Spybot 2.x FAQ - Spybot Anti-Malware and Antivirus : Spybot Anti-Malware and Antivirus

Download & Install

Error Sending Request: displayed when downloading and installing Spybot 2

The "Error Sending Request" error usually occurs when the license installer fails to download the Spybot program.

Error Sending Request

To solve this, you can manually download Spybot using the following installer:

For Windows Vista or XP, please download and install Spybot 2.4 from here.
For Windows 7 or higher, please download and install the latest Spybot from here.

Your license files will be added to the installation, activating all of the features of your paid edition. In the case that your license files were not installed correctly, please delete the folder
C:\Windows.old\Spybot – Search & Destroy 2
and run the license installer again.

How to activate my new Spybot license?

Installing Spybot +AV as a First Time User

If you do not currently have Spybot installed on your PC:

Click the link below to download Spybot 2.8:
Download Spybot- Search & Destroy

Once the download is complete, run the installer by double clicking on the file listing in your browser.

Select Yes when prompted by the User Account Control then wait for the installer to load.

Select the desired language then click OK.

Proceed through the installation by clicking Next until you reach the Spybot Edition page.

Here you can enter your license key.

Go to your Purchase Receipt email then highlight your license key, right click on it and then press Copy.

Right click in the License key field then click Paste.

After pasting in the license key, click on Verify

Your license key should now be recognized and you can continue with the installation by clicking Next.

Proceed with the installation by clicking Next to finish installing Spybot +AV.

A tutorial for this is available on our Youtube Channel:
Installing Spybot +AV as a First Time User

How to download & install Spybot – Search & Destroy?

To download Spybot - Search & Destroy:

Choose a download location on our website.

The displayed mirrors are partners who provide places to host Spybot - Search & Destroy for us. You can download from any of them, it is secure and they all contain the same data.

After choosing the mirror for downloading Spybot, your browser should prompt you to save the installation file.

To install Spybot - Search & Destroy:

Once the file has downloaded, run the spybotsd-2.7.64.0.exe file by double clicking on the file.
Press Yes when prompted by the User Account Control to allow the installer to run.

Select the desired language for the setup and the Spybot - Search & Destroy installation.

Select the 1st option for "..installing Spybot for personal use and will decide later."

Next you can choose a full installation or a custom installation:

Clicking "I want to be protected without having to attend to it myself" will go through a full installation without any selectable options.
Clicking "I want more control, more feedback and more responsibility" will go through a custom installation and you will have the option to get more control during program operation.

The next window is the Spybot - Search & Destroy license agreement. You must accept the license agreement to continue with the installation.

The next window allows you select where Spybot - Search & Destroy will be installed.

In the next window you can choose to create a Start Menu folder.

Next you can choose what schedule tasks and system integration to install.

The final window gives a summary of the selected items chosen during the installation.

How to Install Spybot +AV as a Free Edition User

Installing Spybot +AV as a Free Edition User

To install/activate your Spybot +AV license with the Free Edition already installed:

Open Spybot – Search & Destroy by clicking on the Spybot desktop icon.

In the Start Center, click on where it says Free Edition in blue writing.

This will open the License Overview window. Here you can click on Your License.

Next, click on Enter a new license key.

Select Yes when prompted by the User Account Control.

Go to your Purchase Receipt email then highlight your license key, right click on it and then press Copy.

Right click in the License key field then click Paste then click OK.

Your license files will then be downloaded and Spybot +AV will become activated.

A tutorial for this is available on our Youtube Channel:

Installing Spybot +AV as a Free Editon User

How to uninstall Spybot – Search & Destroy 2?

To uninstall Spybot 2 follow these steps:

Open the Start Menu.
Type Control Panel into the search box.
Click on Small Icons in the View by dropdown menu.
Click on Programs & Features.
Scroll down to Spybot – Search & Destroy, click it, and then press Uninstall.
This will open the uninstallation wizard.

Before uninstalling Spybot - Search & Destroy, it is recommended to undo Immunization to avoid issues with the uninstallation process.

