How to Delete Spybot - Search & Destroy

Spybot - Search & Destroy is an award-winning anti-spyware program that protects your computer from thousands of variants of spyware, adware and other malware. However, because Spybot is intended to protect your computer, it is tricky to remove it if you ever need to. Follow the directions below and you'll be able to cleanly uninstall Spybot from your system.

Instructions

1. Open the Start menu in the corner of the screen and click on the "Control Panel" folder.

2. Locate the icon for adding and removing programs and open it. Most versions of Windows will say "Add/Remove Programs" or "Uninstall Programs."

3. Find "Spybot - Search & Destroy" and highlight it. Click on the box that says "Change/Remove" to begin uninstalling the program. The instructions on the screen will guide you through the rest of the process.

4. Choose to restart the computer after the program is uninstalled. If the Add/Remove Programs method does not work, you must remove the installation folder. Click on the "Computer" icon, open the main hard drive for the computer, click on "Program Files" and find the folder that says "Spybot - Search & Destroy." Drag the folder to the Recycle Bin to delete it.

5. After you've uninstalled the program using one of the two methods detailed above, there is still one additional folder to delete. Open your hard drive and delete the following folder in Vista: "C:\ProgramData\Spybot - Search & Destroy\." The path in XP is "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Spybot - Search & Destroy\." Note that this file is sometimes hidden so you'll have to show all files to find it.

6. Empty your Recycle Bin, restart your computer and Spybot will be completely removed.

References

• Safer Networking: Spybot