Malware Removal Instructions

Remove ad.xtendmedia pop-up "virus", removal instructions

2013-05-16T08:29:00.000-07:00

Instructions to remove ad.xtendmedia virus. A friend asked me to help to remove this "virus" from his computer. He said that his computer is infected with ad.extendmedia.com and also the search engine is changed to Delta Search. OK, so first things first, is xtendmedia really a virus? No, definitely not. It's an ad server, it's no different than Google or Yahoo servers. However, if you are getting obscene popup ads from ad.xtendmedia.com then there's a good chance that your computer is infected with adware or potentially unwanted application, for instance web browser add-on. Very often cyber crooks use adware and PUPs to show advertisements on infected computers willing to earn some quick money from advertising companies. They may even succeed because tracking click fraud and similar schemes isn't easy, even for leading companies.

These days there’s no escaping the constant stream of adverts that we are bombarded with in our day to day existences but it’s not just magazines and television that are constantly selling to us – even our computers are in on the act too!

Many websites run advertising, whether it’s banners for their own products or for another company, or Google ads. However you may have also noticed the increasing existence of pop-up adverts which thanks to advertising-supported software (normally known as adware) is a software package that downloads, displays or plays an advert for a product or service on your computer, including pop-up ads from ad.xtendmedia.

If we’re being honest the majority of us find pop-up ads pretty irritating. Most of us don’t give them any more than a cursory glance – normally followed with an irritable “Go away!” The strange thing is though that they must be at least a little effective because companies certainly seem to keep on using them as a means of advertising.

But that’s not all there is to adware and you shouldn’t be fooled into thinking that pop-ups are merely trying to sell you something as besides generating income for their creator, adware can also be used to install unwanted software – or worse, Spyware - onto your PC.

Spyware, as the name suggests is software which monitors, or more accurately, spies, upon you and it can have two functions: some spyware gathers data about your computer usage and which websites you use so that it can tailor further adverts to your interests (thus making you more likely to click on them) but other spyware has a little more than marketing in mind. Of course, this isn't the case because ad.xtendmedia doesn't collect any sensitive or personally identifiable information. But still, you should not the risks of adware and spyware infections.

Unscrupulous makers of adware that is bundled with spyware will either use this data to further their own gain or sell the information on to a third party. Malicious spyware can also corrupt the files and documents that you have stored on your computer.

It must be pointed out that not all adware is malware and when it isn’t being used to steal data it has most likely been created so that the developer of a website can recoup some of their costs. Sometimes it may be given to the user for free or at least at a reduced price with income being derived from the adverts meaning that the software developer is more likely to develop and maintain the software product and create regular upgrades.

Some adware might be what is known as shareware – also sometimes called trialware or demoware. Shareware is software which you will only be given a sample of for a limited time period. It is usually also only a ‘sneak preview’ of the full software package and used to whet our appetites and make us want to purchase the full package. Shareware software will hint at the amazing things that the real deal has to offer whilst giving us a little taster of the benefits we could experience if the full package was downloaded. Take email for example; an email program might have something called an adware mode integrated in their coding. You’ll download this new email inbox, enjoy using your account with all of its functions and benefits however once your trial period is up you’ll then be given three choices. Use your account as it now is in its diminished (and probably annoying!) version, get the full upgrade for free BUT with adverts and pop-up windows, or finally you can get the full version with all features and no adverts – but for a price.

So as we’ve seen some adware is simply irritating, some sucks us in to paying for something we perhaps never knew we wanted and could very likely get for free (should you really be paying for your email account…) and other adware is bundled with unwanted software such as spyware which can do great damage. So how do you protect yourself from the nuisance and potential danger caused by ad.xtendmedia? The answer is simple; install the best antivirus software you can find on your computer and make sure it’s always bang up to date! What is more, I will show how to opt-our from ad.xtendmedia service and how to disable digital identifiers and tracking cookies.

To remove ad.xtendmedia from your computer, please follow the removal instructions below. If you have any questions or suggestions, please leave a comment below. I will try to help you or answers your questions. Good luck and be safe online!

Written by Michael Kaur, http://deletemalware.blogspot.com

ad.xtendmedia removal instructions:

1. First of all, download recommended anti-malware software and run a full system scan. It will detect and remove this infection from your computer. You may then follow the manual removal instructions below to remove the leftover traces of this browser hijacker. Hopefully you won't have to do that.

2. Uninstall recently installed web browser toolbars and other web browser add-ons. You should also remove recently installed software, especially freeware and shareware because there's a good chance that the popups and ad.xtendmedia redirects you are experiencing are caused by either these programs or web browser add-ons that came with them.

3. Opt-out from ad.xtendmedia here: http://xtendmedia.com/opt-out

Remove VisualBee, removal instructions

2013-05-15T09:36:00.001-07:00

This page contains removal instructions for the VisualBee Toolbar and VisualBee Search engine. Please use this guide to remove VisualBee from Firefox, Chrome and Internet Explorer.

Browser hijacking is both an irritation and a danger when using the internet these days and whether you’re being plagued by annoying pop-up adverts and windows or malicious software or coding which have taken over (i.e. hijacked) your browser, it’s probably safe to say that all of us have fallen victim to hijacking at some point in the not too distant past. While Visualbee advertises itself as a graphic designer for PowerPoint presentations some users think it's actually malware. Of course, it's not the same thing as spyware, trojans or rootkits. I would say browser hijackers can be fairly classified as potentially unwanted software.

But what is browser hijacking exactly and what will happen to you if you’ve been attacked? The term browser hijacking actually covers a number of different malwares - malicious software. Generally it is agreed by computer experts that browser hijacking software is an external code that changes your web browser settings, without either your knowledge or, in many cases, your permission. Most of the time, VisualBee gets installed along with other software. It can be really difficult to get rid of all references to VisualBee, so always "opt out" of any extras being installed.

When your settings have been changed you’ll no doubt then find that your home page has been changed too and that new favourite websites have been added to your desktop or favourites folder. In the majority of cases, these new ‘favourites’ will direct you to websites containing crappy content – which can be potentially embarrassing and difficult to explain to your significant other or your boss! Not only this but generally the hijacker will also have made system changes meaning that even if you change your computer settings back to your old home page, it will automatically revert back to the unwanted one. Typically, "VisualBee" appears on a new tab and redirects users to http://visaulbee.delta-search.com or search.conduit.com.

So how do browser hijackers install themselves on your computer in the first place, and what are the things you should be looking out for to limit the chances of it happening to you? In most cases a browser hijacker will exploit Microsoft Internet Explorer's ability to run ActiveX scripts directly from a web page. When used maliciously, you will often see a pop-up box which asks you if it can install itself on your PC. What you may not realise is that this is the hijacking program and should you give it the go ahead to install itself, Internet Explorer will then unwittingly execute the program – which then changes your settings.

In fact, the majority of browser hijacking programs will request your permission before installing anything – although this can be done in such a way that you don’t realise you’re giving them the right to install. For example if the ‘check box’ to give permission is already ticked, then you may be tricked into accepting is as you actually need to UN-tick the box to say yes, or vice versa. So, the lesson to be learned here is always read the small print in pop-up boxes and if a program requests permission to install itself on your computer while you are surfing the web, unless you are 100% sure what it is, always reject it. There are, however, many installers that will install VisualBee in Chrome and Firefox even when you opt-out it or cancel the installation.

Having said that, the really sneaky browser hijackers will further take advantage of security loop holes within web browsers and will install themselves completely without your knowledge.

Scary stuff but thankfully there are ways to avoid being hijacked providing that you take a few precautions. Read on and we’ll tell you how you can take steps to make sure the browser hijackers don’t get to you.

First things first and if you haven’t got anti-malware software installed on your computer you should do so right now (or as soon as you finish reading this article anyway!) Using a reputable anti-malware package will greatly diminish your chances of being hijacked by VisualBee, as will making sure that it is always up to date. You can also try using anti-malware 'auto protection' for further security. Consider keeping an anti-hijacking 'toolkit' handy for emergencies too – you can download one of these from the internet, the same way that you would with anti-malware software.