It is also recommended to view Spybot’s Quarantine to restore any items you would like to keep that were detected by Spybot - Search & Destroy. Once Spybot is uninstalled, these files cannot be restored.

After Spybot - Search & Destroy has been uninstalled it is recommended to delete the following folders:

In a 32-Bit system: C:\Program Files\Spybot – Search & Destroy 2\
In a 64-Bit system: C:\Program Files (x86)\Spybot – Search & Destroy 2\
C:\ProgramData\Spybot – Search & Destroy

Please note that the ProgramData folder is hidden.

If you can’t find this folder, please check your folder properties to ensure hidden files/folders are displayed on your PC:

Open Windows Explorer (or any folder).
Click on Organise, then go to Folder and search options.
Click on View, then select Show Hidden Files, Folders and Drives.

Then restart your PC for the changes to take affect.

Spybot 2.5 Prompt – Post Windows 10 Spybot-install

If you have installed Spybot - Search & Destroy recently, you may have noticed the appearance of a "Post Windows 10 Spybot-install" file on your Desktop after installation.

What is that?

This file was included in our updates for users upgrading to Windows 10.
During the upgrade process, Spybot is likely to be uninstalled. It can be reinstalled by running this file, which will survive the upgrade process.
If this method does not work for you, please see here for reinstallation instructions.

What do I do with it?

If you do not plan to upgrade to Windows 10, this file can be deleted. You can get this file back if you need to by reinstalling Spybot - Search & Destroy.
You can also delete the folder:
C:\Program Files\Common Files\AV\Spybot - Search and Destroy
If you do plan to upgrade to Windows 10, or already have, you can run this file to install Spybot - Search & Destroy 2.5. Changes have been made to this version of Spybot to improve compatibility.

If this does not work, please see here for instructions to reinstall Spybot.

Start Center & System Scan

Are the found items really Rootkits?

Malware sometimes uses rootkit technology to hide itself at system level.
This makes it undetectable for standard tools. Our plugins help Spybot – Search & Destroy to detect this form of malware.
Our Rootkit Scan tool shows anything that uses certain rootkit technologies. But items with rootkit properties detected here are not necessarily malware. Sometimes, legit software uses rootkit technologies to hide registration data or other information it does not want the user to see in any case. So please keep in mind that a Rootkit Scan only flags suspicious stuff, not identifying just bad stuff. If you get ‘No admin in ACL’ this thread in our forum should help explaining. If you are not sure about the found items, please ask for ‘help’ in our RootAlyzer Forum before you delete anything. The deletion is final and can not be recovered through the Quarantine.

If you still want to remove the found items we strongly recommend to create a system restore point before doing that.

Detected items were not removed after scan. How do I remove them?

If the detected items were not removed by a System Scan, you can try to remove them again by running SDCleaner manually.

To open SDCleaner:

Navigate to the Spybot - Search & Destroy program folder:

for 32-bit PCs:

C:\Program Files\Spybot - Search & Destroy 2\

for 64-bit PCs:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Spybot - Search & Destroy 2\

Right-click the file SDCleaner.exe, file and choose the option to Run as Administrator.
If the unremoved item is present in this list and it is not listed as "cleaned" you can select it and click on Remove Malware.
If you wish to scan again, click on Rescan Detected. This will open up the System Scan Window and scan for all the items that were previously detected in a scan.

When the scan is finished you can select Fix Selected in the System Scan window.

Alternatively, you can try a scan in Safe Mode as the malware could be affecting the removal process.

To do this:

Reboot your PC. As it is restarting, hold F8 until a boot menu appears.
In the boot menu, choose Safe Mode with Networking.
You can then open Spybot - Search & Destroy as an administrator in this mode and perform another scan.
Open Spybot by right-clicking on the Spybot - Search & Destroy icon and choosing the option to Run as administrator.
Click on Scan System.

Once you have scanned using Spybot - Search & Destroy, restart your machine through the Shutdown options.

Please see the links below for more information on entering Safe Mode:

How to check my Spybot edition?

