PC Tools Spyware Doctor | pick
Version Reviewed: 5.1.0.272
PC Tools Spyware Doctor is an extremely popular spyware removal software title. It has consistently received good reviews from the likes of PC World and Download.com. With an extensive range of definitions and settings, PC Tools Spyware Doctor is a great choice for those looking for a total solution to spyware removal.
Installing Spyware Doctor was a simple affair, and we were given an option to install the new updates during the install. After restarting the computer we were ready to roll. Spyware Doctor will load in your system tray (on the bottom right hand corner), letting you know that it is running in the background.
One good feature of Spyware Doctor is the option for real-time protection against spyware invasions. This is the ultimate protection against security compromises, as you won't often know you're being invaded with spyware until it's too late.
The interface of Spyware Doctor is clean, professional looking, and easy to navigate. Large buttons allow you to easily find what you're looking for. The interface is not too cluttered, and won't overwhelm you with multitudes of options off the bat.
The system scan itself is not as fast as we would have liked, however it was quite thorough. The only downside was that it tended to report on relatively harmless advertising cookies from reputable sites. Advertising cookies as a whole are relatively benign, although it is nice that the program will allow you to remove them should you choose so.
Customer support at PC Tools is a big positive. They advertise their support as "free," but shouldn't all customer support for purchased products be free?
The one thing we really didn't like about Spyware Doctor, however, was the fact that it seemed to slow down our test computer a bit. For testing purposes we used a mid level IBM Thinkpad laptop in order to effectively gauge an average consumer experience. In general I would rather scan my PC, remove the spyware, and close the program rather than let it run in the background. Their feature updates for version 5.1 included a bunch of claims that it will now take up less system resources. In general, the best programs will not be a system hog.
Overall we found Spyware Doctor to be a one of the best all around solutions, backed by a name you can trust.
Pros:
- Easy to use interface
- Real time protection
- Scheduled scan options
- Good customer service
- Frequent definition updates
Cons:
- Slow scan speed
- Overzealous advertising cookie identifications
- Tends to be a system resource hog
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