time and sometimes up to 190K of memory. The computer is slow, and all the fans working due to the high temp.

Any ideas on how to fix this issue besides downgrading to the previous version?

[c_edge]

What version of SD were you using prior to this?

Try uninstalling and reinstalling the latest version (instead of updating to the latest) to see if this helps.

c_edge

[exn01]

Same here. I'm running it on Vista Home basic. I placed a trace on the activity of pctsSvc.exe and found that it was continuously writing to the databases in the C:\Program Files\Spyware Doctor directory. The files are RefDB.bin3 amd RefDB.old. I just logged a call with PCTools and sent them screenshots of the task manager showing over 50% CPU usage, 283Mb memory, and a screenshot of the directory.
Hope they can come up with a quick solution, because I am getting pretty tired of the hassles. In the meantime I have had to disable Spyware Doctor with Anti-Virus, so I can type this message, and will have to shut down, as my desktop is now unprotected.

[lferg8]

As I said in the original thread, I uninstalled SWD, installed an older version and then did Smart Update. That brought it to the MOST CURRENT version of SWD, 6.0.0.383. Once reinstalled, it has worked fine AND is the CURRENT version. This procedure has worked on six computers now (3 desktops and 3 laptops). Might give it a try and see for yourself. Obviously the boys at Pctools have some bug cooking in this latest update, but this does seem to fix it.

[exn01]

Yup, I deinstalled completely, but downloaded the latest off the PCTools website, and installed. It then downloaded all the updates, and eventually settled down. Pity though the amount of downloads that took place, but hey - it's working OK, so I'll look the other way.

Thanks for the tip.

Hope it doesn't happen again....

[ohso]

achen, there's a HUGE problem here. Consider this bug a FATAL error, because it takes 100% of the cpu and the customer cannot find a reasonable workaround.

I've seen a lot of posts about SD taking 100% of the cpu, about SD refusing to update, etc. Yesterday _and_ today it finally happened to me. Here are the details.

1. Yesterday. Win XP Home+SP3+updates. SDwAV 6.0.0.383, db ver 5.10650.

On this computer I rarely log into the admin acct but I needed to change something with the software so I did. On _another_ computer that same morning, which I had turned on earlier, I saw SDwAV update _automatically_ and when I checked its db I saw that it was at 660 on that computer.

I then turned on this computer, logged into the admin acct and, because it had db ver 650 and I had seen the other computer update, I MANUALLY ran Smart Update. It listed several items that needed updating and I clicked go.

When it finished the _manual_ update, pctssvc.exe ran continuously, taking 100% of the cpu. I thought that maybe it was running a quick scan, so I left it alone. After 0.5 hrs I figured it was hung and restarted. I saw that the db still said ver 650! even though it appeared to have updated, and pctssvc.exe once again took 100% of the cpu. I ran Smart Update and it said "Your product is up to date" and refused to update. I let it run for 0.75 hrs and then restarted again.

Once again pctssvc.exe took 100% of the computer. I wondered if maybe it was running a _full_ scan which takes 2.5 hrs on this computer, so I left it alone and used the other computers. 7.5 hrs later (!) it was still hung. It still refused to update. I had to do a complete uninstall and full install. Bad, really bad. But that fixed it.

2. Today. Win XP Pro+SP3+updates. SDwAV 6.0.0.383, db ver 660.

The computer that had updated automatically yesterday ran fine yesterday. Today I reveresed the order that I turned those two computers on. I saw the other automatically update to db ver _670_ and when I turned this computer on I manually ran Smart Update. It had items to update, I clicked go, AND IT HUNG! Screw me for being such an idiot to run SU manually. Once again it did _not_ show that the db ver had been changed. It will not update again using SU. Restarts will not fix it. And using SD's shutdown feature in the system tray icon, restarting, and then starting up SD manually will not fix it. Screwed!

This is a HUGE bug.
achen, what can you tell me about this.

[AChen]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the info. We are currently working on a fix for this. Hopefully it will be out later today.

In the meantime, please follow the instructions below to resolve this issue:

1.Shutdown Spyware Doctor
2.Remove SD’s refdb.bin3 and refdb.old
3.Remove any *.rdiff
4.Restart Spyware Doctor
5.Perform smart update to download the latest refdb.

[JeremyUK]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the info. We are currently working on a fix for this. Hopefully it will be out later today.

In the meantime, please follow the instructions below to resolve this issue:

1.Shutdown Spyware Doctor
2.Remove SD’s refdb.bin3 and refdb.old
3.Remove any *.rdiff
4.Restart Spyware Doctor
5.Perform smart update to download the latest refdb.
I would just like to log two things:
that in a highly stable machine I've been having identical hair tearing problems - CPU >100% and over 500MB RAM grabbed by SD.
But AChen's fix works instantly: everything back to normal and 'freed up'. So the homework on refdb file is correct. It's the culprit.

[Wooly]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the info. We are currently working on a fix for this. Hopefully it will be out later today.

In the meantime, please follow the instructions below to resolve this issue:

1.Shutdown Spyware Doctor
2.Remove SD’s refdb.bin3 and refdb.old
3.Remove any *.rdiff
4.Restart Spyware Doctor
5.Perform smart update to download the latest refdb.

I upgraded from 4 to 6 last night and had the same symptoms... I disabled intelliguard and its okay... But I'll try this fix tonight when I get home from work and see if it works.