Changing your web browser security settings can help too – if your settings are set to their weakest you could be laying yourself open for attack.

Another thing to consider is changing your actual browser. Although you might really like Internet Explorer, or at least use it because it’s the one you’re ‘used to’ it might be worth considering stopping using it altogether. Because the majority of malware, spyware and browser hijacker programs are coded specifically for IE (thanks to the security lapses) switching browsers should stop them from affecting you, therefore it might be worth choosing an alternative such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome. Even though, nowadays most browser hijackers works perfectly fine on all major web browsers but Firefox for example uses very strict rules to determine whether toolbars and search engines are malicious or not.

Finally, it may go without saying but use your common sense – don’t click on links in emails sent from someone who you don’t recognize and don’t click on pop-up ads or banners offering the latest ‘awesome’ free game, no matter how tempting it looks. If it’s too good to be true then it probably is.

To remove VisualBee toolbar and VisualBee Search, please follow the removal guide below. If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below. Good luck and be safe online!

Written by Michael Kaur, http://deletemalware.blogspot.com

VisualBee toolbar removal instructions:

1. Uninstall VisualBee toolbar from your computer using the Add/Remove Programs control panel (Windows XP) or Uninstall a program control panel (Windows 7 and Windows 8).

Go to the Start Menu. Select Control Panel → Add/Remove Programs.
If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, select Control Panel → Uninstall a Program.

If you are using Windows 8, simply drag your mouse pointer to the right edge of the screen, select Search from the list and search for "control panel".

Or you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control panel from there.

2. When the Add/Remove Programs or the Uninstall a Program screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and remove VisualBee toolbar application and also other applications you have recently installed.

Simply the application and click Remove. If you are using Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8, click Uninstall up near the top of that window. When you're done, please close the Control Panel screen.

Remove VisualBee from Google Chrome:

1. Click on Chrome menu button. Select Settings.

2. Click Set pages under the On startup.

Remove Visualbee Search by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below.

3. Click Show Home button under Appearance. Then click Change.

Select Use the New Tab page and click OK to save changes.

4. Click Manager search engines button under Search.

Select Google or any other search engine you like from the list and make it your default search engine provider.

Select VisualBee Search from the list and remove it by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below.

Remove VisualBee from Mozilla Firefox:

1. Open Mozilla Firefox. Go to Tools → Add-ons.

2. Select Extensions. Remove VisualBee toolbar extension. Close the window.

3. Click on the VisualBee Search search icon as shown in the image below and select Manage Search Engines....

4. Select VisualBee Search from the list and click Remove to remove it. Click OK to save changes.

5. In the URL address bar, type about:config and hit Enter.

Click I'll be careful, I promise! to continue.

In the search filter at the top, type: visualbee

Now, you should see all the preferences that were changed by VisualBee. Right-click on the preference and select Reset to restore default value. Reset all found preferences!

Remove VisualBee from Internet Explorer:

1. Open Internet Explorer. Go to Tools → Manage Add-ons.

2. Select Toolbars and Extensions. Remove visualbee toolbar and visualbee Helper Object Internet Explorer add-ons.

3. Select Search Providers. First of all, choose Live Search search engine and make it your default web search provider (Set as default).

4. Select VisualBee Search and click Remove to remove it. Close the window.

Remove Mysearchdial, removal instructions

2013-05-13T12:15:00.000-07:00

If start.mysearchdial.com has taken over your browser, please follow this removal guide. This page contains removal instructions for the Mysearchdial search redirect and Mysearchdial toolbar. As if viruses, spyware, malware, Trojan horses and rogue anti-virus software weren’t enough to put up with, computer users need to also be aware of something called browser hijacking. Whilst this does sound rather ominous, having your browser hijacked can have a knock on effect that can run the gamut of simply being annoying to being downright dangerous.

Let’s take a look at what browser hijacking is first of all. When you log onto your PC and launch the internet, the first page you see is your home page, whether this is your computer’s default page, or you’ve changed the settings so that it’s a search engine or your favorite gossip or news website. When you’re searching for something on the internet, naturally you use a search engine such as Google or Bing. What do these three things have in common? They can all be hijacked by start.mysearchdial.com when you’re browsing the web or reading content online.

What this means is that a hijacker takes control of how your browser works and is configured – often in the format of a new toolbar. It may also change what is displayed on your home page. Some people refer to this as a ‘drive-by download’ due to the fact that if your computer’s operating system isn’t very secure, the toolbar will be installed without your knowledge. And whilst it may look as if it is there to help, what it will do instead is just redirect you to websites that you probably have no interest in visiting.

Most of the times, the Mysearchdial toolbar is installed by malicious computer code that is embedded in a web site or in online content that you’ve looked at, but it can also be caused by corrupt documents or files, by software or shareware that you’ve downloaded or even from an infected email.

The good news is that it’s not rocket science to tell if you’ve been the victim of browser hijacking as this isn’t a particularly subtle attack on your computer, unlike spyware which will remain hidden in the background and be virtually undetectable, even for experts. If your browser has been hijacked your home page may have been changed so that you’re seeing – at best - adverts and at worst pornographic images. When you search directly from the omnibox or the address bar you suddenly get results from start.mysearchdial.com instead of Google or any other web search engine of your choice. You will very likely also be bombarded with annoying pop-up adverts - some of which may have the ability to install spyware or other malicious software on your PC if you click on them. You’ll also find that your tried and trusted tool bar has changed and that a number of browser helper objects (BHO) may have appeared. A browser helper object is an application which extends web browser to enable increased functionality. Mysearchdial toolbar and extension definitely changes the way your web browser works. Here's a list of things it can do with your data:

Access your data on all websites
Read and modify your bookmarks
Read and modify your browsing history
Access your tabs and browsing activity
Manage your apps, extensions, and themes

You may also find internet shortcuts that you have no knowledge of saving having suddenly appeared in your favorites menu. Again, these short cuts will either direct you to sites that you don’t want to visit or alternatively they will be pulling the old spyware or adware trick and monitoring your browsing habits so they can compile a user profile on you and send you even more irritating adverts.

Having said that, not all browser helper objects are malicious. Take Google’s toolbar as an example; this includes a BHO when you install it. It is true that some features of the Google toolbar do collect data which is sent back to Google, however Google make this clear before you install it and give you the option of disabling it without uninstallation having a detrimental effect on the search capabilities.

However, Google is clearly a reputable search engine and if you have been hijacked, it is unlikely that the person or company behind the act has very honorable intentions. Take Surfbar (also known as Junkbar) for example; this is a browser helper object which is installed upon your machine without your knowledge or permission. It works by exploiting a vulnerable spot in Microsoft Internet Explorer and once in place it will change your chosen home page to its own. It then, very kindly, downloads multiple shortcuts (and we’re talking in the hundreds!) to adult websites to your desktop and into your favorites folder. Not only that but it will then install the decidedly un-functional toolbar which will direct you to many more. Of course, Mysearchdial doesn't exploit software vulnerabilities. Most of the time, it comes bundled with freeware and software downloaders.

Obviously the first thing you’ll want to do if you’ve had your browser hijacked is to remove the rogue software as quickly as possible, but do be careful as it can be tricky and is often not just a case of clicking ‘delete’ or ‘uninstall’. If a browser hijacker is not removed correctly there can be nasty knock-on effects ranging from programs no longer working to you finding that you can no longer connect to the internet. Therefore, if you have been hijacked by Mysearchdial and you’re not sure what you’re doing, please follow the removal instructions below. If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below. Good luck and be safe online!

Written by Michael Kaur, http://deletemalware.blogspot.com

Mysearchdial removal instructions:

1. First of all, download recommended anti-malware software and run a full system scan. It will detect and remove this infection from your computer. You may then follow the manual removal instructions below to remove the leftover traces of this browser hijacker. Hopefully you won't have to do that.

2. Uninstall Mysearchdial from your computer using the Add/Remove Programs control panel (Windows XP) or Uninstall a program control panel (Windows 7 and Windows 8).

