# Spybot S&D - Am I doing this wrong? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 23, 2016, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spybot-s-d-am-i-doing-this-wrong/763724 "2016-08-23T07:27:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spybot-s-d-am-i-doing-this-wrong/763724/1 "2016-08-23T07:27:39Z")
My computer has been acting a little odd lately. Sometimes I’ll get redirected to another webpage for no reason. I could possibly have malware. I know Spybot S&D is supposed to be a good scanner. So I have downloaded the latest free version and tried to scan with it. It will not scan because it wants updates. I update the program and it tells me that it is finished updating and that updates are available. Lather, rinse, repeat. It absolutely will not scan until it updates. I get a message that says no update log found and then while the actual update panel says: The antispyware signatures are up to date. The system scan panel says missing signatures! Signatures are not a part of your installation; they are downloaded as part of the update process. Can I manually update it? Is this an indication that yes I do have some malware going on? Is there a reputable scanner out there I can use that is not susceptible to this? ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spybot-s-d-am-i-doing-this-wrong/763724/2 "2016-08-23T07:31:46Z")
I managed to manually update it after looking in their forums but what a pain in the ass. ---
**Author:** ![Saffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saffer/32/6440_2.png) [@Saffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saffer)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spybot-s-d-am-i-doing-this-wrong/763724/3 "2016-08-23T08:38:41Z")
Did it find anything? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spybot-s-d-am-i-doing-this-wrong/763724/4 "2016-08-23T08:48:23Z")
Oh bother. Spybit S&D used to have a good reputation but its possible you have downloaded a clone which is spyware itself. Or there is a trojan which has written itself to the root (core) of your computer system. I use CCleaner and so far it has worked on Windows 10. [Download CCleaner | Clean, optimize & tune up your PC, free!](https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download) ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spybot-s-d-am-i-doing-this-wrong/763724/5 "2016-08-23T09:02:03Z")
No major issues found. Lots of cookies. There were a few items on the list that seemed like the program just being over-eager like MRU lists for the Media Player. I have the day off tomorrow. I might just nuke and pave my computer just to be on the safe side. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spybot-s-d-am-i-doing-this-wrong/763724/6 "2016-08-24T09:32:38Z")
> [@Ken001](#): > > I use CCleaner and so far it has worked on Windows 10. [https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download](https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download) Ccleaner is a good maintenace program, but it is in no way a good antimalware program. It is better to use Ccleaner plus a good malware cleaner like Malwarebytes Antimalware. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spybot-s-d-am-i-doing-this-wrong/763724/7 "2016-08-24T16:45:23Z")
I used to use Spybot many years ago along with Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware but they stopped being effective for me and Malwarebytes has been my go-to program for a long time. \<- long time IT support professional