Cheers

Wooly

[Wooly]

I have now tried the solution described above and I'm afraid IntelliGuard still causes a major problem to the system (although the computer is not CPU bound.) I disable IntelliGuard and the problem goes away.

Here are the things of interest:

XP Professional Service pack 2
Spyware doctor version -> 6.0.0.383
database version -> 5.10691
AVG free -> 8.0.169

The symptoms are that any application started just appear to hang not using any CPU and the system appears idle.

Can anyone advise?

Thanks in advance.

Wooly

[JeremyUK]

I have now tried the solution described above and I'm afraid IntelliGuard still causes a major problem to the system (although the computer is not CPU bound.) I disable IntelliGuard and the problem goes away.

Here are the things of interest:

XP Professional Service pack 2
Spyware doctor version -> 6.0.0.383
database version -> 5.10691
AVG free -> 8.0.169

The symptoms are that any application started just appear to hang not using any CPU and the system appears idle.

Can anyone advise?

Thanks in advance.

Wooly
Note to Wooly
Sounds like a clash
1. When reinstalling, SD sometimes has an irritating habit of stripping out previous settings. First try Settings/General - then check 'Enable Kernel Compatibility mode'. Then reboot
2. Open Intelligard. Select Process Guard. Disable that one guard to see if that fixes it. Reason? I use NAV for antivirus and SD endlessly 'fights' with it, slowing things, as the log in Norton shows hundreds of rejected attempts to acceess by SD. You may have a similar clash. Worth a try.

[Wooly]

Note to Wooly
Sounds like a clash
1. When reinstalling, SD sometimes has an irritating habit of stripping out previous settings. First try Settings/General - then check 'Enable Kernel Compatibility mode'. Then reboot
2. Open Intelligard. Select Process Guard. Disable that one guard to see if that fixes it. Reason? I use NAV for antivirus and SD endlessly 'fights' with it, slowing things, as the log in Norton shows hundreds of rejected attempts to acceess by SD. You may have a similar clash. Worth a try.

Thanks for the info... I'll give it a bash...

Wooly

[Wooly]

Note to Wooly
Sounds like a clash
1. When reinstalling, SD sometimes has an irritating habit of stripping out previous settings. First try Settings/General - then check 'Enable Kernel Compatibility mode'. Then reboot
2. Open Intelligard. Select Process Guard. Disable that one guard to see if that fixes it. Reason? I use NAV for antivirus and SD endlessly 'fights' with it, slowing things, as the log in Norton shows hundreds of rejected attempts to acceess by SD. You may have a similar clash. Worth a try.

That did indeed work... Thanks for the help Jeremy...

IntelliGuard is limited.. but yeah it doesn't make the system unusable.

Must be getting upset by AVG...

Shame no one from PC Tools could tell me this :(

Cheers Wooly

[ohso]

ac
> We are currently working on a fix for this. Hopefully it will be out later today.

Could you confirm if the manual update problem has been fixed yet?
Thanks.

[Phenom]

I use Norton Internet Security 2009 and ThreatFire, but when I installed Spyware Doctor my computer started to go slow. :(

[AChen]

ac
> We are currently working on a fix for this. Hopefully it will be out later today.

Could you confirm if the manual update problem has been fixed yet?
Thanks.

Hi Ohso,

It's been resolved :)
Version 6.0.0.362 will SU to v6.0.0.383.

[Badstreet]

this is still a problem.......currently i have the latest version 6.0.0.383 and my cpu is still running at 100% usage.....there are only 2 programs that are eating it up consistently 1) vsmon.exe (part of zonealarm firewall) and 2) pctsSvc.exe (which as i write this, pctsSVC.exe is currently using 95% of the 100% cpu usage).....when 1 quiets down the other shoots up.....but most of the time it seems like it's the spyware dr exe file that is taking most of the cpu up.

[LarryG8]

Is this file safe to delete

[c_edge]

this is still a problem.......currently i have the latest version 6.0.0.383 and my cpu is still running at 100% usage.....there are only 2 programs that are eating it up consistently 1) vsmon.exe (part of zonealarm firewall) and 2) pctsSvc.exe (which as i write this, pctsSVC.exe is currently using 95% of the 100% cpu usage).....when 1 quiets down the other shoots up.....but most of the time it seems like it's the spyware dr exe file that is taking most of the cpu up.

Uninstall and reinstall the latest SD standalone (version 6.0.0.385) or 384 for the SD+AV.

LarryG8, it's not recommended to remove this file :) If you want to remove it, you have to do a Smart Update and then reboot and then remove the file. This was a problem with the earlier build and does not happen anymore as mentioned in an earlier post by AChen. To fix this, just make sure all you are running the latest build and it should all be good.

c_edge

[Badstreet]

i have uninstalled and reinstalled 384 SD+AV as you suggested.....now i cannot update......the 1st update is Spyware Doctor Database (17.99 mb) well after it supposedly downloads the file i get the following error message: error downloading 1 or more files please try again later......i then go back into update uncheck the Spyware Doctor Database and download the other 10-15 updates (mostly behaviour guard updates) without any problems.....i have checked other posts regarding this issue and have tried all of these again with no luck on downloading the Spyware Doctor Database.....before i did this uninstall & re-install i had no problems with the update......any suggestions?