To check your Spybot - Search & Destroy edition:

Open the Spybot Start Center.
Click on Show Details in the bottom right corner of the Start Center.
Under the Spybot logo on the top left corner of the Start Center, you should see the Spybot edition written in blue writing.
If you are a licensed user you should also have +ANTIVIRUS written in red writing.

For more information on your Spybot Edition and License, you can click the blue writing which will open the License Overview window.

How to open Spybot with Administrator privileges/as an admin?

Windows may sometimes tell you that Spybot - Search & Destroy does not have the correct permissions to run on your system, or that you need elevated permissions to do so.

You can solve this as follows:

Open Spybot - Search & Destroy by right-clicking on the Spybot icon and choosing the option to Run as administrator.
This will require you to be signed into your PC using an administrator account.

Administrator accounts, by default, do not run programs as an administrator as this could allow malicious software to have administrator permissions on your PC.

How to perform a System Scan?

To perform a System Scan, please do the following:

Open Spybot - Search & Destroy by right-clicking on the Spybot - S&D Start Center icon and choosing the option to Run as Administrator.
Click on Scan System. This will open a new System Scan window and the scan will begin automatically.
If you have not downloaded and installed any signature updates, the System Scan will not begin automatically and you will be required to install the latest definition updates.
Once the updates have been installed, you can Start the System Scan.

After the Scan has finished running you will see the Scan Results window.
Here you can review the detected items and remove them by pressing Fix Selected.

How to remove detected threats?

To remove detected threats with Spybot:

Once the scan has completed, click on Show Scan Results.
This will then show all the detected threats on your machine.
To remove these threats, press the Fix Selected button.
When the items have been fixed, a green tick appears beside each entry.
These items will be added to Spybots Quarantine.

How to scan a file using File Scan?

To scan a file using the File Scan:

Open Spybot - Search & Destroy by right-clicking on the Spybot icon and choosing Run as Administrator.
Click on Show details in the bottom right of the Spybot Start Center.
Go to File Scan. This will open the File Scan in a separate window.
Click on Add File(s). This allows you to pick which files to scan.
You can then navigate to the desired file(s), and click Open.
If you want to add more than one file from the same directory, hold the AltGr key on your keyboard when selecting the files, and then click Open.

You can also scan a single file by right-clicking on the file, clicking on Spybot – Search & Destroy, and then clicking on Scan File.

Note: Windows Explorer Integration must be enabled to use this option.

A clean file shows a green tick beside the file in the results list.

An infected file can be quarantined by clicking Remove Malware.

How to scan all user accounts on my PC?

To scan all user accounts on your machine:

Open the Spybot - Search & Destroy Start Center by right-clicking on the icon and choosing Run as administrator.
Click on Show Details in the bottom right corner of the Start Center.
Click Advanced User Mode.
Go to Settings.

Go to the Scope tab and select:

Scan the running system and all of its users, including those not logged in

This should scan all profiles and files that are selected in which permission is given for, independent of the current user.

How to scan different drives on my PC?

There are two ways to scan different drives, such as external drives or networked PCs:

1. Run a System Scan on a certain drive

Open the Start Center, then click on Scan System.
In the System Scan window, click Stop Scan if the scan has started automatically. This message will then change to Show Scan Results.
Click the dropdown arrow beside Show Scan Results and select Scan with different options.
Here, you can choose to select/deselect any drives connected to your PC to include in the System Scan.

2. Run a scan on a specific folder

Navigate to the File/Folder/Drive, right-click on it, click Spybot – Search & Destroy in this menu, and then click Scan Folder.
To use this option, System Integration must be enabled.

How to schedule a System Scan?

Note: Task Scheduling is only available in the licensed editions of Spybot

By default, the System Scan is set to run on the 1st of every month.

To schedule a System Scan:

Open Spybot's Start Center by right-clicking on the Spybot icon and choosing the option to Run as administrator.
Tick Advanced User Mode.
Go to Settings.
Go to Schedule, and click on Add beside the System Scan task.

Click Edit (This will open up the Windows Task Scheduler).
In the top left of the Task Scheduler, click on the small black arrow beside Task Scheduler Library.
This will then show you subfolders of the Task Scheduler.
Click on Safer Networking.
Click on Spybot - Search & Destroy.
Right-click on the Scan the system task, and then click Properties.

