Has spyware gotten tougher?

In the Spyware Specific forum at Majorgeeks, there’s a comprehensive post about how to clean spyware off your [Windows] computer. On Friday, I was [starting to] clean a friend’s system. However, I tried to run Spybot S&D, and when I tried to let it fix the problems that came up, it closed itself moments after clicking the button. What gives? The others ran fine, fortunately. He gave me his two Apple stickers that came with his new 20GB 4G iPod. Hmm…