Spybot will not fix any problems found!

I have updated my version to the latest including all the updates, however, after doing a scan it will not fix any problems.

I even uninstalled the programme and reinstalled the latest version again, with the latest updates from your site (downloaded from your site).

It does not find any immediate threats, just the usual windows and Microsoft logs and history etc. I always like to get rid of these at least once a week, but unfortunately spybot will not fix them anymore.

I also have to turn off my Norton internet security in order for spybot to work. I even turn it off using the Microsoft msconfig run command, using the menu 'services' and restart my computer. I do of course, disconnect my wireless connection so I cannot get anything off the net.

After I have done this I then start spybot, it does the scan and shows the minor problems as stated above, but wont fix the problems.

Please advise how to fix this as I would like to continue to use spybot.

Hi anne.kennedy5,

which Spybot version do you use? Is it up-to-date?
Which Windows do you use?
Is Tea Timer activated?
Does Tea Timer or Spybot give you an error message or something like this? If yes, please tell me.

Best regards,
-Matt-

-Matt- said:

Hi Anne.kennedy5,

which Spybot version do you use? Is it up-to-date?
Which Windows do you use?
Is Tea Timer activated?
Does Tea Timer or Spybot give you an error message or something like this? If yes, please tell me.

Best regards,
-Matt-

Click to expand...

Hi Matt,

Spybot version is = 1.6.2.46. (latest update is 11-2-09)
Windows is XP
Tea Timer is not activated
I do not get any error messages.

It goes through the motions of checking my system, comes up with some minor problems, and when I click fix, it says its going to do a backup before fixing. Spybot does this, then just closes, without fixing any of the minor problems it found.

I turned off Norton, while running spybot, as I know it does not like any other spyware programme working at the same time, and this has worked before, thus allowing Spybot to check my system and then fix them, but not anymore.

Its a shame as I like to run spybot at least once a week to clear those minor problems it finds, like windows and Microsoft log and history entries.

Its all very strange.

anne.kennedy5 said:

Hi Matt,

Spybot version is = 1.6.2.46. (latest update is 11-2-09)
Windows is XP
Tea Timer is not activated
I do not get any error messages.

It goes through the motions of checking my system, comes up with some minor problems, and when I click fix, it says its going to do a backup before fixing. Spybot does this, then just closes, without fixing any of the minor problems it found.

I turned off Norton, while running spybot, as I know it does not like any other spyware programme working at the same time, and this has worked before, thus allowing Spybot to check my system and then fix them, but not anymore.

Its a shame as I like to run spybot at least once a week to clear those minor problems it finds, like windows and Microsoft log and history entries.

Its all very strange.

Click to expand...

Hi anne.kennedy5,

that's really strange... :scratch:
Can you fix windows and Microsoft log and history entries in safe mode?
How long do you have Spybot 1.6.2.46 installed on your computer? Did you have the same problem with Spybot 1.6.0.30?

Perhaps you can find an answer in this thread:
http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=4799

Best regards,
-Matt-

Hi Matt,

I have been using spybot now for almost forever.

It only started (not working) when I updated to beyond 1.6. I didn't even have to turn off Norton, but with the last update, it now wont work at all, even with Norton off.

Haven't tried in safe mode.

Why would that make a difference?

Detailed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe_mode
Safe mode loads only system critical files/drivers and doesn't load any startup programs. In safe mode you should be able to remove files which cannot be removed normally because they are loaded into memory.

So, if I am running in safe mode it seem wise not to connect to the internet, just in case of infections, as obviously Norton will not be running. Is this correct.

It seems a lot of work to have to go to in order to get Spybot to work?

Do you know of any other way of preventing windows from storing all those temp files in particular collapsing your favourites menu, when in Internet Explorer. I have unchecked the save my most recent documents in the advanced section of Start Properties menu.

anne.kennedy5 said:

So, if I am running in safe mode it seem wise not to connect to the internet, just in case of infections, as obviously Norton will not be running. Is this correct.

Click to expand...

Norton will be off, there won't be any available connections to internet (maybe it's available if "Safe Mode with Networking" is selected) and most of resident won't be active in safe mode.

anne.kennedy5 said:

It seems a lot of work to have to go to in order to get Spybot to work?

Click to expand...

It shouldn't. You just need to run it, scan for problems and remove them.

anne.kennedy5 said:

Do you know of any other way of preventing windows from storing all those temp files in particular collapsing your favourites menu, when in Internet Explorer.

Click to expand...

Not sure what do you want to do.
If you want to remove temporary files which have been downloaded from the Internet in Internet Explorer, you can use Disk Cleaner and select "Temporary Internet Files".
If you want to remove those files everytime when you close Internet Explorer, then go to Control Panel > Internet Options, go to tab "Advanced" and tick checkbox "Empty Temporary Internet Files when browser is closed"
Note that Temporary Internet Files are used for faster page viewing which you have already saw and it's used to see pages offline.

Tom.K said:

If you want to remove temporary files which have been downloaded from the Internet in Internet Explorer, you can use Disk Cleaner and select "Temporary Internet Files".
If you want to remove those files every time when you close Internet Explorer, then go to Control Panel > Internet Options, go to tab "Advanced" and tick checkbox "Empty Temporary Internet Files when browser is closed"
Note that Temporary Internet Files are used for faster page viewing which you have already saw and it's used to see pages offline.

Click to expand...

Done all this and clear both temporary files and temp internet files every night before shutting down the pc.

I have windows set to clear temp internet files also, but it never clears them. I always have to go in and do it myself.

Also even though I have selected don't list my recent documents, it still does it

I go through the routine each night of
1. Deleting Temp internet files.
2. Deleting cookies
3. Clearing history files
All these 3 are done in Internet options.

I then run %temp% to clear temp files and delete these,
I then delete all files in the recycle bin.
Then do a disc cleanup using the windows utility. I do this after all the above, as it does not clear the temp internet, or temp files, as it should do, but leaves some.

Then once a week after doing all the above I run a disc defrag.

I used to use a registry cleaner, but now don't, as it messes up the windows restore function.

The most annoying bit is the collapsing of the favourites list when in Internet Explorer. Unless I have run Spybot to clear these, you have to expand the list each time when in Internet Explorer ( I use version 6, because with all its limitations I can determine if my HTML and css coding is correct and displays the content properly, when compared with Firefox 3, that is when I use W3C standards for coding) I figure that if it looks ok in IE6, then it will be ok in the more recent browsers.

There are some utilities which can clear temp. files completely. I recommend Glary Utilities which is free for private use and it's an alternative to TuneUp Utilities (actually, it's a clone). You can use 1-Click Mainteance for scheduled cleaning.

Tom.K said:

There are some utilities which can clear temp. files completely. I recommend Glary Utilities which is free for private use and it's an alternative to TuneUp Utilities (actually, it's a clone). You can use 1-Click Mainteance for scheduled cleaning.

Click to expand...

Many thanks for all your help, including Matt's. Will have a look at Glary utilities.

I just wish that spybot still worked, for as I said I do like this programme. Does anyone know why it wont work now. It seems such a shame, because up to press, it has always been great, and it would be a shame to see it deteriorate.