Spybot Starts and Stays Minimized

[erikz]

I apologize if this topic has been posted previously, but I could not find a suitable answer to help me.

When I launch SpyBot S&D it starts minimized. The minimized application window is at the bottom of my desktop, but when I click on the restore button, nothing happens. I have read posts that indicate that the program will restore on its own, but this has never happened.

I have also read posts which indicate how to adjust some registry settings to reset them to the original defaults, but I cannot find these on my computer nor can I find the registry key above the settings that are listed. This has happened in the past and I have simply uninstalled and re-installed SpyBot, but I would rather not do that. Hopefully there is a simple fix for this.

I am running Win XP Pro SP2. I am not sure of the version of SpyBot, but it is not the upcoming version in beta, so I am sure it is the current version.

TIA,
Erik

[spybotsandra]

Hello,

Please make sure that you are running the latest version of Spybot - Search & Destroy including the latest updates.

To see which version number and/or updates of Spybot - Search & Destroy you are using please run Spybot-S&D and choose "Help" --> "About" in the menu bar.
There you can see which version you have and which updates are installed.
It should be version 1.6.2 and the updates from the 2011/08/10.

If you are up to date it can appear when you minimize your Spybot and then close it by ticking the "x" in the menu bar for closing the program.

You have three choices to solve this problem:

1. Make a fresh install of Spybot - Search & Destroy.
Please uninstall Spybot - Search & Destroy according to the following link.
Then make a fresh install of Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.6.2.
You will find links to several download locations on our website.

2. Edit the registry by:

(a)
press windowskey + r then enter "regedit" (without quotation marks)
or
(b)
click on "start" , then "run" and enter "regedit" (without quotation marks)
(a+b)
and then browse to the path:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Safer Networking Limited\SpybotSnD\UI\Forms\formMain

and change the value from:
"WindowState"=dword:00000000 bzw. "WindowState"=dword:00000001
to:
"WindowState"=dword:00000000 bzw. "WindowState"=dword:00000000

3. Download this fix.

After downloading the zip file, extract the included .reg file and double-click it to add it to the registry.

(Content:REGEDIT4 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Safer Networking Limited\SpybotSnD\UI\Forms\formMain] "WindowState"=dword:00000000)

You will find this information also in our forum.

Best regards
Sandra
Team Spybot

[erikz]

Sandra,

TFTR. I was confused by the suggestion:

and change the value from:
"WindowState"=dword:00000000 bzw. "WindowState"=dword:00000001
to:
"WindowState"=dword:00000000 bzw. "WindowState"=dword:00000000

I was not sure what "bzw" meant and why there are two listings on each line in these instructions.

Ultimately, this is what I did to fix it.

The registry setting was on 0 already, so I set it to 1 and tried SpyBot but it just stayed minimized. Then, I closed the program with Windows TaskManager. Next, I reset the registry setting to 0 and reloaded the program and it ran in normal windowed mode.

Notes: I am running version 1.6.2 but I could not easily confirm that as I could not get to the UI of the program. Anyway, all's well that end's well. I am trying out version 2 now so hopefully the new version won't experience this issue.

Thanks again,

Erik