Update Problems - SDHelper & Tools Read Only

[sally85]

Hi, I downloaded the 1.6.2.46 update from one of the mirror sites. While trying to run the update on my computer i'm getting error messages saying that SDHelper.dll and Search&Destroy/tools.dll are "read only." It's asking if I want to retry or ignore. The retry doesn't work. It still says "read only."

What does this mean? Is this a bug in the update? Or is there something wrong with my files? If I choose to ignore these messages and proceed with the update anyway, will that compromise the ability of the S&D program to find spyware & malware in my computer? Thanks.

[md usa spybot fan]

sally85:

If you are using resident "SDHelper", the SDHelper.dll is used by both Windows Explorer (explorer.exe) and Windows Internet Explorer (iexplore.exe). If those programs are running you may not be able delete SDHelper.dll.

The tools.dll is used by Spybot (SpybotSD.exe) itself. Terminate Spybot before attempting to install a new version.

Better still, uninstall Spybot and reboot the system before re-installing.

[Prince Serendip]

The above advice is correct, but I had further difficulty.

I ran into a problem while installing the newest version 1.6.2. (I had not uninstalled the old version.) In Windows Vista, it is installed to the Program Files (x86) by default. However, Vista's UAC (User Account Control) makes all Program Files Read-Only. PITA! Anyways, it had an unspecified error trying to install the Updates folder so the install quit. Argh!

I've had problems with other programs which need to be written to in the Program Files folders. In those cases I install them to the root drive. In my case that's C:\Spybot Search and Destroy. These folders are not Read-Only. So, I uninstalled version 1.6.0, rebooted and installed 1.6.2 in the root drive. Everything's fine now.

I'm running Windows Vista Home Premium x64.

[sally85]

sally85:

Terminate Spybot before attempting to install a new version.

Better still, uninstall Spybot and reboot the system before re-installing.


Thank you both for your responses. I'm running windows XP. The first time I tried to install the new version with Spybot still running and got more problem messages. So the second try I uninstalled Spybot completely, rebooted, and ran the update by itself and got those two SDHelper and Tools dll "read only" problems.

Sorry, I'm not very computer literate... I don't understand about root kits, etc. I guess my main question is: if I choose to 'ignore' those two problems and continue on with the update will the functionality of Spybot, SD resident, and Tea Timer be compromised? My main concern is that the program/programs themselves function and do what they're supposed to do as far as finding malware & spyware. I'm thinking that because those two dll files are read only they are not being updated as they should be.