This might happen if you enable all of the Program automation settings. While version 1.5 should not allow you to lock yourself out this way, here are instructions on how to revert this, e.g. for older versions:

1. You can delete the configuration file (which is named Configuration.ini). Where it is located depends on your Windows version.
   • For Windows 95/98, the file is located in C:\Windows\Application Data\Spybot - Search & Destroy\.
   • For Windows ME, the file is located in C:\Windows\All Users\Application Data\Spybot - Search & Destroy\.
   • For Windows NT/2000/XP, the file is located in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Spybot - Search & Destroy\.
   • For Windows Vista, the file is located in C:\ProgramData\Spybot - Search & Destroy\.
   Either delete that file, or edit it (for example in notepad), and set all the Automation values in it to zero.
2. You can download a small tool that will do those changes for you: click here (online link).

If this does not fix the problem, your system is possibly infected by the CoolWWWSearch.SmartKiller (v1 and v2). This is a new, really ugly variant of CoolWWWSearch. When running, it will close every browser window visiting an anti-spyware-site. It will even close Spybot-S&D and some other anti-spyware applications as well.

So if your copy of Spybot-S&D (or the anti-spyware application of your choice) closes a few seconds after starting, or your browser closes whenever you try to visit an anti-spyware site, check our CWS.SmartKiller removal utility (online link).