Scan the NET?

[ATW]

So I'm surfin' the net, and I close out IE. There on the desktop, is a slew of icons for mortgage, credit cards, sex sites, etc etc. There are also others in my favorites folder. It apparently also implanted a file somewhere, to when I try ANY of the common search sites (google, yahoo, msn, lycos etc), it instead brings up one of those unnamed pages with all types of ads and junk on it called Scan the NET. Anyone know how to get rid of it without reformat?

[Confused]

Start with removing spyware. Spybot Search and Destroy is a good one. http://download.com.com/3000-2144-10...ml?tag=lst-0-1
Chas

[eldon]

ad aware is also another good one,I use both ad aware and spybot.ad aware can be gotten at http://www.lavasoft.de/

[ATW]

Spybot almost cleared it out...msn.com now works. But yahoo and google (only others I've tried) still bring this BS page up.

[Karnevil9]

It sounds as though you got a malware program installed on your computer. This can be a bear to get rid of. If you are running XP and have the restore option enabled go back and restore to a point before the offending malware was on your computer. Then get spybot and adaware and run both a few times, just to be sure. Then go into control panel, click on administrater tools, click on services. Find msmessenger, right click on it and select stop.

Found this on the forums. Someone else is having the same problem as you. http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?threadid=94664 .

Check the response from GLC.

[ATW]

Already did the system restore. After the file made it's way in there, my Windows Media Player no longer worked, but the restore fixed that only.

[Karnevil9]

If the virus is still on the system, the system restore will only help if you can get back to a date before the virus appeared, otherwise it will restore the system, virus and all. That is why you need to disable the restore until the virus is gone.

[ATW]

I've already restored to a date a week prior to the first time the problems ever came about...no go.

[Karnevil9]

Your mallware sounds very similar to the one that I encounted on my ex's computer. Somewhere, (unfurntately I don't remember where) I got an address for the site that claimed to be the advertiser but not responsible for the malware program that had taken over the computer. They had a place to e-mail them if the program was placed on the computer without your permission., and they would give you instructions on removal.

What I remember was basically you have to try and find the extension of the program. Possibly right click one of the icons. Then you have to delete it from any place it may reside. Check your registry, your add/remove programs menu, and also run task manager and stop it from Processes. If it is left any where it will pop itself right back on. Also now that you know the system restore didn't work, make sure it is turned off, so it doesn't it doesn't stay in there and come back later.

You did spybot, but also run adaware if you can, They do resolve different problemas at times. If you can't get it from your computer due to this program, maybe you can download it to disk on the computer your using here and install that way. Try the remedies from GLC's suggestion's from the link I left.

I was under time constriants when I was messing with the one I had, so I never got it removed, I decided to just reformat and reinstall XP.

[Red]

My McAfee AV recently found and deleted what sounds like a similar program on my machine. I did not have any symptoms, per se, so I cannot be sure if it's the same thing.

From what they say, it's not technicaly a virus, it just hijacks your machine and shows unwanted ads.

I had to tweak the AV just a bit for it to detect these (enabling the "Scan for potentially dangerous programs" options), so I am not sure if whatever AV you are running will do it by default, or if it's something you will have to enable.

Here's what they have to say about it:

<http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/defau...virus_k=101155>

Good luck.

[Staren]

Another way to get rid of this sort of thing is a vary strong program called Hijack This!. I had gotten a copy of the coolwebsearch mess a while back and Hijack This found it no problem. Just watch out what you delete. It seems EVERYTHING. You can get a copy here: http://cgi.techtv.com/messageboards?...44&per_page=50

[Corky]

Probably you found this on your own, but no one has mentioned updating both AdAware and SpyBot. If you haven't already done so, it needs to be done. Then run both programs again.