# Cannot uninstall Spybot (unins.dat file does not exist)



## wgreene (Jul 20, 2001)

Could someone please tell me what I must do to uninstall Spybot - Search & Destroy? 

When I went to Add or Remove Programs and attempted to remove it, I got an error message telling me that a Spybot "unins.dat" file does not exist, and for that reason I am unable to uninstall the program.

Would it make sense to download it again over the existing copy and then try uninstalling?


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## sekirt (Mar 28, 2003)

Hmmm....did you look in Spybot?
Tools->Uninstall Info

Looks like there should be a file called
unins000.exe

Try running that.

sekirt


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## brindle (Jun 14, 2002)

What happens when you click on unins000.exe in the S&D directory?


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## lister (Aug 10, 2004)

brindle said:


> What happens when you click on unins000.exe in the S&D directory?


It is the direct uninstaller. *If that fails, download Spybot again and reinstall it over the original, then run the uninstaller via add/remove programs.*


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## wgreene (Jul 20, 2001)

I opened Spybot, went to Navigation>Tools>Uninstall Info and got a long list of applications that have reigstered some kind of Uninstaller on my system. I scrolled down to Spybot and clicked on it and got an Information box. I presume my next step is to locate the file and run it. Is that correct?


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## wgreene (Jul 20, 2001)

I searched and found a Spybot Application file named unins.000.exe (635 KB). However, when I double-clicked on it I received the same error message telling me that the "unins000.dat" file does not exist and that the program cannot uninstall.


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## wgreene (Jul 20, 2001)

lister said:


> It is the direct uninstaller. *If that fails, download Spybot again and reinstall it over the original, then run the uninstaller via add/remove programs.*


I was thinking that should be my next step. I'll give it a try.

I want to remove Spybot is because I've been having a major problem with it. I get rather frequent pop-ups from Spybot asking if I want to accept or decline one thing and another. The big problem is that I cannot read the printing in the narrow windows, so it's impossible to tell what I'm either accepting or declining! The text appears to be somehow compressed -- mashed from top to bottom -- rendering it unreadable. It's only in recent weeks that I've been noticing this malfunction. Spybot had always worked well for me, until now.

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions.


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## TOGG (Apr 2, 2002)

I got rid of version 1.1 following the instructions in the FAQ section of Spybot's Help file ie: 

"If you want to completely get rid of Spybot-S&D 1.4 (also earlier versions) and the Add/Remove doesn't help, you can delete the installation folder (usually C:\Program Files\Spybot - Search & Destroy\), then download this very small fix (online link) and execute it (important! - this will remove all remains from the registry) (this also applies to earlier versions)".

(although I ran a registry cleaner rather than the 'fix' offered by Spybot).

As for the problem you are having, if you are running in Advanced mode and have TeaTimer enabled, see what happens if you turn TT off.


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## Deke40 (Jun 27, 2002)

wgreene said:


> I was thinking that should be my next step. I'll give it a try.
> 
> I want to remove Spybot is because I've been having a major problem with it. I get rather frequent pop-ups from Spybot asking if I want to accept or decline one thing and another. The big problem is that I cannot read the printing in the narrow windows, so it's impossible to tell what I'm either accepting or declining! The text appears to be somehow compressed -- mashed from top to bottom -- rendering it unreadable. It's only in recent weeks that I've been noticing this malfunction. Spybot had always worked well for me, until now.
> 
> Thanks to all of you for your suggestions.


First off here is a defintion of what Teatimer does:

*What is the Resident TeaTimer?

The Resident TeaTimer is a new tool of Spybot-S&D which perpetually monitors the processes called/initiated. It immediately detects known malicious processes wanting to start and terminates them giving you some options how to deal with this process in the future: You can set TeaTimer to:

- be informed, when the process tries to start again 
- automatically kill the process 
- or generally allow the process to run There is also an option to delete the file associated with this process.

In addition, TeaTimer detects, when something wants to change some critical registry keys. TeaTimer can protect you against such changes again giving you an option: You can either "Allow" or "Deny" the change. As TeaTimer is always running in the background, it takes some resources of about 5 MB.*

If you want to be able to read the "Allow" and "Deny" popup do the following:

Download Reshacker from here then follow these instructions:

http://forums.net-integration.net/index.php?showtopic=31466&st=15

The Problem:
The checkbox needs lowering.
The Solution:
_Open reshacker (another excellent program)
Open "TeaTimer.exe" in the spybot folder, make sure tt is not running
Search for "decision" (CTRL-F)

CODE 
object cbRemember: TCheckBox
Left = 8
Top = 160
Width = 339
Height = 17
Anchors = [akLeft, akTop, akRight]
Caption = '&Remember this decision.'
TabOrder = 2
end

Change "Top = 160" to "Top = 190"
compile script and save
Voila, the checkbox is now below the buttons.