Go to the Triggers tab, and then click Edit.
Here, you can set the parameters for when and how you want the scan to run.

How to use the Temporary File Cleaner?

The option to Clean Up Temporary Files appears in the system scan when there are 100 or more temporary files present. If there are less than 100 files present, the option is not visible in the System Scan window. If you chose to hide the Temporary file cleaner, it should reappear the next time there are 100 files or more. You can remove temporary files when this option becomes accessible again.

How to view previous scan results?

To display the results from your last scan:

- Navigate to the Spybot - Search & Destroy program directory:
```
for 32-bit PCs:
```
  C:\Program Files\Spybot - Search & Destroy 2\
```
for 64-bit PCs:
```
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Spybot - Search & Destroy 2\

Right-click the file SDCleaner.exe and choose the option to Run as Administrator.
This will then display the results of your last System Scan.

The System Scan did not detect any threats on my machine. What can I do?

If the System Scan did not detect any items on your machine, it is possible that you have not installed all of the latest updates.

Please download and install Spybot's latest definition updates:

Open Spybot - Search & Destroy by right-clicking on the Spybot icon and choosing the option to Run as administrator.
Click on Update
In the Update window, click Update. If this does not work, please see here for instructions on updating Spybot.
Once the update is complete, perform another scan with Spybot.

If Spybot - Search & Destroy still does not detect any threats on your PC, you can try performing a scan in Safe Mode using the instructions below:

Reboot your PC. As it is restarting, press F8 repeatedly until the boot menu opens.
In the boot menu, choose Safe Mode with Networking.
You can then open Spybot - Search & Destroy as an administrator in this mode and perform another scan.
Open Spybot - Search & Destroy by right-clicking on the Spybot icon and choosing the option to Run as administrator.
Go to System Scan.
Once you have scanned using Spybot, restart your machine through the Shutdown options.

Please see the following links for more information on entering Safe Mode:

Windows XP
Windows Vista
Windows 7
Windows 8
Windows 10

If Spybot still cannot detect or remove this threat, it is likely that you have a new threat or a new variation of a known threat.
We recommend consulting the malware removal section of our forum.

Immunization

Can Spybot scan / immunize portable browser installations?

Portable installations, e.g. if you use PortableApps, can be added through Spybot's Settings window.

Open Settings, switch to the tab Portable Browsers and click Add... to specify where your portable installation is located.

Spybot 2.7 Settings Portable Browsers

How to perform Immunization?

To perform Immunization:

Open Spybot’s Start Center by right-clicking the Spybot desktop icon then choose the option to Run as administrator.
Click on Immunize.
Click Check System to see if the current Immunization status and see if Immunization has already been performed.

Press Apply Immunization to begin Immunization.

Click on Show details for a more detailed overview of the items being Immunized.

Please see here for more information if the immunization does not complete correctly.

How to undo Immmunization?

If you experience any issues accessing trusted websites after applying the immunization, this can be undone to see if it is affecting your access to the site/sites.

To undo Spybot’s Immunization:

Open the Spybot – Search & Destroy Start Center by right-clicking the Spybot icon and choosing the option to Run as administrator.
In the Start Center, click Immunization.
In the Immunization window, click Undo Immunization.

What is Immunization?

The Immunization feature provides Internet Protection by preventing users from entering malicious, untrusted or potentially dangerous websites.

This is done by adding a list of known malicious entries to the Windows hosts file.

It also prevents tracking cookies from entering your system, and blocks known spyware installers (and similar baddies) already included in Spybot’s database.

Why are some items still unprotected after performing Immunization?

There a different reasons why an Immunization might fail. These are usually:

A path is not detected.
The object is blocked by something; e.g. another security program.
The user does not have appropriate rights to immunize an object.

It is necessary to run the immunization with elevated privileges (as an administrator), otherwise the global immunization will fail.

To ensure that Immunization is applied correctly, please disable all other security programs that you run and close all browsers and any other programs during the work with Spybot – Search & Destroy.