Go to the Start Menu. Select Control Panel → Add/Remove Programs.
If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, select Control Panel → Uninstall a Program.

If you are using Windows 8, simply drag your mouse pointer to the right edge of the screen, select Search from the list and search for "control panel".

Or you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control panel from there.

3. When the Add/Remove Programs or the Uninstall a Program screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and remove Mysearchdial application and also other applications you have recently installed.

Simply the application and click Remove. If you are using Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8, click Uninstall up near the top of that window. When you're done, please close the Control Panel screen.

Remove Mysearchdial from Google Chrome:

1. Click on Chrome menu button. Go to Tools → Extensions.

2. Click on the trashcan icon to remove the Mysearchdial extension:

3. Click on Chrome menu button once again. Select Settings.

4. Click Set pages under the On startup.

Remove start.mysearchdial.com by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below.

5. Click Show Home button under Appearance. Then click Change.

Select Use the New Tab page and click OK to save changes.

6. Click Manager search engines button under Search.

Select Google or any other search engine you like from the list and make it your default search engine provider.

Select Mysearchdial from the list and remove it by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below.

Remove Mysearchdial from Mozilla Firefox:

1. Open Mozilla Firefox. Go to Tools → Add-ons.

2. Select Extensions. Remove Mysearchdial and mysearchdial.com extensions. Close the window.

3. Click on the Mysearchdial search icon as shown in the image below and select Manage Search Engines....

4. Select Mysearchdial from the list and click Remove to remove it. Click OK to save changes.

5. In the URL address bar, type about:config and hit Enter.

Click I'll be careful, I promise! to continue.

In the search filter at the top, type: mysearchdial

Now, you should see all the preferences that were changed by Mysearchdial. Right-click on the preference and select Reset to restore default value. Reset all found preferences!

Remove Mysearchdial from Internet Explorer:

1. Open Internet Explorer. Go to Tools → Manage Add-ons.

2. Select Toolbars and Extensions. Remove Mysearchdial toolbar and Mysearchdial Helper Object Internet Explorer add-ons.

3. Select Search Providers. First of all, choose Live Search search engine and make it your default web search provider (Set as default).

4. Select Mysearchdial and click Remove to remove it. Close the window.

YontooDesktop.exe - Application Error - What is it?

2013-05-11T09:23:00.000-07:00

YontooDesktop.exe - Application Error is a Windows error message you will get if you try to install Yontoo adware that requires the .NET Framework to run, but your computer doesn't have it. Windows will give you the following explanation and error code: 'The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000135)'.

You may get this error message every time you start Windows. To fix it, simply download and install .NET Framework from Microsoft. The question, however, is whether or not you should install Yontoo? It may display advertisements on your computer and change your default search engine. YontooDesktop.exe belongs to Yontoo LLC or Yontoo Layers Runtime. Most of its products are blocked by ESET, Kaspersky and other well known antivirus companies because they can monitor your activity and collect browsing habits. If you didn't install Yontoo but still get YontooDesktop.exe or similar error messages you should scan your computer with recommend anti-malware software. Very often this application comes bundled with other software, so it may be already installed on your computer without your consent and knowledge.

YontooDesktop.exe is not essential for Windows and will often cause problems.

Security Rating: Potentially Dangerous

File Location: %APPDATA%\Yontoo\yontoodesktop.exe

How to remove Chatzum, removal instructions

2013-05-10T09:39:00.000-07:00

This page contains removal instructions for the Chatzum Search (search.chatzum.com) and Chatzum toolbar. Please use this guide to remove Chatzum from Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari (Mac).

We all make decisions and choices in our everyday lives whether it is a life changing plan or simply what to eat for lunch. Most of also decide which internet browser, search engine or home page we use too. But what happens if someone else decides to choose that for you? For one thing it can be pretty annoying – after all you wouldn’t like it if someone told you what to eat at every meal – so why should someone else have the ability to choose which search engine or home page you use?

What is ChatZum? Authors say it's a Facebook social thumbnail photo zoom application. In other words, it makes thumbnails larger when you hover over them. Whether or not it's a useful feature I don't know. I'm not saying it useless too. If you like it, use it. All I want to say is that you should know what changes this software can make to your system and why it's classified as a browser hijacker.

At this point you may be wondering what on earth I’m talking about, so let me explain: browser hijacking. This is yet another annoying and potentially harmful phenomenon that we have to deal with when using our computers; so what exactly is browser hijacking, why would someone want to do it and what can it mean for you?

When you log onto your computer and click the internet icon the first thing you see is your home page. This could be your PC’s standard page, a search engine or your favourite news channel. When you look for something on the internet, you use a search engine – perhaps Google or Bing. And if you try to visit a website that’s no longer there you may well get an error page. All of these three things can be hijacked at any time whilst you’re surfing the web or accessing online content. Chatzum changes the way you use your web browser. Chatzum installs itself on Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer and Apple Safari and appears as default search engine when you open your web browser or open a new tab. It also install Chatzum toolbar which not only occupies usable window space abut very often makes your web browser slower as well. Further more, when searching for something by typing a keyword in the address bar, it returns search results page from search.chatzum.com instead of Google search results page.

Basically the Chatzum Search will remotely take control of what is displayed on your home page and how your browser works and is configured - this is browser hijacking. In the majority of cases the changes are automatically actioned by malicious computer code from a web site or from content you have looked at online, but they can also be caused by corrupt files, by a program that you downloaded and ran or from an infected email.

So what is the purpose of hijacking someone else’s browser? More often than not the purpose is to direct you, the user, to a different website than the one you wanted to visit. The owners of this website will have paid the creator of the malicious code to hijack you in order to drive more traffic to their site. Simply put this is a very aggressive and intrusive form of marketing.

This is irritating sure, but not normally harmful to your computer although there are more extreme versions that may add bookmarks for adult content web sites to your saved bookmarks or will generate pop-up adverts for them. Obviously this can be embarrassing and could cause problems within relationships and at work.

There are yet other types of browser hijackers that come with software that you may not want, such as toolbars or freeware. Freeware can be annoying as it is often bundled with adware which creates those pesky little pop-up ads that suddenly appear while you’re trying to read something online or do some work. Adware can also actually do some real damage to your computer’s system. For example some adware tries to dupe you by creating a pop-up window that looks like a real Microsoft warning; you know the ones - you click ‘OK’ or ‘Cancel’ and they go away. But supposing that it’s not actually your PC creating that ‘Microsoft’ message but the adware? Most of us click ‘OK’ without giving it a second thought but by doing so you are giving the adware the green light to install itself on your computer instead of merely running in the background of the freeware.

So what will this adware do? First of all it will slow your operating system right down and make it unstable to use. It can also corrupt your files and even more worryingly it could become ‘spyware’ which as the name suggests monitors which websites you visit and your user habits. It does this so that it can create a ‘user profile’ about you and tailor the pop-up adverts accordingly – creating a viscous circle.

Spyware is even able to log collect information about your browsing habits and things you like. So, whilst freeware may sound perfectly innocent – and in a lot of circumstances it really is – chances are if it’s infiltrated your computer via a browser hijacker, it’s up to no good and the knock on effects can be immense.

So how do you prevent your browser from being hijacked by Chatzum? The thing is nothing can guarantee that you’ll be immune to falling victim to a hijacker, whether it’s simply directing you to a website you have no interest in (annoying) or installing potentially harmful freeware (dangerous). Thankfully there are steps you can take to protect yourself as much as possible. For example, make sure you have a reputable antivirus software package installed on your computer – if you don’t already, do it as soon as you’ve finished reading this article! - plus make sure it’s always the latest version and includes up-to-date patches. Antivirus software is the most important single thing you can use to protect your computer and your data.

If you want to remove Chatzum Search from your computer, please follow the removal instructions below. If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below. Good luck and be safe online!

