Spybot load error...suggestion for next release

I do not use Internet Explorer or Outlook Express, and a long time ago I found a neat trick which makes it impossible for any program/trojan/etc to access the Internet through IE/Windows and "phone home". That trick is to rename the WININET.DLL file to anything else and then reboot.

Most programs which have a "Search for Updates" feature will detect that there is no IE-based internet access available, and either grey out the feature or display a message stating that online updates are not available on my system.

Without WININET.DLL available, when loading Spybot S&D displays a bizarre error message and then aborts.

Would it be possible in future versions to check whether online updates are even possible on a system, and if not, allow the program to run without this feature?

Thanks for your consideration!

Mark

probably not. can non-IE browsers like Mozilla, Firefox and Opera work ok without the use of the WININET.DLL file with any internet connection?

Firefox works just fine without WININET.DLL. As a matter of fact, if Firefox (or anything other then Internet Explorer) is selected as the default browser, Outlook Express also works fine without WININET.DLL! (It will initially say that "the Internet is not available", but by clicking on Try Again, everything works fine from then on.)

I have a temporary workaround. I put WININET.DLL back on my system but renamed it to WININET.LDD, then wrote a batch file that gives it the correct name, executes SPYBOTSD.EXE, and then renames it back to WININET.LDD. This allows me to run Spybot, but it leaves my system vulnerable while Spybot is running. I can live with that for now...

Mark