My Search Now Toolbar (ARRRGGHH!!!!)

MrVestek

Ok i have no idea how i got this as i am always careful as to what programs i download and what i click yes to active x wise (ie hardly anything ever). Anyways i've run adware with the latest updates and i still can't get rid of this bloody thing. Occasionally for no real reason it sees fit to open up 100s of internet explorer windows, grinding my system to a hault and forcing me to either reboot or log out. How to i get rid of this thing? I've googled it but not come up with much. Sugestions please.

dregin

http://www.siena.edu/antivirus/Spyware/hijackthis.htm

Nick_oliveri

Try going into control panel, add remove stuff, see if its there. Or look in the registry.

MrVestek

did both, not there... checking out the proggies mentioned above tho, hope they work.

MrVestek

Ok i managed to get rid of one of the bars, but there's another one there that hijackthis doesn't seem to get rid of. I dont actually use internet explorer but i dont like the idea of this stuff being in my system, besides that a 'hidden' iexplore.exe always seems to be active in my task list, which i dont like either. A pic is posted below of the bar i keep getting... if anyone recognises it please lemmie know.

yossarin

go to Merijin and download their tools:
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/
actually - they seem to be a bit slow - go to their mirror:
http://www.richardthelionhearted.com/?url=merijn.richardthelionhearted.com

get hijackthis, kill2me, cwshredder and bugoff.
run them all - i can't remember what cleans what.


also, theres a thread in security that talked about other tools.

edit: don't recognise it - does it bring you to any webpages ever? what are their URLs (pretty often malware is indexed by the sites it uses. if you can find out what its called, you can probably find a removal process or tool).

just remembered, theres a great FAQ on something aweful about malwares. have you tried the normal tools like spybot and the like ?

MrVestek

ok that bar is gone now, thank you... but i still have two 'hidden' iexplore.exe's running in the background, is this symptomatic of a hijack or something similair too?

yossarin

sounds like a hijack.
have you run an updated version of spybot ?

MrVestek

I've run an updated version of adaware. The other bars and stuff are gone tho, but i can't for the life of me close these things. Pic posted. They dont appear in explorer tho, ie, they aren't opening any web pages or anything....

yossarin

run spybot as well - they each miss stuff the other catches.
http://www.spybot.info/
make sure you update to newest version before running it.

also - how recently did you update/service pack windows ?
if you havn't,you're inviting more trouble

MrVestek

windows was updated only a few days ago, and has service pack 1. actually i slip streamed my install cd with sp1... so i'd never have to worry about installing it again.

MrVestek

Ohh, spybot found like 20 entries that adaware didn't, and it's gotten rid of that problem. Thank u man!

yossarin

great !

ps - stop using IE !
//allthough I have to use it for work, so I'm not one to talk

MrVestek

I dont use IE, i use MyIE2 which aint affected by these things, even tho they're running off of the IE core apis. Still i dont like any of that ****e getting onto my system ya know.

MrVestek

ARGH! it's come back. kill2me seems to get rid of it but then it seems to come back outta nowhere. then it gets rid of it again. but i still have two iexplores running in the background :-(

Ciaran500

MyIE uses the same engine as IE. Anything IE is vunerable to so is MyIE is. Opera or Mozilla is the only way to go.

MrVestek

Yes i know that but they dont show up in MyIE2 is the thing. I know what the problem is now... kill2me gets rid of it but if i end one of the iexplore.exe in my taskmenu it comes back. Anyone got any idea what hijacker or whatever this is? look at the pic in previous post...

l3rian

i got some of that crap on my pc after letting someone use my pc while i was away

format was the best option i found, never know what else is installed

took 20 minutes to reinstall windows

MrVestek

nah i sorted it out now. looked in some of the suspicious folders and they were marked as having been created on the 30th. i wasn't even here on the 30th. must have been my mother. although she generaly just browses holiday sites and such so i fail to see how she'd click on something that'd install like that... ohh well all better now.

yossarin

i really doubt myIE2 is immune to all this - maybe these 'wares just aren't in your face whren your running MyIE2, they could still be there. Same engines, same ActiveX stuff.

if your mother is prone to using the computer with IE, then you are little more secure than if you were running it yourself.

//waves hand in jedi style
you want to switch...its better....
if you're sticking with IE then you could tighten up security on it as described on the SA link i posted. it'd save more trouble the next time your ma went browsing.

Pimp Ninja

Could try renaming the iexplore.exe to something else.
Then it wont be able to call the file to start the process.
Dont know how this will effect other areas of Windows tho..

kin9pin

Pimp Ninja wrote:

Could try renaming the iexplore.exe to something else.
Then it wont be able to call the file to start the process.
Dont know how this will effect other areas of Windows tho..

Or uninstall IE? From Windows components in add/remove progs. I'm probably wrong so feel free to flame me if I'm talking out of my **se

MrVestek

Nah i need iexplore to be able to run myie2 as it runs off of the apis. As i said no MyIE2 aint immunte to it, it's just that the bars and stuff dont show up. Anyways my system is totally clean now guys thanks anyways.

Fenster

*waves his hand*

You will switch to Firefox

gary the great

get Webroot its really good

MrVestek

have firefox already just prefer this (for some odd reason) anyways just got my hands on the latest suse and mandrake isos so... erm.... hehe