Written by Michael Kaur, http://deletemalware.blogspot.com

Chatzum removal instructions:

1. First of all, download recommended anti-malware software and run a full system scan. It will detect and remove this infection from your computer. You may then follow the manual removal instructions below to remove the leftover traces of this browser hijacker. Hopefully you won't have to do that.

2. Uninstall Chatzum Search and Toolbar from your computer using the Add/Remove Programs control panel (Windows XP) or Uninstall a program control panel (Windows 7 and Windows 8).

Go to the Start Menu. Select Control Panel → Add/Remove Programs.
If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, select Control Panel → Uninstall a Program.

If you are using Windows 8, simply drag your mouse pointer to the right edge of the screen, select Search from the list and search for "control panel".

Or you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control panel from there.

3. When the Add/Remove Programs or the Uninstall a Program screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and remove Chatzum Toolbar application and also other applications you have recently installed.

Simply the application and click Remove. If you are using Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8, click Uninstall up near the top of that window. When you're done, please close the Control Panel screen.

Remove Chatzum from Google Chrome:

1. Click on Chrome menu button. Go to Tools → Extensions.

2. Click on the trashcan icon to remove the Chatzum Chrome extension:

3. Click on Chrome menu button once again. Select Settings.

4. Click Set pages under the On startup.

Remove ChatZum Search by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below.

5. Click Show Home button under Appearance. Then click Change.

Select Use the New Tab page and click OK to save changes.

6. Click Manager search engines button under Search.

Select Google or any other search engine you like from the list and make it your default search engine provider.

Select ChatZum Web Search from the list and remove it by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below.

Remove Chatzum from Mozilla Firefox:

1. Open Mozilla Firefox. Go to Tools → Add-ons.

2. Select Extensions. Remove Chatzum Toolbar Firefox extension. Close the window.

3. Click on the ChatZum search icon as shown in the image below and select Manage Search Engines....

4. Select ChatZum from the list and click Remove to remove it. Click OK to save changes.

5. In the URL address bar, type about:config and hit Enter.

Click I'll be careful, I promise! to continue.

In the search filter at the top, type: chatzum

Now, you should see all the preferences that were changed by Chatzum. Right-click on the preference and select Reset to restore default value. Reset all found preferences!

Remove Chatzum from Apple Safari

1. Open Internet Explorer. Go to Tools → Manage Add-ons.

2. Select Toolbars and Extensions. Remove Chatzum toolbar Internet Explorer add-ons.

3. Select Search Providers. First of all, choose Live Search search engine or Google and make it your default web search provider (Set as default).

4. Select ChatZum Search and click Remove to remove it. Close the window.

Remove Chatzum from Apple Safari:

1. Go to Applications, double click on the ChatZumUninstaller.pkg and follow the uninstaller instructions.

2. Open Safari. Go to Preferences. Change the Default homepage to the page of your choice eg. Google.com

Remove Tuvaro, removal instructions

2013-05-03T12:32:00.001-07:00

This page contains removal instructions for the Tuvaro browser hijacker. Please use this guide to remove Tuvaro toolbar and searchbar from your computer.

Sometimes it seems that as innocent computer users we are subjected to attacks from malicious parties left, right and centre. You have probably heard of computer viruses and know not to click on the links in a suspicious looking email sent from someone you’ve never heard of, but what other things do we need to keep an eye out for to ensure that our computers, our personal information, our banks accounts and our identities are kept safe?

Here we’re going to take a look at browser hijacking; we’ll see what it is, where it comes from and most importantly, what you can do to help prevent it from happening to you.

So what exactly is browser hijacking? A browser can refer to the home page that you see when you log on to your PC, the search engine that you use (Google or Yahoo for example) or a blank page. Whilst hijacking is exactly what it sounds like – taking something over by force – i.e. in this case without the owner of the computer’s permission. Therefore in computer jargon, browser hijacking is the term used when the settings of a web browser have been modified by malware, spyware or by potentially unwanted software. In this case, potentially unwanted software installs web browser toolbar and set your home page and default search engine to tuvaro.com.

Malware is short for malicious software and it is used by hackers in a number of ways. Sometimes it will freeze your system and block access to your files – then often posing as rogue anti-virus software and charging you a fee to ‘get rid of the virus’ and unlock your files, on other occasions it will actually steal your files and documents, it can also be used to gather information about which sites you visit so that it can advertise more accurately in accordance with your interests, it may even log your key strokes and take screen shots so that personal data such as credit card information and passwords are collected. And as seen above, it may also be used to hijack your browser, more of which later. Basically malware is a broad term used to cover a number of intrusive and unwanted software. The good news is that Tuvaro doesn't come bundled with malware, so anyone who says that it's a virus or malware simply doesn't know what he's talking about.

Spyware – which is a form of malware - is as the name suggests software which monitors (or rather more accurately ‘spies’ upon) the websites you visit and your computer user habits. By doing so the spyware is then able to compile your ‘user profile’ and tailor adverts accordingly. It sounds fairly innocent and often is – however in worst case scenarios it can be used to create pop-up adverts which contain further malware. Of course because the adverts have been tailored to you in the first place there is a higher likelihood of you clicking on them. While Tuvaro isn't exactly spyware, it may collect certain information about your browsing habits.

So why would someone want to hijack your browser in the first place? Surely hackers don’t care whether you search for ‘things to do in Las Vegas’ or ‘cheap leather jackets for ladies’ in Google or not. Actually they do. If unscrupulous computer programmers can hijack your browser they will then either replace your home page, search engine page or the error page you sometimes get when a website isn’t available with their very own. Once you click on something or search for something you will generally then be directed to a particular website of their choosing. Or to put it another way, you will be forced to visit a website of their choosing. Instead of competing with Google directly, they simply change default search engine to tuvaro.com.

So far, so annoying but it isn’t quite so simple because although some browser hijackers are easy to reverse by simply changing your computer’s settings, some hijacking malware can be extremely difficult to remove. Not to mention the fact that these days as hijacking becomes more and more sophisticated, many of the latest browser hijackers won’t let you revert back to your original home page or internet browser through your PC’s Internet Properties. Furthermore many of today’s hijackers will write their programmes in such a way so that their settings will return even if you have rebooted your computer.

So what can you do to prevent your browser being hijacked and your search queries being sent not to a list of ‘what’s on in your area’ but to a site containing explicit adult content? If you haven’t already, you should install one of the well-known anti-virus software programmes on your PC for a start. And if you do already have anti-virus, always make sure that it is completely up to date.

Using a quality anti-virus provider is essential for preventing against all sorts of attacks, not just browser hijacking, and although most packages will remove the hijacker, you may even want to install a malware scanner which will have a browser or home page restore function so that you are able to go back to your preferred settings in the event that you are hijacked. These packages will quite likely have an alert too, so just in case you didn’t yet spot it, you’ll be told immediately if your browser has been hijacked. To remove Tuvaro from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer, please use the guide below. If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below. Good luck and be safe online!

Written by Michael Kaur, http://deletemalware.blogspot.com

Tuvaro removal instructions:

1. First of all, download recommended anti-malware software and run a full system scan. It will detect and remove this infection from your computer. You may then follow the manual removal instructions below to remove the leftover traces of this browser hijacker. Hopefully you won't have to do that.

2. Uninstall Tuvaro application from your computer using the Add/Remove Programs control panel (Windows XP) or Uninstall a program control panel (Windows 7 and Windows 8).

Go to the Start Menu. Select Control Panel → Add/Remove Programs.
If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, select Control Panel → Uninstall a Program.

If you are using Windows 8, simply drag your mouse pointer to the right edge of the screen, select Search from the list and search for "control panel".

Or you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control panel from there.

3. When the Add/Remove Programs or the Uninstall a Program screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and remove Tuvaro Toolbar application and also other applications you have recently installed.

Simply the application and click Remove. If you are using Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8, click Uninstall up near the top of that window. When you're done, please close the Control Panel screen.

Remove Tuvaro from Google Chrome:

1. Click on Chrome menu button. Go to Tools → Extensions.

2. Click on the trashcan icon to remove the Tuvaro Toolbar Chrome extension:

3. Click on Chrome menu button once again. Select Settings.

4. Click Set pages under the On startup.

Remove Tuvaro by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below.

