SD - to buy or not to buy?

[Annette]

I've been evaluating a few anti-malware programs with a view to purchasing one of them. What a headache this has been, with each of them finding bugs different from any of the others.

My preference would definitely go to Spyware Doctor as having nice convenient features I like. But Spyware Detector has also been shortlisted, the only reason for this being that it's found Backdoor.GGDoor and Backdoor.DSSDoor which none of the other programs I've tested (Trojan Hunter included) has found. Could it be that it's been a false positive? Would SD be likely to find Backdoor if I had it? Maybe someone could point me to some tool (I haven't found any around) that would allow me to test for Backdoor? I so want to purchase SD but the idea of possibly having to keep Backdoor on my machine makes me uncomfortable.

[haapy]

A suggestion. Get Spyware Doctor with Antivirus.

Use Malwarebytes Antimalware (free) and Avira Antivirus (free) for backup scanning. With Avira, you must disable the onguard protection so as not to conflict with SD/AV.

[tigertheboo]

Every anti-malware program has its annoying features. One great advantage of SD is this forum, one of the most helpful and responsive forums around. I too have found fps and annoyances in SD but someone on this forum always offers some helpful advice and PCT eventually fixes the problem.

[Annette]

Tks for the suggestion. Actually I've been using the paid version of Avira AntiVir for a long while for real-time protection - it may be that I just need a reliable anti-spyware program for regular manual scans? I suppose SD wouldn't like running in the background at the same time as Avira?

[haapy]

If you get Spyware Doctor WITHOUT antivirus, Spyware Doctor and Avira should play just fine together.

[KRWalker]

I take it Haapy that just installing SpyDoc .440 without the AV plug-in-(along with still having McAfee Security Ctr-(w/McAfee A/V) already installed would allow both programs to function okay with one another, rather than install SpyDoc with the AV? I have used McAfee for several years and am satisfied with its A/V feature, but prefer Spyware Doctor for my anti-spyware protection.:confused:

[haapy]

I take it Haapy that just installing SpyDoc .440 without the AV plug-in-(along with still having McAfee Security Ctr-(w/McAfee A/V) already installed would allow both programs to function okay with one another, rather than install SpyDoc with the AV? I have used McAfee for several years and am satisfied with its A/V feature, but prefer Spyware Doctor for my anti-spyware protection.:confused:

You are correct.

[AChen]

I've been evaluating a few anti-malware programs with a view to purchasing one of them. What a headache this has been, with each of them finding bugs different from any of the others.

My preference would definitely go to Spyware Doctor as having nice convenient features I like. But Spyware Detector has also been shortlisted, the only reason for this being that it's found Backdoor.GGDoor and Backdoor.DSSDoor which none of the other programs I've tested (Trojan Hunter included) has found. Could it be that it's been a false positive? Would SD be likely to find Backdoor if I had it? Maybe someone could point me to some tool (I haven't found any around) that would allow me to test for Backdoor? I so want to purchase SD but the idea of possibly having to keep Backdoor on my machine makes me uncomfortable.

Annette, if you believe these are FP's, follow the instructions in this thread (http://www.pctools.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55575) and we can check this out further.