To Immunize your browser:

Open Spybot Start Center by right-clicking on the icon and choosing Run as Administrator.
Click on Immunize.
Click Check System, then click Apply Immunization.

Why does Firefox Immunization get undone frequently?

Firefox Immunization works by adding negative permissions to your Firefox profile, which will effectively block elements.

Some registry cleaners are unable to distinguish between positive and negative permissions and will simply remove all permissions from your Firefox profile.

Workaround for CCleaner

On the Applications tab, in the Firefox section, make sure Site Preferences is unticked.

Settings & Tools

Are there special System Requirements for Spybot?

If your Windows works well on your computer, all you need is harddisk space of around 500 MByte for Spybot - Search & Destroy, 500 MByte for +AV (Antivirus) and less than 100 MByte for Spybot Anti-Beacon.

Does Spybot conflict with other antivirus programs?

In the case you are using another antivirus program that contains Live Protection, real-time Protection or some equivalent, this could be conflicting with Spybot’s Live Protection.

To avoid conflicts that might arise in this case, please disable the Live Protection on either Spybot or your other antivirus program.

Please see the link below for info on the dangers of running more than one form of real time protection:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2034141/one-antivirus-program-is-better-than-two.html

To disable Live Protection in Spybot, please do the following:

Open Spybot by right-clicking on the Spybot icon and choosing the option to Run as Administrator.
In the Start Center, click on Show Details then click on Advanced User Mode.
Click on Settings then go to the Live Protection tab.
Untick the checkbox for Scan programs before they start.
Click Apply and OK, and restart Spybot for your changes to take effect.

Settings

There is also a button for Show Live Protection advanced controls on this page. If you click this button you will see two options. You can choose either of these:

Uninstall Live Protection (this may require you to reboot)
Deactivate Live Protection

How to change the language in Spybot?

Spybot – Search & Destroy supports different languages. You can easily switch to your favorite available language using the instructions below.

To change Spybot’s language:

Open the Spybot Start Center by right clicking on the Start Center icon and choose Run as Administrator.
Click on Show details in the bottom right corner then tick the checkbox next to Advanced User Mode then click on Settings in the Start Center.
You can also access it by right-clicking the system tray Spybot icon (the small Spybot 2 icon beside your system’s clock in the taskbar). You can then go to Advanced Tools → Settings.
Once Settings has been opened, switch to the Language tab and click on the desired language.
The language tab is one of the two tabs on the far left side of the Settings window.
Choose your desired language from the available options. Click Apply and OK, and restart Spybot for your changes to take effect.

How to disable Live Protection?

To disable Live Protection:

Open Spybot by right-clicking on the Spybot icon and clicking Run as administrator.
Click on Show details in the bottom right corner of the Start Center.
Click on the Live Protection status in the Start Center.
This will open the Live Protection Settings window.
Untick the checkbox beside Scan all programs before they start.
Click on Show Live Protection Advanced Controls.
Click on Uninstall Live Protection.

You may receive a message saying that "The Live Protection System Driver could not be deactivated/uninstalled. A reboot might be needed to completely deactivate Live Protection."

You must restart your PC for the changes to take effect.

After your PC has restarted, Live Protection should now be disabled.

How to enable Live Protection?

To enable Live Protection:

Open Spybot by right-clicking on the Spybot icon and choosing the option to Run as Administrator.
Click on Show details in the bottom right corner of the Start Center.
Click on the Live Protection status in the Start Center. This will open up the Live Protection Settings.
If you see Live Protection is not installed, click on Show Live Protection advanced controls and click on Install Live Protection.
If you receive an error message saying "Live Protection System Driver could not be installed", you will have to restart your PC in order to re-attempt the installation.
Once you have restarted your machine, please open Spybot.
You should see a dialog asking you whether or not to install Live Protection, here click Yes.
If you do not see this dialog, go back into the Live Protection settings by pressing on the Live Protection status in the Start Center.
Click on Activate Live Protection. Live Protection should now be fully enabled.

Enable

How to enable/disable System Services?

