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Help! Can't Remove Anti-Spyware/Malware Program

by Nightengale
15 replies
Hi all!

I downloaded the new free version of AVG Anti-Virus, but when I tried to install it, it told me I had to remove the EWido anti-spyware/malware program sitting on my computer first. Ok, no problem. But when I did that, it removed all components but one. It keeps giving me this error message:

"Cannot delete context.dll:Access is denied. Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use."

What??? It's not a disk, it's a program on my hard drive. And the program name/location is C:\Program Files\ewido anti-spyware 4.0 -- NOT context.dll. What does THAT mean???

Help! Does anybody know how I can get rid of it?

Thanks,
Michelle
#antispyware or malware #program #remove
  • Profile picture of the author Nightengale
    THANK YOU so much! Will do!

    Michelle
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    • Profile picture of the author dsm091
      SuperAntiSpyware well remove some but not all.

      You also need Malware Bytes, and turning off system restore , etc.

      It is best to stay away from products that are free like AVG. I work in IT and I am always asked about this. THe best product for active Spyware protection is: Trend Micro Internet Security, McAfee Total Protection.

      You will not be disappointed in Trend Micro Internet Security or McAfees new home office product.

      I tell everyone to Upgrade to Vista too. The viruses have not been as problematic in Vista. Old virus code does not hit Vista like XP.

      Upgrade XP! It is way too old.

      PM me if you need any help.
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      • Profile picture of the author edhan
        I agree NOT to upgrade to Vista as it will be more problematic.

        Try using the FREE NOD32 anti-virus trial version. I have been using it for years and it helps to prevent such incident.
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        • Profile picture of the author jjpmarketing
          Stay away from Free Anti-Virus programs. They are usually ineffective against a lot of the viruses out there. While free is better than no protection at all, you will better protect yourself by using a reliable paid version Anti Virus program like was already mentioned.

          As for Anti-Spyware, free is fine. Adaware, Spybot, MalwareBytes, and similar programs will work well.

          Also run a Hijack This scan and upload the log to a reputable Tech forum. This forum is a marketing forum and you would be better served by posting this on a tech forum.

          Here are the steps you need to take to protect yourself:

          First find a program that will remove your current virus. You need to be using a program that will do a delete on reboot. If you can't find a program like that, then you may need to note where the file is located on your computer, and then reboot into the command prompt only. Browse to the directory the folder is in and delete the file.

          After you have removed the file. You need to reboot again, and in safe mode. Use the paid version of the AntiVirus program of your choice and run a Full Scan to make certain it is completely removed. Also before you do any of this, you need to turn off System Restore so your system doesn't get re-infected with the virus by some hidden code.

          Some viruses are very difficult to get rid of as they may attach themselves to certain system files which you won't be able to remove short of recopying the file from the XP installation disc or doing a format and re-install.

          Another thing you will want to do is make your host file on your computer read only. This will prevent problems with browser hijackers.

          Run Anti-Spyware and Anti-Virus scans on a regular basis. This will keep your system clean from most threats. In addition learn to kill tasks with task manager. Some websites contain malicious code that will have you downloading a virus in no time flat. And sadly no virus program can protect you from that. It is like having a locked door and then giving the virus a key to let itself in. Those search sites are notorious for this. You type a URL into the URL bar with a typo and it takes you to one of those site. It will use an exit popup to run the malicious code. So don't click on anything that pops up. Immediately open the task manager and kill all browser windows.

          Another thing you want to get used to doing is deleting temporary internet files and cookies on a regular basis.

          You might want to get a copy of CCleaner to run on your computer. This will make it easy for you to lockdown that host file on your computer... and it even has an option to restore the host file to its original state.

          Upgrading to Vista would be to your advantage as well. In my experience it is more difficult to get an infection with Vista vs XP.

          Hope that helps. -- Dennis

          UPDATE: I forgot to mention that there is also a program called KillBox that might remove that file for you. It does the delete on reboot. And I was wrong about CCleaner. It is actually called HostsXpert that locks down the host file. But CCleaner is still a great program with some cool features.
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  • Profile picture of the author Floyd Fisher
    Originally Posted by Nightengale View Post

    Hi all!

    I downloaded the new free version of AVG Anti-Virus, but when I tried to install it, it told me I had to remove the EWido anti-spyware/malware program sitting on my computer first. Ok, no problem. But when I did that, it removed all components but one. It keeps giving me this error message:

    "Cannot delete context.dll:Access is denied. Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use."