5. Click Show Home button under Appearance. Then click Change.

Select Use the New Tab page and click OK to save changes.

6. Click Manager search engines button under Search.

Select Google or any other search engine you like from the list and make it your default search engine provider.

Select Tuvaro from the list and remove it by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below.

Remove Tuvaro from Mozilla Firefox:

1. Open Mozilla Firefox. Go to Tools → Add-ons.

2. Select Extensions. Remove Tuvaro extension. Close the window.

3. Click on the Tuvaro Search search icon as shown in the image below and select Manage Search Engines....

4. Select Tuvaro from the list and click Remove to remove it. Click OK to save changes.

5. In the URL address bar, type about:config and hit Enter.

Click I'll be careful, I promise! to continue.

In the search filter at the top, type: tuvaro

Now, you should see all the preferences that were changed by Tuvaro. Right-click on the preference and select Reset to restore default value. Reset all found preferences!

Remove Tuvaro from Internet Explorer:

1. Open Internet Explorer. Go to Tools → Manage Add-ons.

2. Select Toolbars and Extensions. Remove Tuvaro toolbar and tuvaro Helper Object Internet Explorer add-ons.

3. Select Search Providers. First of all, choose Live Search search engine and make it your default web search provider (Set as default).

4. Select Tuvaro and click Remove to remove it. Close the window.

Remove Win32:Malware-gen, removal instructions

2013-05-01T09:21:00.000-07:00

This page contains removal instructions for the Win32:Malware-gen infection. Please use this guide to remove this infection and any associated malware from your computer. If you have heard of the term 'Win32:Malware-gen' in relation to computers but are not quite certain what it is, what it means and how it can affect you, read on as we will explain what it is, how it attacks your PC or laptop, how you can protect yourself against being affected – and of course, what to do in the unfortunate event that you do contract the Win32:Malware-gen.

This particular infection very often means that your computer is infected with a Trojan horse. It might be any other type of malware because it's a generic detection but from my experience most of the time it indicates Trojan infection. Trojan horses are one of the nastiest forms of malware and can seriously threaten your computer’s security. The name comes from the Greek legend in which Greece won the Trojan War by hiding their warriors inside a huge, hollow wooden horse which they wheeled to the gates of the city of Troy, in order to ambush the unsuspecting city’s inhabitants. In computer terms, a Trojan horse is used to define a “malicious, security-breaking program that is disguised as something benign”. In simpler terms, if you download what you think is a music or movie file, and it is actually a Trojan in disguise you will have installed a program on your computer than can erase everything in your system, allow the author of the Trojan to access your computer and control it to attack other users. And perhaps most worryingly of all, it may collect all of your passwords, bank account details and credit card numbers, for instance if you contracted the Zbot malware.

So how does Win32:Malware-gen actually work and how does it infect your computer? Win32 Malware-gen is an executable program which means that when you open a file – the attachment in an email for example - it will perform one or more actions. Just as the Greeks fooled the city of Troy with their wooden Trojan horse, a computer based malware needs to somehow fool you to ensure that you execute it.

This malware will most likely be disguised as something that people want: perhaps a movie, TV series, music or a game. It can be downloaded from an archive on the internet, be obtained from a peer-to-peer file sharing website or simply from an email attachment. The nasty thing about Trojans and similar malware is that you don’t normally even know you’ve been infected and will probably only find out when your contacts complain to you that are trying to infect or attack them!

So how do you avoid falling victim to Win32 Malware gen? Firstly, make sure you have good quality and up to date antivirus software installed on your computer as this will scan all documents that you receive – even ones from senders that you know and trust. This is important as you never know if they have been unwittingly infected! Secondly never even open an email from an unknown source, let alone an attachment.

Even if the sender is a friend, you should still check what the file is before you open it. A lot of these infections spread via email contact lists or address books, so it’s always best to double check, firstly with your friend to see if they intended to send you a file and then to scan the file with your antivirus software. Many Trojans appear to come from a user as they impersonate the infected person once they have control of their computer, so double check. Better safe than sorry!

Lastly, no matter how tempting an executable email attachment might look – whether it’s purporting to be a trailer for the latest big Hollywood blockbuster, a hit song, or a must play game don’t be tempted to ‘just have a quick look’ as once you’ve clicked on it, if it’s infected, that Win32:Malware-gen will be already installed upon your computer and wreaking its damage.

The biggest question is probably whether you should repair your PC or laptop or reformat it. This can be a bit of a tricky decision because as tempting as it is to repair your computer without having to start from scratch and reinstall your system, even experts find it very hard to know whether the malware is completely removed and not still running, hidden, in the background.

On the plus side though the majority of the infections stem from the same few hundred currently-circulating Trojans so experts will be aware of them and able to remove them with the appropriate removal program. Be aware though that to reinstall your system or to clean your computer completely (or as completely as possible) can take anywhere from a couple of hours to several days.

Having said that it is probably best to try and repair your computer first as in most cases it is possible to completely remove Win32:Malware-gen. If the infection does keep returning, however, it is possible that it was not totally removed so you may want to think about deleting and reinstalling your system. If you think that your computer has been infected with Win32:Malware-gen, you should download recommend antimalware software and run full system scan. Very often users say that their antivirus found the infection but can't remove it, in such case please follow the removal instructions below. If you need help, leave a comment below. Good luck and be safe online!

Written by Michael Kaur, http://deletemalware.blogspot.com

Win32:Malware-gen removal instructions:

1. Download and run TDSSKiller. Press the button Start scan for the utility to start scanning.

2. Wait for the scan and disinfection process to be over. Then click Continue. Please reboot your computer after the disinfection is over.

3. Download recommended anti-malware software (direct download) and run a full system scan to remove the remnants of this virus from your computer.

Remove ad.adserverplus.com, removal instructions

2013-04-30T10:56:00.001-07:00

This page contains removal instructions for ad.adserverplus.com. Please use this guide to remove hotstartsearch.com pop-ups and any associated adware from your computer.

If you're getting unwanted, intrusive pop ups that come from "ad.adserverplus.com" then your computer is almost certainly infected with adware or at least potentially unwanted software. As you probably already know adware displays advertisements and may be considered privacy-invasive. Usually, adware tracks your computer's web usage and then displays undesired ad pop ups or redirect you to unwanted websites. Ad.adserverplus is basically a web tracker or in other words a tracking cookie which is used to server advertisements on your computer. Some people say it's a trojan or even a virus but neither assumption is true. It's a tracking cookie. This article aims to explain just that. So firstly, what are cookies? Cookies are small pieces of data that log information when you visit a website. They are stored on your computer’s hard drive by the web server that hosts the website in question. The information that they collection can be only read by the website that owns them and not by anyone else.

But what kind of data are cookies collecting and what do they do with it? The info collected will be data that you have entered, settings you have customized and so on. The main idea behind collecting this information is to make your visit to that particular website a more personalized and user friendly one - thus making you more likely to visit again in the future. However, there are also tracking cookies that collect information about your browsing habits. Such cookies are later used by advertising networks to choose the most relevant (unfortunately not always) ads for you and display them through web trackers, for instance ad.adserverplus.com. Are tracking cookies a threat? Not nessecarily, but they are still considered privacy-invasive.

So what can a cookie do for me? Cookies are pretty useful: perhaps your home page allows you to customize the settings so that when you log on you instantly see the things you are interested in. Maybe you want football results but are not bothered about the weather, or perhaps you want to read the latest breaking showbiz gossip but not the main news headlines: set your preferences accordingly and they will be recorded in a cookie. This means that next time you log on, the website will read the cookie and show you football results or news about your favourite movie stars.

Cookies will also remember other default settings such as those used in your favourite search engines - the language settings and the way you like your home page, colour scheme and search results to be displayed.

