Update to v1.6.2 problem - user/administrator account conflict

[drghughes]

I normally use a user account for my day to day work (I'm running Windows XP SP3) and have a scheduled task set up under the administrator account to update Spybot each week. If I don't use the administrator account for the update then the update doesn't work. The update is also set up so that it runs "silently", i.e. no messages.

The update seems to have just downloaded the programme update to v1.6.2 and is trying to run it under the administrator account. However, nothing seems to be happening and the update appears to be stuck.

I suspect that the update is waiting for some input from me, but because it is running under the administrator account, or because it is running silently, the window isn't appearing. I have tried logging on to the administrator account, but nothing appears.

Do I need to do anything to sort this out or will it all fix itself when I next shut down? Presumably I then need to manually update under the administrator account.

Thanks

[md usa spybot fan]

drghughes:

If you have the program sbsd162upd.exe in the C:\Program Files\Spybot - Search & Destroy\Updates folder, you can try executing that from the administrator account. Otherwise download Spybot 1.6.2 from any of the sites listed here:
Mirror selection - The home of Spybot-S&D!
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html

[drghughes]

Thanks md usa spybot fan!

Do you know if this was caused by the administrator/user account difference or because I've set the update to run "silently"?

[md usa spybot fan]

drghughes:

I really don't know what caused the problem.

The upgrade appears to work as follows: Spybot's update program (SDUpdate.exe) downloads and executes a relatively small upgrade program (sbsd162upd.exe) which in turn downloads and then executes actual installation program (spybotsd162.exe). The upgrade program displays a window showing the progress of the download and the installation program has a regular installation dialog. However, I would assume that running the update (SDUpdate.exe) itself silently would not affect either the upgrade or installation programs because I wouldn't think that the parameters would be passed to them.

Was the administrator account actually logged on or was the scheduled task just being run under the administrator account?

[drghughes]

The scheduled task was just being run under the administrator account. The only person logged on was the user account.

Presumably this means that the installation program will also be run under the administrator account and that is where the problem lies.

I think I had a similar problem when I tried scheduling an immunisation update the same way. I suspect that the "close all browsers" message would be popped up somewhere but because I couldn't see it, the process would get stuck. I solved that one by scheduling the immunisation update to take place at every start up (no chance of a browser being open), but I don't see a way of getting around the Spybot update one.

[md usa spybot fan]

drghughes:


The scheduled task was just being run under the administrator account. The only person logged on was the user account. ...
That may explain the failure. Since administrator account isn't logged on the upgrade program and the installation program probably aren't running since they are being run separately and not under the update program itself.

[drghughes]

No, the upgrade programme was running - I could see it in Task Manager.

However, md usa spybot fan, since you and I are the only ones interested in this :), we can probably close this and I'll just try and make sure that I don't get caught out next time there's an update. The automatic upgrade suits most people, so I can live with that.

Thanks for your help and comments.

[md usa spybot fan]

drghughes:

If the upgrade programme (sbsd162upd.exe) was actually running, I can only conclude that some of my assumptions about what may have occurred during the upgrade are incorrect (just like my spelling of program rather than programme**).

I hope someone from "Team Spybot" picks up on this thread so that the next time

** British, Australian or Canadian? - probably another totally invalid assumption.

Regards,
md usa spybot fan