    What??? It's not a disk, it's a program on my hard drive. And the program name/location is Crogram Filesewido anti-spyware 4.0 -- NOT context.dll. What does THAT mean???

    Help! Does anybody know how I can get rid of it?

    Thanks,
    Michelle
    Borked uninstall program...happens all the time.

    Just try and manually delete the file and see what happens.
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  • Profile picture of the author sevenish
    I agree with the suggestion of using both SUPERAntiSpyware + Malwarebytes in the short term. If that doesn't take care of it, try CCleaner to uninstall whatever recalcitrant item is causing problems.

    Also, I love both ZoneAlarm Pro and Eset Nod32 and recommend the trials for those.

    Best of luck with the issues.
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  • Profile picture of the author edhan
    Originally Posted by Nightengale View Post

    Hi all!

    It keeps giving me this error message:

    "Cannot delete context.dll:Access is denied. Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use."

    What??? It's not a disk, it's a program on my hard drive. And the program name/location is Crogram Filesewido anti-spyware 4.0 -- NOT context.dll. What does THAT mean???

    Help! Does anybody know how I can get rid of it?

    Thanks,
    Michelle
    You may need to boot in SAFE Mode to remove it. Press F8 and choose to boot in SAFE Mode. Then try to remove it. I highly recommend the NOD32 for protection and removal as I am using it as well as reseller for Singapore.

    Hope this helps!
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve Faber
    I agree Vista may be better than XP in terms of virus protection, but it is a networking nightmare. I just got a new Toshiba laptop with Vista Home Premium. I can't believe that MS hasn't faced (more)legal action over this OS! I updated Vista, updated my wireless card drivers, made sure my bios was up to date, disabled IPv6, and a couple of other things I can't remember off the top of my head. It is still a flaky POS when it comes to networking. It has constant DNS problems and is always losing the Internet connection, although the network itself remains connected. My XP machines work great on the same network, both wirelessly and hard wired. The other thing it does very often is change to "local mode", which also renders the Internet unreachable.

    I've spent about 20 hours on tech forums in the last week (no kidding) and Vista's networking issues are well documented. My new machine is almost unusable because I don't want to keep turning the wireless card off/on every 2 - 10 minutes to reset the wireless so I can stay connected.

    I'd almost rather have the viruses.

    My .02c
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    • Profile picture of the author Nightengale
      Interesting that you say that. I was just looking at a Toshiba laptop with Vista last week. I haven't bought anything yet. I just a laptop that can connect to the Internet, both wirelessly and hard wired.

      Makes me wonder... I'm NOT techie at all and these types of stories worry me.

      Michelle
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      • Profile picture of the author dsm091
        Originally Posted by Nightengale View Post

        Interesting that you say that. I was just looking at a Toshiba laptop with Vista last week. I haven't bought anything yet. I just a laptop that can connect to the Internet, both wirelessly and hard wired.

        Makes me wonder... I'm NOT techie at all and these types of stories worry me.

        Michelle
        I am the IT Coordinator for a city of 25,000 people. I am been in the techie game since 10th grade. For those of you that have heard bad things about Vista and are hesitant to switch. The stories are just plain wrong. I was one of the first testers of Vista for my previous company and it was true that when it first came out you had to learn a lot of new things to make it work like XP. XP was solid but do you remember when XP first came out and everyone wouldnt jump from windows 2000 to XP because they said it sucked?? I was there too.

        Vista is far better than XP in every way. Service Pack 1 has fixed all those first issues with it and it is the most stable Operating system period. The code is better, the registry is far better and the networking is the best out there.

        HP Procurve helped build the networking for Vista and Server 2008.

        Upgrade to Vista if you buy a new laptop. Don't base your decisions on what people have said. Take it from someone that is Microsoft Certified in XP and Vista. Vista is better.

        And those of you that want to wait for Windows 7 I would suggest to think hard about that. I code is the same. They removed some features from Vista and cleaned up the code a bit. It is basically Vista behind the new user interface. Same networking technology actually.