Are you an online shopper? If you like to while away boring office hours browsing for the latest fashions or bestselling books, once you’ve decided to make a purchase, you’ll add it to your shopping cart. You may then return to the store and decide to continue shopping. Thanks to the cookie, when you finally decide you’ve spent enough and continue to the check out, your purchases will still be in your cart waiting for you.

Many online shopping websites, as well as blogs, forums and countless other sites will ask you to create a user ID and a password before you can make a purchase, leave comments on posts or access other areas of the site. These days, all of us are up to our eyeballs in passwords and ID’s, and it can be virtually impossible to remember all our different logins. That’s where cookies come in: if you let them, they’ll remember your info and automatically log you in when you hit enter. It can save you a few seconds of annoying repetitive typing too. So, as you can see, cookies are pretty useful but you shouldn't confuse them with tracking cookies.

So, if a tracking cookie has access to my personal data, is it safe? As cookies are designed only to be read by the website that created them they are considered safe with their only function being to provide a more convenient browsing experience. But we all know that most website owners allow third-party tracking cookies on their websites and this doesn’t stop some people being worried about their online privacy. Most of us are aware of the existence of cookies but they are rather ‘out of sight, out of mind’ so what else do you need to know about them?

Depending on which browser (i.e. Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer etc.) you use and depending on your computer’s operating system your cookies will be stored in a number of places. A quick search engine enquiry will tell you where to find yours if you’re not sure.

As well as saving your personal preferences, tracking cookies can also store personal information – your name, email address, physical address, telephone number and so forth - if you have entered them into an online form on a site which is using cookies. Although it is important to be aware that the technology used to create cookies means that the people who own the website cannot access or view any documents on your hard disk. They also can’t view cookies from other websites that are stored on your computer. But they can be used to display ads on your computer, and sometimes adware from http://ad.adserverplus.com can be misleading or even disturbing.

But what can you do if you are concerned about ad.adserverplus.com? If you are truly worried about data being collected from the sites you visit and potentially falling into the wrong hands, you should first remove adware and potentially unwanted applications from your computer. To completely remove ad.adserverplus.com from your computer please use the guide below. If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below. Good luck and be safe online!

Written by Michael Kaur, http://deletemalware.blogspot.com

ad.adserverplus.com removal instructions:

1. First of all, download recommended anti-malware software and run a full system scan. It will detect and remove this infection from your computer. You may then follow the manual removal instructions below to remove the leftover traces of this browser hijacker. Hopefully you won't have to do that.

2. Uninstall recently installed web browser toolbars and other web browser add-ons. You should also remove recently installed software, especially freeware and shareware because there's a good chance that the popups and redirects you are experiencing are caused by either these programs or web browser add-ons that came with them.

3. This company does not offer an opt out. You will have to block adserverplus cookies manually. To see how to do this, an online search will be able to guide you through.

Remove hotstartsearch.com, removal instructions

2013-04-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

This page contains removal instructions for the hotstartsearch.com browser hijacker. Please use this guide to remove hotstartsearch.com and any associated malware from your computer.

Hotstartsearch.com is a browser hijacker that changes web browser settings and returns low quality search results. Most of the time, it's buried in toolbars, ad-ons and freeware. If it has made itself your default home page and search engine provider then there's a good chance that it came with recently installed software, even if you downloaded the installer from Cnet or other more/less reliable software download site. Nowadays, they are heavily packed with toolbars, couponware and browser hijackers. I've lost count how many times I've said this before, but seriously guys, pay more attention when accepting 'offers' and similar stuff during the software installation process. If you don't care then you will certainly end up with some sort of unwanted software or even malware on your computer.

hotstartsearch.com is not necessarily malicious. It's just annoying. It changes web browser settings so that whenever you try to Google something and press enter it opens a new tab and puts your query in its own search box. This new tab is called "All Search". It actually ads a new search engine provider with the same name and replaces Google without your permission which is annoying and illegal at the same time. When it comes to search results, they are really worrying me. For example, a quick search for antivirus software gave me about ten or twelve results. I mean in total, not just the first page. Most of those results were clearly commercial. Honestly, I think the entire page was filled with paid ads. It seems that either they do not care about the quality, both search results and ads, or the website was simply designed to serve ads.

Such practice is indeed questionable and potentially dangerous because cyber crooks use weakly protected ad networks to serve malicious advertisements which redirect users to infected websites. Furthermore, it may collect information about your web browsing habits, including but not limited to search queries, location, ip address, etc. This information is used purely as a means of generating revenue for the creators of the browser hijacker. What is more, this data may be sold to third parties who will use it to display highly targeted ads while you're surfing the net. As you can see, it's not a reliable search engine and it may even cause some serious problems, so my advice is simple: remove it.

If you’ve been unlucky enough to be infected by hotstartsearch.com, and it can happen to the best of us, there are steps you can take to solve your problem. To completely remove hotstartsearch.com from your computer please use the guide below. If you have any questions or comments regarding this browser hijacker, leave a comment below. Good luck and be safe online!

Written by Michael Kaur, http://deletemalware.blogspot.com

hotstartsearch.com removal instructions:

1. First of all, download recommended anti-malware software and run a full system scan. It will detect and remove this infection from your computer. You may then follow the manual removal instructions below to remove the leftover traces of this browser hijacker. Hopefully you won't have to do that.

2. Uninstall Hotstartsearch and related programs from your computer using the Add/Remove Programs control panel (Windows XP) or Uninstall a program control panel (Windows 7 and Windows 8).

Go to the Start Menu. Select Control Panel → Add/Remove Programs.
If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, select Control Panel → Uninstall a Program.

If you are using Windows 8, simply drag your mouse pointer to the right edge of the screen, select Search from the list and search for "control panel".

Or you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control panel from there.

3. When the Add/Remove Programs or the Uninstall a Program screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and remove recently installed application. As I said earlier, this application is rarely listed as Hotstartsearch in the currently installed programs list.

Simply select the application and click Remove. If you are using Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8, click Uninstall up near the top of that window. When you're done, please close the Control Panel screen.

Remove hotstartsearch.com from Google Chrome:

1. Click on Customize and control Google Chrome icon. Select Settings.

2. Click Set pages under the On startup.

Remove hotstartsearch.com by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below.

3. Click Show Home button under Appearance. Then click Change.

Select Use the New Tab page and click OK to save changes.

4. Click Manager search engines button under Search.

Select Google or any other search engine you like from the list and make it your default search engine provider.

Select All Search (hotstartsearch.com) from the list and remove it by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below.

5. Right-click the Google Chrome shortcut you are using to open your web browser and select Properties.

6. Select Shortcut tab and remove "http://hotstartsearch.com...." from the Target field and click OK to save changes. Basically, there should be only the path to Chrome executable file. Nothing more.

Remove hotstartsearch.com from Mozilla Firefox:

1. Click on the All Search search icon as shown in the image below and select Manage Search Engines....

2. Select All Search from the list and click Remove to remove it. Click OK to save changes.

3. In the URL address bar, type about:config and hit Enter.

Click I'll be careful, I promise! to continue.

In the search filter at the top, type: hotstartsearch

Now, you should see all the preferences that were changed by hotstartsearch. Right-click on the preference and select Reset to restore default value. Reset all found preferences!

4. Right-click the Mozilla Firefox shortcut you are using to open your web browser and select Properties.

5. Select Shortcut tab and remove "http://hotstartsearch.com...." from the Target field and click OK to save changes. Basically, there should be only the path to Firefox executable file.

Remove hotstartsearch.com in Internet Explorer:

1. Open Internet Explorer. Go to Tools → Manage Add-ons.

2. Select Search Providers. First of all, choose Live Search search engine and make it your default web search provider (Set as default).

3. Select All Search and click Remove to remove it. Close the window.

4. Right-click the Internet Explorer shortcut you are using to open your web browser and select Properties.

5. Select Shortcut tab and remove "http://hotstartsearch.com...." from the Target field and click OK to save changes. Basically, there should be only the path to Internet Explorer executable file.

