blueslady138
I will assume that you are the administrator on your system. It may take going to the back door to dump this piece of software.
A way to do that is to click on the start logo, click on the word 'run', be sure that it says 'this task will be created with administrator privileges' or click on the box before the line saying 'run as administrator', type in CMD. This should get you a small black pane with a DOS prompt, maximize it. Then type cd\ and press enter, then type cd program files (x86) and press enter, then type dir and press enter. Review the list to see if there is a folder spybot listed. If so type cd spybot and press enter. your prompt should now be C:\program filles (x86)\spybot). Type dir and press enter to see a list of files in the directory.
Try the short way to remove the directory; type cd\program files (x86) which should return your prompt to C:\program files (x86)). Type rd\spybot and press enter. If you get the error message that the directory is not empty you will have to go the long way. Type in cd\spybot and press enter. type del and press enter. You should get prompted to confirm that you want to delete all of the files. With all of the files deleted you should then be able t delete the spybot directory. type cd program files (x86) and press enter then type rd spybot and press enter.
Now you should also be able to go to the control panel programs and features and when you click on the spybot program get the message that it doesn't exist, do you want to remove it from the list? reply and it should be gone
Hope this helps
This might sound stupid...but I don't have RUN. I am using Vista.
blueslady138 wrote:
I am still seeing Spybot in my program files list. When I try to delete it I get an error message saying I need permission to do this. I have been unable to find a way around this. Any suggestions?
Thanks for your help.
Hi Linda,
Were you able to save the data from that link you asked about as a .reg file and run it? Was that successful?
When you say you are seeing Spybot in your program files list, I assume you mean that the spybot directory is present "C:\Program Files\Spybot" or some such. Is this correct?
Have you gone through all of the steps I mentioned and were you able to complete them? If so, then this is likely a harmless directory that has been left behind. You should be able to remove it from Windows Explorer and right click the directory and click on "Delete". If you are not a member of the administrators group you may be prompted by UAC and have to provide the administrator password.
The CMD prompt dickevans was referring to can be accessed by going to Start menu > Accessories > Command Prompt. Right click and select "Run as Administrator". Again you may be prompted for administrator password. The word "cmd" can also be typed in the "Search" box but if you are not logged in as Administrator or a user with Administrator rights you will not have full access.
Best wishes.
Allen
Hi Allen-
I have used add/remove programs to uninstall Spybot. When I went to C:windows/program files Spybot is still listed. There is still an icon on my desktop which brings up the program when I click on it so Spybot is still on my computer. The program gives me an error message saying files are missing.
When I try the registry option you provided nothing opens up for me to copy. I clicked the link, I was asked to run or save, I saved to my desktop. When I open it up, I extract the files, I double click and it says that it ran successfully. Nothing opens up, nothing to copy. I have no idea on this one. I am going to see if I can't get some local help on removing the program and the registry files because I think I am beyond my capabilities and my frustration with this might be getting the best of me.
On a side note, I have updated my laptop with all of the Windows update including the defender one and Norton is running fine on my laptop.
Thanks for your help.
blueslady138 wrote:
Hi Allen-
I have used add/remove programs to uninstall Spybot. When I went to C:windows/program files Spybot is still listed. There is still an icon on my desktop which brings up the program when I click on it so Spybot is still on my computer. The program gives me an error message saying files are missing.
[ ... ]
PLEASE go to the Spybot website for intstructions on how to remove it -- they tell you specifically that Uninstall or even the manual deletion of it's main folder removes all its files and list what else to do:
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/howto/uninstall.html
Note the instruction to reboot .....
Hi Linda,
From the link regarding the registry changes, if you just highlight that text and hit Ctrl + C on your keyboard. Then bring up Notepad and click Ctrl + V. You should see that same text then appear in the Notepad editor. Then do File > Save As and save to your desktop with a ".reg" extension. You should also be able to get the same result by doing a File > Save As directly from IE but make sure and save with a ".reg" extension. Note that depending on your version of IE you will probably have to press the ALT key on your keyboard to make the File menu item appear at the top of the browser.
It sounds like you have done that. When you double click it, it will run but you won't see anything obvious happen but it has in fact still run and done what it is supposed to do.
Hugh, the link you provided is the same one I had provided earlier.
Linda, are you logged on to your computer as Administrator or another user with Administrator rights? In order to remove that Spybot directory in Program Files you need to have Administrator credentials. If you are logged on as a regular user and try to delete that directory you should be prompted to enter an Administrator password. To be sure though it would probably be easiest if you log on as an Administrator to begin with.
Once you have that directory removed, be sure to log back on under your regular user account.
Best wishes.
Allen
Allen,
I din't check back but it did not seem as if Linda had done more than uninstall which SpyBot say is not enough whether you follow their manual route or use the Windows Remove programs.
Moved to own thread for better exposure.
Hello-
I have tried the command prompt and when I type in cd program files (x86)
I get the following message: The system cannot find the path specified. What now?
I have tried to use the link you suggested to remove Spybot. It says: Also, neither the automated uninstall nor the manual uninstall like described above will remove the following directories, which you will have to remove by hand: How do I do this?
thanks for your help.
I'll let Allen help you on this ......
Hi Linda,
Just to reiterate, having a directory left behind is, in and of itself harmless except for the fact that it takes up a bit of room on your hard drive. As long as nothing in the registry or elsewhere is referring to anything in that program path, then Spybot would not be able to run in any fashion so I don't think what you are seeing is causing a functional issue.