        PM me if you need assistance any time.
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  • Profile picture of the author Devon Brown
    I agree with edhan. Boot into Safe Mode and try to remove it. Safe Mode prohibits many programs from loading.. possibly that malware program too.
    Other than that.. contact your ISP. Comcast gives McAfee away for free.. maybe your ISP can provide some protection as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author MSanchez
    You can also try booting into safe mode w/networking by pressing 'F5' before the first windows splash screen. This will only load system files - nothing else. That means you will have no problem removing an active file as you would if the virus is active.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Fulger
    Originally Posted by Nightengale View Post

    Hi all!

    I downloaded the new free version of AVG Anti-Virus, but when I tried to install it, it told me I had to remove the EWido anti-spyware/malware program sitting on my computer first. Ok, no problem. But when I did that, it removed all components but one. It keeps giving me this error message:

    "Cannot delete context.dll:Access is denied. Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use."

    What??? It's not a disk, it's a program on my hard drive. And the program name/location is Crogram Filesewido anti-spyware 4.0 -- NOT context.dll. What does THAT mean???

    Help! Does anybody know how I can get rid of it?

    Thanks,
    Michelle
    Hey Michelle,

    Sorry if I'm too late here, but I couldn't resist replying after reading the replies
    and seeing that no one actually addressed your real issue. It makes me curious
    to know if these warriors offering their advice are really in IT or not cuz not a
    single one has mentioned the tool that you really need to do what you
    want. From what I understand from your post, what you are trying to do is to
    simply remove ewido anti-spyware from your system. However, the file context.dll
    is locked and/or in use by something so you cannot remove that file.

    Not a single post here addresses this issue at all. Upgrading to Vista is NOT the
    answer. Not everyone has an extra few hundred dollars lying around to be an MS
    Guinea Pig. Yes, I also had the Vista Beta...which as expected was full of security
    holes and bugs much like XP was when it was first released. That is to be expected.
    But my point here is your problem is a very minor issue and has nothing to do with
    your operating system. You would experience the same issue with Vista as you are
    with XP right now.

    Everyone is answering as if you are already infected, etc. But what is really going
    on is that something in your system is using the context.dll file, therefore you cannot
    delete it until it is no longer in use. This has NOTHING to do with a virus. This is
    normal behaviour when trying to remove certain software from your system.

    All you need is a FREE tool called Unlocker Assistant. This tool will unlock the file and
    delete it for you. This is one of the first tools I install on my machines as it comes in
    handy for a variety of situations.

    UNLOCKER 1.8.7 BY CEDRICK 'NITCH' COLLOMB

    I may not be in the IT field professionally but I have been using/fixing/programming
    computers since the 4th grade. That was a good 25 years ago.

    The fact is, I've found that I usually know more about PCs than many that are in the
    IT field professionally. Not to say you folks here aren't good Techs, but I've met/talked
    to some that makes me wonder how they even qualified for the field. LOL

    Also, I wanted to note that IF you use Killbox, CCleaner and other such tools, you need
    to be extremely careful what all you let these tools "fix" for you. You could render your
    PC completely useless using some of these tools if you don't know what you are doing.

    Aside from that I just wanted to point out that I'm not so sure how much better Vista
    really is at protecting your system from Viri as I'm currently fixing 2 Vista PCs right now.
    Each of which were running professional/paid anti-virus protections. In one case, the
    system is being downgraded to XP as the user enjoys XP better and simply didn't have
    the option of getting that OS when purchasing the newer PC. They already had an XP
    license and CD but wasn't comfortable installing it themselves since they've never done
    so. So they waited until there was seemingly un-fixable issues on Vista.

    Fact is, Vista probably could have been restored...but that's not what the client wants.
    They are more familiar with XP and wanted someone to get XP on their machine for them.

    Apparently they were told by IT "professionals" that it's simply NOT possible to downgrade
    from Vista to XP and could only upgrade. I heard the same story with downgrading from
    XP to 2000. Whoever started these BS rumors is full of it. MS might like you to believe
    that, but it's simply not true.

    Alright. I'm done with my ranting now.

    If you want a tool that will solve your issue and any future locking issues you may have,
    simply download the Unlocker Assistant and your life will be made much easier when you
    come across this annoying "locked file" issue.

    Again, the link is:

    UNLOCKER 1.8.7 BY CEDRICK 'NITCH' COLLOMB

    Hope this helps!
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  • Profile picture of the author hunterron
    Any time I have a problem like this, I go to bleepingcomputer.com. They have helped me out on more than one occasion. It is a great source of information.
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