This will take care of the bug in Spybot and I have had no problem since doing this myself._


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## wgreene (Jul 20, 2001)

This is all pretty confusing to me, but I'll try to explain what I've done recently.

First, I went to Program Files and tried to delete the Spybot - Search and Destroy folder. However, when I clicked Delete I received an error message:

*Error Deleting File or Folder*

*X Cannot delete advcheck.dll: Access is denied.

Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not 
currently in use.*

Next, I ran a file search for Spybot and found the following six files:
*
SS & D (for blind users), a Shortcut file (1 KB) in my Unused Icons folder

spybotsd14.exe, an Application file (4,920 KB) in my Unused Icons folder

SS & D, a File Folder (no size shown) located in C:\Program Files

spybotSD.exe, an Application file (4,921 KB) located in C:\Program 
Files\Spybot S & D (This file has a date of 05-31-05; all others listed here are from this month.)

SPYBOTSD.EXE-13342765.pf, a PF file (82 KB). Its location is: C:\Windows\Prefetch

Spybots.sbi, an SBI file (95KB) located in C:\Program Files\Spybot S & D*

I find that I am able to delete all of these files individually; however, when I attempt to delete the Spybot Program File Folder from my list of search results, I get the same error message shown above: *Cannot delete advcheck.dll. Access is denied.*

The advcheck.dll file size is 154 KB. It is an Application Extension file which was modified on 05/31/05. I wonder if this date could be significant since all five of the other Spybot files shown have modification dates of August, 2005. That appears to be the one file giving me trouble and it's the only "old" one in the group.

I hope this explanation will help. Thank you all for your assistance thus far.


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## Deke40 (Jun 27, 2002)

Try one of these delete utilities:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/files/killbox.php

http://www.docsdownloads.com/Tier1/dr-delete.htm


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## lister (Aug 10, 2004)

Did you try reinstalling, then uninstall?


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## wgreene (Jul 20, 2001)

lister said:


> Did you try reinstalling, then uninstall?


Yes, I forgot to mention that I tried that, too, hoping it might solve my problem. I guess now I'll try one of the delete utilities suggested by Deke.


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## wgreene (Jul 20, 2001)

Deke said:


> Try one of these delete utilities:
> 
> http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/files/killbox.php
> 
> http://www.docsdownloads.com/Tier1/dr-delete.htm


Thank you very much. It appears that my problem has been solved.

First, I ran killbox to try to delete the Spybot folder, but received a message that it could not be deleted.

Then I ran dr. delete, which "detected NT Platform" and scheduled the folder to be deleted after reboot.

I rebooted and ran a search for the Spybot folder. It appeared and, thankfully, this time I was able to delete it.

Next, I ran a search for Spybot files. The previousy-mentioned five files reappeared, but I was able to delete them as well.

At this point I figured all was well. Then it dawned on me to search for the advcheck.dll file. The search revealed the file was still present, and I thought 'uh, oh.' I was afraid I would once again receive the "cannot delete" message, but I'm happy to report that I was able to right-click and delete it this time. And for good measure I emptied my Recycle Bin.

With the folder and files gone, it certainly appears that my problem has finally been solved, but should Spybot somehow suddenly and mysteriously reappear, I'll post again.

Again, thank you all very much for your help.


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## mymymichl (Jul 25, 2007)

It's great to know you got that mess out of your computer. Did the registry get cleared up too?


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## wgreene (Jul 20, 2001)

At this point I must admit that I don't remember.


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## mymymichl (Jul 25, 2007)

Hi - I appreciated the detail with which you described how you rid yourself of Spybot. You posted a link to download the DR-DELETE program, but I got an error message the page no longer existed. 

Can anyone point me to a source for the DELETE program? 

thx
Mike


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## wgreene (Jul 20, 2001)

I believe this link should work:

http://www.docsdownloads.com/dr-delete-1.htm


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## Goku (May 17, 2007)

You can also download it from here. Also, I am giving a link to two similar programs. They like Dr. Delete are very good and easy to use and probably a must have for an average home user.

Dr. Delete
MoveOnBoot
Unlocker


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## mymymichl (Jul 25, 2007)

I'm wondering, after all of this discussion, why Spybot is so awful. Doesn't it help get rid of spyware?


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