My apologies, looks like the Spybot website was upgraded a bit, and the link I posted is no longer there, lol.
It's very different than before, but I think I like it. Anyways, that's neither here nor there.

Here is part of what was posted at the link I posted originally:
Why do I receive “Error retrieving update info file“?
November 9th, 2012

1. The error message “Error retrieving update info file” usually appears when Spybot – Search & Destroy has accidently imported bad Internet Explorer proxy settings. In this case, it helps just to disable the proxy option in Spybot 2. You can access this setting by choosing “Configure Proxy“ in the Updater menu on the left. Or you open the Spybot 2 “Start Center“ and click on “Settings“. Choose the tab “Internet Protection“. Here you can deselect “Use Spybot Proxy“. Now click “Apply“ and “OK“.

2. Please check your firewall.
Most people who do not have problem #1 do have Spybot 2 accidentally blocked in their firewall.
Number 3 was just a link to the manual downloads, which you already know about.