Review by 2WheelTravlr

I’m in charge of keeping 5 computers healthy and bug-free (two at home, 3 at work), so I am always on the lookout for easy programs that work quietly in the background to keep them all working well.

All my computers are currently running this setup:nAvira AntiVir Personal (free edition at home, paid at work)nWindows Defender (free)nCC Cleaner (free)nAd Aware (free)nAusLogics Disk Defrag (free)nEusing Free Registry Cleaner (free)nSpybot - Search & Destroy (free)nnSome of these programs run in the background and offer protection (Avira, Windows Defender). The others I run about once a month, more frequently if we’re adding or removing lots of programs.

In testing Spyware Doctor, I used my laptop as the first guinea pig. Initially I booted the computer up and measured the time it took - just under a minute. Without running any regular scans, I uninstalled all the above named products, and re-booted twice, again checking the time it took - again just under a minute.

I installed Spyware Doctor and did two boots - checking the clock on the second boot - startup now takes nearly 3 minutes.

I updated Spyware Doctor and ran a full scan. The Doctor caught 7 groups of items, 1 ‘critical’ and the rest ‘negligible’. After checking through the list, I determined that many of the negligibles were cookies I wanted to keep. I de-selected these and had the Doctor clean the rest.

Next, I re-installed my regular regimen of free programs. Running Ad-Aware, CC Cleaner and Spybot gleaned a total of more than 70 items that Spyware Doctor missed. There were two critical items and the rest were just cookies and other junk that gets dumped on our computers when we surf the net. Not really security issues but not necessary either.

For the next test, I moved to my desktop at home. This has the same regimen of free programs. I ran all those programs first, finding and deleting about 40 items in all. I uninstalled the freeware and installed Spyware Doctor. Startup times again increased by about 45 seconds to 1 minute. I ran Spyware Doctor, which found 4 negligibles that were cookies I wanted to keep.

So, is Spyware Doctor a good product? Yes, it does a decent job of finding and removing junk. It is simple to use and is a great option for people who don’t want to worry about an active defense.

Would I recommend it to everyone? No. If you are willing to spend a few minutes a month running a couple of free programs, you will have slightly better results and your computer will boot up and run faster. You will save money.

It’s up to the individual user to decide which category they fall in. If you are willing to take some effort, go for the free programs. If you don’t want the hassle, purchase Spyware Doctor.