Pc tools spyware?

teresajane

Has anyone had the misfortune of having to deal with the fairly dreadful 'PC Tools' spyware/virus software? Their Facebook page appears to be full of complaints about them, with little action made by PC Tools.

My complaint is that having downloaded their updated software, from their site, my pc was infected and eventually had to be reinstalled from scratch. I cancelled my automatic rebilling but still am paying from December (when they messed up my pc) to May 2012, when the auto billing stops (or rather, hopefully should stop). I have raised 2 support tickets with them since December; one was shown as solved which it wasnt. I am now complaining publicly on FB, along with the many others on there. So, my question is, has anyone else on this site had problems with them and if so, were they ever resolved?

My advice would be to steer clear of PC Tools!

thank you

PHARR

Pfft, i tend not to steer towards these programs.

Id recommend looking through the Techie section here and look at recommended software and ways to deal with virus's. These programs normally offer out more than they can do.

aliEnRIK

As in http://www.pctools.com/?

Their software is unlikely to have 'messed your computer' up. More like you went and got your computer infected (Which could technically happen no matter WHAT anti virus software you use) and PC Tools just wasnt good enough to catch it (Which really isnt the same as PCTools itself messing up the computer)

For the record, PCTools are one of the worst anti virus programs you can install. You would be far safer using decent free software

teresajane

I hear what you say alienRIK, and thank you for your reply. However my pc was working perfectly well until I downloaded their own link. Immediately after that my pc was ****ed! I now use comodo which is free and works perfectly well. However, my main point is that their 'customer service' is appalling and judging by the number of complaints on their Faccebook site (before they are removed) I'm clearly not the only one trying to get help or money back from them.

waddler_8

Are you saying you were infected by downloading PCTools SpywareDoctor from the official PCTools site, or that you were infected and then tried to download & install SpywareDoctor? Or that just that after downloading & installing the software the machine was unusable?

What security solutions did you have installed already, if any?

teresajane

I am saying I was using PC Tools software and then downloaded their update from their site and then my computer was ****ed!

aliEnRIK

teresajane wrote: »

I hear what you say alienRIK, and thank you for your reply. However my pc was working perfectly well until I downloaded their own link. Immediately after that my pc was ****ed! I now use comodo which is free and works perfectly well. However, my main point is that their 'customer service' is appalling and judging by the number of complaints on their Faccebook site (before they are removed) I'm clearly not the only one trying to get help or money back from them.

Comodo is a very good firewall, but I wouldnt say the anti virus is any good. I really dont recommend comodo as an anti virus solution. And unless you know what to and what not to allow through the firewall I would also recommend you uninstall it and use windows built in firewall

Decent av programs are AVAST and AVIRA

aliEnRIK

teresajane wrote: »

I am saying I was using PC Tools software and then downloaded their update from their site and then my computer was ****ed!

Ahhhh

Im with you now.

I think Mcafee once did that very same thing a couple of years back. If you downloaded a particular update it suddenly flagged up a part of windows operating system as bad, removed it and effectively killed the computer

Best of luck with PC Tools.

waddler_8

teresajane wrote: »

My complaint is that having downloaded their updated software, from their site, my pc was infected and eventually had to be reinstalled from scratch.

teresajane wrote: »

I am saying I was using PC Tools software and then downloaded their update from their site and then my computer was ****ed!

So the PC wasn't infected then

waddler_8

aliEnRIK wrote: »

I think Mcafee once did that very same thing a couple of years back. If you downloaded a particular update it suddenly flagged up a part of windows operating system as bad, removed it and effectively killed the computer.

I would have thought if that was the case then there would be lots of users in the same boat - there doesn't seem to be any other reports of this happening.

aliEnRIK

waddler_8 wrote: »

I would have thought if that was the case then there would be lots of users in the same boat - there doesn't seem to be any other reports of this happening.

Partially agreed.
There cant be that many people use the 'paid for' version PC TOOLS for starters.
And if its anything like Mcafee (Which does (Wrongly) have a huge user number), it was only if downloaded between a particular time. Depends how quickly they pick up on it and rectify it
Further to that, the Mcafee one only did damage if that particular update was then used in a full scan before being overwritten

If the above is anything to go off, the OP might just have been very unlucky

or

Its something else entirely

(Quite possibly was an infection that was caught with the new update and when PC Tools removed it, it killed the computer. PC Tools is very bad at removing nasties going off something I read a couple of nights back)