When you try to double click on the Spybot icon or whatever you are seeing, you said it reports an error that files are missing. What exactly does the error message say - word for word? Please also post a screenshot of this which you can do by following the insturctions in the following link:
http://community.norton.com/t5/Forum-Feedback/Forum-Tip-How-to-post-screenshots-in-the-forum/td-p/254415/jump-to/first-unread-message
Now having said that I can certainly understand and wholeheartedly agree that for completeness the program directory should be removed. Honestly I find it SAD that there is no simple Spybot removal tool (similar to the Norton removal tool) which would do everything simply by running the tool. Having a user go through all these manual steps is, in my opinion inexcusable on their part.
You really should not have to use a CMD prompt to remove the Spybot directory. You should be able to so from Windows Explorer but as I mentioned before you MUST be either logged in as the Administrator or a user with Administrative rights. I have not seen confirmation from you that you are. Can you confirm, are you logging in as the Administrator user?
To see this Spybot directory from Windows Explorer you will need to ensure that it is configured to display hidden files/folders and system files. Please see the following link:
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/show-hidden-files-and-folders-in-windows-vista/
Make sure and also remove the checkmark which says "Hide protected operating system files" as well. At this point you should be able to see this directory from Windows Explorer and remove it. But again I stress that you must be logged in as the Administrator user to complete the action.
At this point I seriously doubt that Spybot is what is preventing you from opening NIS but I understand you want to take care of this Spybot thing first to be sure.
Are you still having exactly the same problem with not being able to open the NIS program?
Best wishes.
Allen
Yes, I have been logged in as the administrator. When I click on the Program files in my C drive there are many Spybot files in there so I think its more than a few left overs. I agree that it is ridiculous to be that hard to get rid of a program.
At this point, I am at a loss as to what to do. I really don't know that Spybot is causing NIS not to work. My goal is to get NIS working again so that I can safely use that computer. I am considering wiping the computer clean after I load all of my stuff on to an external hard drive. This seems like a radical step to me but I don't know what else to do. Do I have any other options for getting NIS to work again?
I appreciate all of your help.
blueslady138 wrote:
Yes, I have been logged in as the administrator. When I click on the Program files in my C drive there are many Spybot files in there so I think its more than a few left overs. I agree that it is ridiculous to be that hard to get rid of a program.
At this point, I am at a loss as to what to do. I really don't know that Spybot is causing NIS not to work. My goal is to get NIS working again so that I can safely use that computer. I am considering wiping the computer clean after I load all of my stuff on to an external hard drive. This seems like a radical step to me but I don't know what else to do. Do I have any other options for getting NIS to work again?
I appreciate all of your help.
If you are going to do a total restore of your computer, move only data files to the external drive. Remember to save your Identity Safe settings. You will have start the rebuild from the installation CD and then add your Norton Program. This can be done while the computer is not connected to the Internet. After those two are installed, reboot and connect to the Internet to validate and register. Try to run live update and reboot until you get all of your updates before you start downloading and installing all of the windows updates, patches and service packs. This will not be a quick fix. The last time I did this to a production machine it was the better part of several hours of downloading, installing, rebooting, downloading, installing, rebooting, etc.
After you have windows and Norton current and working to your satisfaction it will be time to install the rest of your software.
Then you can make sure all of that is current and then bring your data files back from the external drive.
Hope this helps in your decision making
Dick, will it matter that I don't have a Norton disc? I purchased my product online so I don't have one. Do I have any other options for getting NIS to work?
Thanks!
Bombastus provided the download link for the latest version in the second post on page one. At least it is the second post if you are using thread view.
Reloading from scratch might be the best way to go. There is normally no problem uninstalling Spybot, so what ever Windows error or malware that is preventing things from running properly, it may be the fastest way to get resolved.
Hi LInda,
As Delphinium said, if you are willing to reinstall Windows and your applications + restoring your data, there is more certainty that it will resolve your issue so it really is your call at this point.
However, you really should not be getting a permissions error when you attempt to delete the Spybot files/directories if you are logged on as Administrator. As the Administrator this typically should only happen if some of those files are in use, but that should not be the case after having uninstalled Spybot and doing the other steps we discussed earlier.
You could try if you choose to boot into SAFE mode and attempt to delete the remaining Spybot files there.
If you do choose to reinstall Windows and your applications, please make sure and back up your Identity Safe as dickevans mentioned earlier and back up all of your personal documents and such so that you can restore them later. To back up your ID safe, go to Settings > Web Settings > Backup Identity Safe Data and click Configure next to this. I would recommend supplying a password for your added protection. Make sure and save this to a portable media such as a USB flash drive or other external drive. Later afer you reinstall Windows and NIS you can restore this ID safe by clicking the Configure button next to Restore Identity Safe Data.
Before restoring ID Safe make sure and perform all live updates to NIS and reboot the computer at the end.
You can download the English version of NIS 2011 from:
http://www.norton.com/nis11
Please do let us know what you decide to do and the outcome. We're all wishing you the best to get this working properly again.
Best wishes.
Allen
Moved to own thread for better exposure.
I am in the process of backing all of my files onto an external hard drive. I will let you know how things come out.
Thanks for your help.
Thanks to all for your time & help. I gave up on Norton and went with AVG.
Linda