You can enable or disable Spybot System Services from within the Settings of Spybot – S&D:

Open Spybot by right-clicking on the Spybot icon and choosing the option to Run as Administrator.
Click on Show details in the bottom right corner of the Start Center.
Tick Advanced User Mode in the Start Center.
Open Settings, then choose the System Services tab.

Here, you will see the Security Center Service, the Scanner Service and the Update Service. These services should be enabled by default.

Disable a service

Click the Stop button beside the service you would like to disable. To disable it permanently, you have also to untick the checkbox beside Active after every reboot.

Enable a serviceClick the Start button beside the service you would like to enable. To keep it enabled after a reboot, also tick the checkbox beside Active after every reboot.

Click Apply and OK then restart Spybot for your changes to take effect.

Is it possible to run Spybot and Windows Defender?

User of Windows 10 may have noticed that Windows Defender will stop running in Windows 10 when Spybot is installed. Windows will disable this program if it detects another antivirus program on your PC in order to prevent conflict between the multiple antivirus programs installed. The Free Edition of Spybot also falls into this category, because it contains antivirus components from the paid editions. To fix this issue, please disable Spybot's Security Center Service using the instructions below, as this will prevent Windows from detecting Spybot as an antivirus program.

Open Spybot by right clicking on the Spybot icon and click Run as Administrator.
Click on Show details in the bottom right corner of the Start Center.
Open Settings (Tick the checkbox next to Advanced User Mode if you do not see Settings)
In Settings, go to the System Services tab.
Here, click Stop beside the Security Center Service.

After disabling the service and rebooting your PC, Windows Defender should function correctly again when it is run.

However, the antivirus programs could now conflict and cause issues.

To avoid this with Spybot, please also disable Live Protection/Real-Time Protection in either Spybot or Windows Defender.

You can find instructions for disabling Spybot's Live Protection here.

Why does Windows Explorer crashes on right-click?

This issue can be caused by Spybots System Integration. To fix this issue:

Open Spybot by right-clicking on the Spybot icon and clicking Run as administrator.
Click on Show details in the bottom right corner of the Start Center.
Click on Advanced User Mode then open Settings.
Go to the System Integration tab then click the Uninstall button next to Windows Explorer Integration.
Click Apply and OK, and restart Spybot.

Why is my PC running slow after installing Spybot?

This could possibly be caused by Spybot's Live Protection.

This scans all programs before they start to prevent any infections or threats from entering your system.

The benefit of this is that it keeps your system free from malware and other harmful threats.

The downside is that Live Protection must scan all processes to keep your PC clean.

This can cause your PC to open programs much slower.

Please see here for instructions to disable Live Protection.

You must restart your PC for the changes to take effect.

After your PC has restarted, Live Protection should now be disabled.

If you have another AV program with real-time protection, you should disable either it or Spybot's Live Protection as running both at the same time can cause them to conflict with each other.

Please see the following link which gives information running more than one AV program:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2034141/one-antivirus-program-is-better-than-two.html

Updates & Licenses

How to manually download updates for Spybot 2?

You can manually download the antispyware definitions for Spybot using the instructions below:

You can download the manual update file from here.
When you run this file, it will ask you to select a folder.
Please select the Spybot program folder:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Spybot – Search & Destroy 2
Or on a 32-bit/x86 system:
C:\Program Files\Spybot – Search & Destroy 2
The files will be added to the Includes folder within the Spybot program folder.

Unfortunately it is not possible to download the Antivirus definitions manually.

How to report a problem?

If you are unable to find a solution for your problem, please let us know. Please let us know each detail that will help us to reproduce your issue. That is e.g. a screenshot of the window showing the problem and any other error messages you receive. Also let us know what you have done before the message appeared, e.g. what you have clicked.

All this send to Team Spybot by using the link below to the Request Support page:
https://www.safer-networking.org/support/#contactform

See the following link for more information on how to take a screenshot:
http://www.take-a-screenshot.org

It is recommended not to send photos made using a mobile phone. Only screenshots please.

How to restart the update service?

If you receive a message telling you that the Update Service has stopped, you must re-enable the service if you want Spybot to be updated automatically.

