To start the software, use the icon on your desktop, or if you did not install icons, navigate to where you installed the software and double click the file with black binoculars as an icon. When you first start SpyCop, you will be presented with this screen. This is the main interface from which every one of SpyCop's main features can be accessed. The Scan Now button will scan your entire system using the options set via the "Settings" button.

When you click the File menu you can access the Query Database (1) option, the Database Update (2), the Program Settings (3), and the Autoscan Screen Saver (4). Options (5) and (6) do what they say and allow you to keep a copy of the results for future reference. Each of these are described in more detail below.

This is the Query Database dialog accessed via option (1) under File. This allows you to determine whether a spy program you heard about can be detected, and if not, to easily report the new program to us so that we can update accordingly. When Querying the signature database, be careful to spell the spy program's name accurately and in the same way the manufacturer does.

This is the database update dialog. We HIGHLY recommend that you update your database before running a scan to ensure that you have the most up to date database on your machine. The process takes only a minute or so even on a 28.8 modem. The statistics section will be revised after an update is completed.

Clicking the settings button will display this screen. The drives to scan option allows you to enter the drive letters of specific disks or partitions that you want scanned. Most spy programs will be detected with a drive C scan alone. Next, you can choose the types of files to scan. You should generally leave them both checked unless told to uncheck one by Technical Support. Super detective scan mode will detect the remaining 1% of spy programs which can not be detected without it, and will also allow newer versions of some programs to be detected before we specifically update the database for them. Only scan files that were created after last scan will allow you to quickly conduct maintenance scans. This option is recommended mostly for slower systems, but is very useful for anybody who does not want to rescan the entire system. Display reminder on boot will display a simple dialog on startup if you have not checked for spies within a week. Password protection allows you to prevent other users of your system from accessing SpyCop. The last two options affect the scanning engine and should be left alone unless you are told to change them by Support.

Under the file menu is the autoscan screen saver option. You can set this up so that when you are away from your computer, the screen saver will launch SpyCop and start scanning while displaying a moving SpyCop logo to protect your screen. This makes it easy to keep your system free of monitoring software and works best when you select the option to scan only new files under Settings. The moving SpyCop logo provides a deterrent to those who might install a spy program on your system.

The scan menu contains the various scanning options available in SpyCop. Scan Entire System (1) does the same thing as clicking Scan Now in the main interface. Scan a Single File (2) allows you to scan one file that you are suspicious of. Scan a Single Folder (3) allows you to scan an entire program folder on your system. Lastly, Scan Running Processes Only (4) will scan only the programs that are currently active on your system. Option (5) does the same thing as the Spy Info button in the main interface. Each of these are described in more detail below.

When you select option (2) under the scan menu, you are presented with the standard Windows browse for file dialog. Use this to navigate to the program file that you would like to scan and click ok to begin scanning that file. Select the type of file in the bottom combo box to show either EXEs, DLLs or SYS files. This option works great if you see a task in your task list that you are unsure of and you want to check it out quickly.

When you select option (3) under the scan menu, you are presented with the standard Windows browse for folder dialog. Use this to navigate to the program folder that you would like to scan and click ok to begin scanning that program. You can also select a drive and that entire drive will be scanned. Use this option if you see a suspicious folder on your drive and you want to be sure that it is not a spy program.

Accessed by selecting option (4) under Scan, scan running processes only will scan the programs that are currently running on your system. This option works great for really fast maintenance scans.
NOTE: As of September 2002, this option is still in BETA status, meaning it may not work properly on all systems. Please advise us of any problems with the use of this option.

The Help menu allows you to obtain additional information on SpyCop. Important Information (1) will display a quick rundown on what Spyware is and what SpyCop does. Visit Out Home page (2) will bring you to www.spycop.com in your default browser. Frequently Asked Questions (3) is a large document containing information in Q&A form. Options 4, 5, 6 and 7 allow you to communicate with us via email. Command Line Parameters (8) will display a screen describing the options which make it possible to operate SpyCop from the command line. Reset Registration Data (9) will cause the program to revert back to the trial version. Lastly, About will display program version information and your software license information.

Keep in mind that if you are doing a full system scan, you do NOT have to sit there and watch SpyCop run! Click the minimize button as shown above to have SpyCop sit in your task bar. While minimized, SpyCop switches itself to low priority meaning that your other programs will not be affected. You can continue to do word processing, net surfing or game playing without a noticeable impact on performance.

After a scan completes, hopefully you will see nothing listed in the results section, and the status line will indicate your system is free of spy software. However, if a spy program is detected, you may see a screen similar to the one shown above. The top list under Results tells you the name of the spy, and the bottom one points out the suspicious file. The lists are linked, meaning that if multiple spies are found and you click a line in either list, the other one will move to the corresponding entry. To get more information on a spy program or to disable it, click Spy Info which has the yellow question mark on it.

Clicking Spy Info presents you with this dialog. Here you can see when the file was installed, and its size. Click the Rename button to rename the file by appending a .SPY extension to it. This will effectively disable most spy programs because they can no longer find a crucial operating file. Click Clipboard to copy the displayed information to the clipboard. Click Learn More to do a quick Google search on the spy program. Learn More enables you to find out where the spy program can be obtained and the manufacturers web site from which you can contact them and ask for proper removal instructions. 

Lastly, if a spy program is found during a complete system scan or a folder scan, options (5) and (6) will become active in the File Menu. Save Results (5) will allow you to save the list of programs and suspicious files found to a text file. Print Results (6) will send a copy of the results to your default printer.

SpyCop Screensaver:
You can also have your system scanned with the SpyCop Screensaver. To enable this option, click File, Set Up Screensaver. The desktop properties window will appear. Select SpyCop Autoscan in the list of screensavers and then set the timeout. The configuration in SpyCop is used during screensaver scans. Click OK and the next time your screensaver kicks in, SpyCop will be launched and a moving SpyCop graphic will float across your screen to protect it while it scans. If you move your mouse or press a key while the saver is active, the scan will be terminated. If the scan completes, the results are saved to RESULTS.TXT in the SpyCop folder, but the saver will continue to display the logo until the mouse is moved. We recommend the use of "Scan New Files Only" when using the saver.

Scheduling Periodic Scans:
By using the built in Windows Task Scheduler, you can have SpyCop scan at periodic intervals whenever you want. Go into Control Panel, and then select Scheduled Tasks. Set up a task with the following path:

"c:\spycoppath\(file with binoculars icon).exe" /SCANEXIT

The (file with binoculars icon).exe should be replaced with the filename that is used on your version of SpyCop. Now your system will be scanned automatically depending on the options that you set up for the scheduled task.

Additional Notes:
-You can drag and drop files from Windows Explorer onto the Scan Now button or the vertical SpyCop logo button to scan them.
-The Scan Folders option will skip random files if the software is in trial mode just like a full scan.
- Click File to print in your browser this page to have a hard copy reference.