6. Finally, go to Tools → Internet Options and restore your home page to default.

How to remove ib.adnxs.com, removal instructions

2013-04-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

This page contains removal instructions for ib.adnxs.com pop-up ads. Please use this guide to remove ib.adnxs.com and any associated adware/tracking cookies from your computer. Cookies: we’ve all heard of them but what are they, where are they, what do they do and most importantly of all; are they good or bad or do they just sound kind of tasty!?

Read on as we’ll attempt to explain everything you need to know about these mysterious sounding tracking cookies and also about web trackers in general.

First of all; what is a cookie? A cookie is a little file which has been stored on your hard drive by a web server. If that sounds a little technical, put simply, web servers host websites and if you have just visited a site that has cookies, then the server will have stored one on your computer. But why? And what does a cookie do? Cookies collect and store information about your visit to that site – this might be data about when you last visited the site, it might be your name and address if you entered them into an online form – perhaps, say, when you were booking a hotel room – it may also store data about which pages you visited and which products you showed interest in by clicking on.

lax1.ib.adnxs.com popup displayed on the infected computer. I installed a potentially unwanted web browser extension and after a few minutes similar pop-ups began to show up on my computer.

Other information collected by the cookie may include what time you visited the website, which internet browser you use (i.e. Firefox, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome etc.) or your IP address – the unique number that identifies your computer when it is connected to the internet.

If this all sounds a little ominous, there is no cause for alarm as cookies are harmless. The technology used to create them means that they are a simple text file which cannot be read by anyone other than the owners of the website in question and they cannot be used as a means of accessing files on your hard drive or otherwise damaging your operating system.

From remembering items you’ve placed in your shopping cart when buying online, to allowing you to customize your home page so that you see the latest weather report in your chosen city, to remembering user ID’s and passwords when you log in to websites you use often, cookies are there to make your user experience a more convenient one. And of course, the more convenient and personalized a website is, the more likely you’ll be to go back and visit it.

Some people are quite rightly concerned about online privacy and these days it’s just as well to be cautious when entering personal information over the internet, although cookies are agreed by experts to be safe. There is, however, a slightly different type of cookie which is also something to be aware of and this is called a tracking cookie – also known as a third party cookie. This is a cookie that has been stored on your computer’s hard drive by a web server hosting a website that is merely affiliated with one that you have visited by choice. In the majority of cases, this will be a company that provides adverts for a large number of websites. In this particular case it's ib.adnxs.com which is run by AppNexus.

Companies who use tracking cookies do so in order to create a picture of how you surf the web: which types of sites you visit and so forth. The good news is that they are not able to track each and every site that you visit – only the ones that have their adverts on a site. You may find that some users say they got infected with ib.adnxs.com virus. The problem is that some of its clients try to increase revenue by displaying popup ads on users's machines, and of course what they will see is an ad loaded from ib.adnxs.com ad server. Sometimes, AppNexus web tracking servers experience technical difficulties or can't properly serve ads, this is when waiting for ib.adnxs.com information may appear at the bottom of your web browser. Some users think that maybe there's something suspicious going on and someone is trying to loads malware on their computers. Don't worry, it's not a virus. It simply tries to load ads from one of its web servers, for instance nym1.ib.adnxs.com, ads.ib.adnxs.com and many others.

It could be argued that this is an invasion of your privacy however, just like regular cookies, they are still text files and are not created with technology that allows them to view or capture files from your hard drive - and they definitely are not able to install malicious software that steals personal data or infect your PC with a virus.

It is inevitable that you end up with tracking cookies on your computer if you spend any amount of time browsing the web but there is no real cause for concern as they can easily be deleted from your system. If you are not sure where to find cookies on your computer, please follow the removal instructions below.

You can also prevent both cookies and tracking cookies from being stored on your PC in the first place. Your browser will have options which allow you to change the cookie settings but because cookies are convenient and do enhance your user experience it’s not really recommended to turn them off completely so you might prefer to still allow normal cookies but turn off third party tracking cookies. Turning off the third-party cookies should not affect your ability to customize your home page or stop websites you use frequently from loading conveniently stored data such as your name, address and telephone number if you are shopping online or making a booking.

So to summarize, cookies are not dangerous, they do not steal files, they do not install malware and they can only be read by the website owners that they belong to. Tracking cookies are also harmless and both types can be deleted from your computer or turned off according to how you feel about them.

If you are having ib.adnxs.com popups on your computer, please follow the removal instructions below. Very often, it's a sing that your computer is infected with adware or potentially unwanted application. If you have any other questions or maybe you would like to share the removal method that worked for you, please leave a comment below. Good luck and be safe online!

Written by Michael Kaur, http://deletemalware.blogspot.com

ib.adnxs.com removal instructions:

1. First of all, download recommended anti-malware software and run a full system scan. It will detect and remove this infection from your computer. You may then follow the manual removal instructions below to remove the leftover traces of this browser hijacker. Hopefully you won't have to do that.

2. Uninstall recently installed web browser toolbars and other web browser add-ons. You should also remove recently installed software, especially freeware and shareware because there's a good chance that the popups and redirects you are experiencing are caused by either these programs or web browser add-ons that came with them.

3. Opt out of interest-based advertising, see this: http://appnexus.com/platform-policy#choices

Remove Hola Search, removal instructions

2013-04-24T11:02:00.000-07:00

This page contains removal instructions for the Hola Search browser hijacker. Whether or not you’ve heard of the term browser hijacker you will have no doubt as an internet user come across it in one of its shapes or forms, and you may have even been unlucky enough to become a victim of it, even if you were not aware at the time. So what exactly is a browser hijacker, how does it find its way onto your computer and how do you become a victim?

Hola Search is a pseudo search engine that is installed onto your computer via advertisements and downloaded games or software. We’ve all seen the free games “play online now!” they scream and of course we’ve all seen adverts dotted all over our favourite websites. Online adverts can come in many different formats, from banners that are fairly non-intrusive and relevant to the website they are on to extremely annoying pop-up windows that suddenly appear on your screen, no matter what you are browsing or doing online at the time. Some adverts include words in their text that are underlined and hovering with your mouse over one of these words – even unintentionally – can cause a pop-up window to appear.

OK, so far, so annoying but many online adverts have a more sinister reason for existing and that’s not just to get you to play the free game that they’re so kindly offering you, and that reason is to install the browser hijacker on your computer which then redirect users to either paid search results via http://www.holasearch.com or simply display ads on its front page. But how do you get Hola Search on your computer and what does it do?

Its intentions are often less than honourable. It is normally downloaded without you being any the wiser. Hola Search is often bundled with other software that you actually want to download. For example, let’s say you want to download a file-sharing program that lets you share TV shows, movies or music with other users, because a lot of this type of free sharing (freeshare) software has adware packaged with it, when you download the freeware, you’ll also be unwittingly downloading the browser hijacker and probably some other adware as well.

And it’s not just ‘dodgy’ or disreputable software that can contain HolaSearch, you might be surprised to know that some of the most well-known applications have browser hijackers and adware packaged with them. For example some search engines, online games, news headline updates, instant weather reports, novelty mouse pointers, funny emoticons, desktop and background themes and programs that promise to help your computer run more quickly may all come with adware, browser hijackers and toolbars.

The majority of the time, when you download software, you’ll have noticed that you get seemingly endless small windows which you need to click ‘next’ or ‘continue’ on to get to the point where you can start downloading the software. This is called the End User License Agreement, or the EULA. Often the EULA will actually mention that third-party search engine or adware is bundled with the software in the small print, however, how many of us actually read the text on these windows and just click through them barely glancing at them because we’re so eager to download the software that we need? Clicking ‘I Agree…’ to download this software in effect means that you are also agreeing to download adware and whatever else it offers.

So, why should you be bothered about adware and browser hijackers? It’s annoying sure, can really get on your nerves, but some browser hijackers can actually be extremely malicious. I mean you can really know how they ensure that only quality ads are being displayed, and from what I've seen so far, they actually pushing some really dodgy applications, not necessarily malicious but potentially unwanted for sure.