To enable the Update Service:

Open Spybot by right-clicking on the Spybot icon, and choosing the option to Run as Administrator.
Click on Show details in the bottom right corner of the Start Center then click on Advanced User Mode.
Go to Settings then click the System Services tab.
Here you can start the Update Service.
Make sure you tick the check box that says Active after every reboot.
Click Apply and OK, and restart Spybot.

How to schedule Updates in Spybot 2?

Note: Task Scheduling is only available in the licensed editions of Spybot.

By default, the Update task is set to run every time your PC starts, with a 3 minute delay. To schedule Updates:

Open Spybot's Start Center by right-clicking on the Spybot icon and choosing the option to Run as administrator.
Click on Show details in the bottom right corner of the Start Center.
Tick Advanced User Mode.
Go to Settings.
Go to Schedule, and click on Add beside the Update task.

Click Edit (This will open up the Windows Task Scheduler).
In the top left of the Task Scheduler, click on the small black arrow beside Task Scheduler Library.
This will then show you subfolders of the Task Scheduler.
Click on Safer Networking.
Click on Spybot - Search & Destroy.
Right-click on the Check for updates task, and then click Properties.

Go to the Triggers tab, and then click Edit.
Here, you can set the parameters for when and how you want the updates to run.

How to update Spybot – Search & Destroy?

The Spybot updates contain all of the definition files and detection signatures which are used by the System Scan to search for and detect malware and viruses.

You are required to update Spybot before performing a System Scan to ensure that all of the latest definition updates are installed so that you are capable of protecting your PC from the latest threats.

Before updating Spybot, you should disable any other security programs that are running real time protection which may interfere with the Spybot update, causing it to fail.

To update Spybot:

Open Spybot by right clicking on the Spybot icon and click Run as Administrator.
Click on Update.
In the Update window click the Update button to begin downloading the latest definition files.

If a file(s) fails to download during the updates, please close the updater then open it again.

After the status check is complete the update button will become active again.

When you re-select the update button the update should resume and complete successfully.

For more information, please view our video tutorials on Updating Spybot:

Licensed Edition:
Updating Spybot +AV

Free Edition:
Updating Spybot Using the Free Edition

If you are still unable to update Spybot, please take a screenshot of the update window and any other error messages you receive then send them to Team Spybot by using the link below to the Request Support page:

https://www.safer-networking.org/support/#contactform

How to view my License Details?

To view your license details, first open the Spybot Start Center.

You can open the Start Center by clicking on the Spybot Start Center desktop icon or by searching for Spybot in the Windows Search.

In the Start Center, click on where it lists the license edition under the Spybot logo. In the example below it shows the Professional Edition:

Clicking on the listed edition will open up the License Overview Feature.

Here you can click on the Your License tab to view your license details.

The Your License tab displays information about your currently installed license.

License Detials - Your License tab with arrows

1. Shows your License Edition

2. Links to our Support Contact form on our website

3. Allows you to enter a new license key

4. This shows the license name given at the time of purchase

5. This shows the start date of your license which is the day of purchase.

6. This shows the date when your license will expire and how many days are left on your license.

7. The green bar represents the amount of time that has elapsed in your license.

How to view the update log in Spybot 2?

To view the Update Log:

Open Spybot by right-clicking on the Spybot icon and click Run as Administrator.
Click on Show details in the bottom right corner of the Start Center then tick the box beside Advanced User Mode.
Click on Update.
Click on Show Update Log.

This opens the Update.log file.

Why Cant I See the “Enter a new License Key” Button?

If you cant see the Enter a new license key button, you must download and install the latest Spybot updates.

To install the latest updates:

Open Spybot by right clicking on the Spybot icon and click Run as Administrator.
Click on Update.
In the Update window click the Update button to begin downloading the latest definition files.

SDWelcome.exe error

If you see the above error message when updating Spybot, please close the Spybot Start Center then close the System Tray by right clicking on the System Tray icon and clicking Exit.

Close Spybot - System Tray

You can then try to update Spybot again.

After successfully updating Spybot, please Close and re-open Spybot again.

Your should now see the Enter a new license key button in the Your License tab.

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