So what does it want with my computer and what will it do? Apart from often making your system run more slowly, this browser hijackers can modify Windows registry, make your operating system unstable, and in the worst case scenario it will take on the form of ‘spyware’. Spyware, as the name suggests is software which monitors which websites you visit and your computer user habits. This is exactly what Hola Toolbar web browser add-on does. It asks for permission to collect data and send it to third-party advertising networks. It does this so that it can create a ‘user profile’ on you and then tailor the adverts accordingly. Let’s say you spend a lot of time looking at fashion blogs or clothing stores on the internet. The adware/spyware will know this and you will start seeing pop-up windows that, let’s say, are advertising a sale on leather jackets. This has the knock-on effect of making you more likely to click on it out of interest henceforth increasingly the chances of installing more adware. Please note, I'm not saying that this toolbar can steal your password or any other personally identifiable information.

As seen, some browsers hijackers are malicious and some are merely annoying. The latter is used purely as a means of generating revenue for the creators of the software. This data will then be sold to third parties who will use it to display highly targeted ads while you're surfing the net.

It’s scary stuff so if you want to minimize the risk of this happening to you, make sure you always read the small print on those EULAs and if adware is mentioned, stop and think if you really want to put yourself at risk. To completely uninstall Hola Search from your computer please use the guide below. If you have any questions or comments regarding this browser hijacker, leave a comment below. Good luck and be safe online!

Written by Michael Kaur, http://deletemalware.blogspot.com

Hola Search removal instructions:

1. First of all, download recommended anti-malware software and run a full system scan. It will detect and remove this infection from your computer. You may then follow the manual removal instructions below to remove the leftover traces of this browser hijacker. Hopefully you won't have to do that.

2. Uninstall Hola Search application from your computer using the Add/Remove Programs control panel (Windows XP) or Uninstall a program control panel (Windows 7 and Windows 8).

Go to the Start Menu. Select Control Panel → Add/Remove Programs.
If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, select Control Panel → Uninstall a Program.

If you are using Windows 8, simply drag your mouse pointer to the right edge of the screen, select Search from the list and search for "control panel".

Or you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control panel from there.

3. When the Add/Remove Programs or the Uninstall a Program screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and remove the Hola Search Toolbar and BrowserProtect applications and also other applications you have recently installed.

Simply the application and click Remove. If you are using Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8, click Uninstall up near the top of that window. When you're done, please close the Control Panel screen.

Remove Hola Search from Google Chrome:

1. Click on Chrome menu button. Go to Tools → Extensions.

2. Click on the trashcan icon to remove the Hola Toolbar and BrowserProtect Chrome extensions:

3. Click on Chrome menu button once again. Select Settings.

4. Click Set pages under the On startup.

Remove Hola Search by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below.

5. Click Show Home button under Appearance. Then click Change.

Select Use the New Tab page and click OK to save changes.

6. Click Manager search engines button under Search.

Select Google or any other search engine you like from the list and make it your default search engine provider.

Select Hola Search from the list and remove it by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below.

Remove Hola Search from Mozilla Firefox:

1. Click on the Hola Search search icon as shown in the image below and select Manage Search Engines....

2. Select Hola Search from the list and click Remove to remove it. Click OK to save changes.

3. In the URL address bar, type about:config and hit Enter.

Click I'll be careful, I promise! to continue.

In the search filter at the top, type: hola search

Now, you should see all the preferences that were changed by Hola Search. Right-click on the preference and select Reset to restore default value. Reset all found preferences!

Remove Hola Search from Internet Explorer:

1. Open Internet Explorer. Go to Tools → Manage Add-ons.

2. Select Search Providers. First of all, choose Live Search search engine and make it your default web search provider (Set as default).

3. Select Hola Search and click Remove to remove it. Close the window.

Remove Portaldosites, removal instructions

2013-04-17T10:15:00.000-07:00

This page contains removal instructions for the Portaldosites browser hijacker. Please use this guide to remove Portaldosites and any associated adware from your computer. Most of us have seen browser hijackers and adware, even if we’re not familiar with the terms. The truth is, both terms are closely related because scammers hijack web browsers to push their ads or misleading products. Of course, technically each threat is different. In short, browser hijacking is the method and adware is the goal. So what is adware, how do I know if I’ve seen it, and why should I even care, you ask? Well adware is a compound of two words: advert and software. So, adware is basically adverts in software format. But why would an advert be software? Surely it’s just something that appears on your laptop screen or computer monitor. Well, it’s not quite as simple as that. Let me explain.

Have you ever been browsing the internet just as normal - you’ve looked at the usual websites, and at nothing ‘untoward’ but then the next time you log on, your browser’s homepage has been changed from, say Google or Yahoo, to one that you’ve never seen before, in this case it's portaldosites.com? You may also notice that you have a program that you don't recall installing on your desktop.

Welcome to the wonderful world of adware. Unfortunately adware is all over the internet, and its intent is to take control of your PC for someone else’s gain. The majority of adware is concealed inside ‘free’ downloads – for example games - and in pop-up adverts. You’ve probably seen adverts on the web that have underlined words in their text. When your cursor hovers over these words pop-up windows appear, trying to tempt you to click on them.

Once you’ve downloaded the game or clicked on the pop-up, the adware will install software on your computer’s system which allows the author of the software to steal and corrupt your files and data (such as passwords and credit card details) and even also attack other computers whilst hiding behind yours to do the same to their users.

Some adware simply switches your browser’s home or search engine so that it redirects you to sites that it wants you to visit, which although perhaps not a threat to your PC’s security, can be very annoying and time consuming. Of course not all free downloads are malicious and not all adverts or pop-ups are created to try and hijack your computer by installing software, but malware (i.e. malicious software) does exist in these formats and therefore you should pay close attention to exactly what you are downloading, the licensing agreement of free downloads plus your web browser’s security settings.

So how do you take control of your computer and stop it firstly, redirecting you to portaldosites.com or sites you don’t want to visit, and secondly and most importantly, ensure that no-one is stealing your data or maliciously corrupting your operating system? Unfortunately this is easier said than done because adware is normally integrated with your system to be hidden and installed in such a way that the average computer user will not be able to remove it. Modern malware can even be extremely tricky for those who do have technological know-how to remove as it will be hidden in an area of the system that is difficult to access.

So how do you protect yourself from falling victim to adware? One thing to do is to ensure that you always read the EULA – the End User Licensing Agreement - before you install any software, especially free software as this is most likely to be bundled with adware, but the rule applies to reputable programs too.

You should also be extremely wary when opening emails from unknown senders – and in particular never open a document or download a file from someone you don’t know as it may be adware in disguise. If someone has sent you an offer, free game or free software that seems too good to be true, it probably is.

However, as described above, not all pop-up windows and free software are malicious – there really are some great free games and software available on the internet, but there can be a lot of bad guys out there too and some adware is even designed to track your internet usage so that the ad banners (that create the nasty pop-up windows) can be targeted towards you, making it more likely that you will click on them.

So when you look at it that way, is it really worth clicking on that pop-up advert purely out of boredom, or downloading that awesome looking freebie bubble popping or poker game? Probably not. Identity theft and financial theft are two incredibly serious crimes which can take months, even years to recover from. The rule of thumb: if in doubt, do not click.

If you've been having trouble getting rid of this pesky virus called "portaldosites" which apparently is just a parody web search engine, please follow the removal instructions below. If you have any questions or comments regarding this infections, leave a comment below. Good luck and be safe online!

Written by Michael Kaur, http://deletemalware.blogspot.com

Portaldosites removal instructions:

1. First of all, download recommended anti-malware software and run a full system scan. It will detect and remove this infection from your computer. You may then follow the manual removal instructions below to remove the leftover traces of this browser hijacker. Hopefully you won't have to do that.

2. Uninstall Portaldosites and related programs from your computer using the Add/Remove Programs control panel (Windows XP) or Uninstall a program control panel (Windows 7 and Windows 8).

Go to the Start Menu. Select Control Panel → Add/Remove Programs.
If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, select Control Panel → Uninstall a Program.

If you are using Windows 8, simply drag your mouse pointer to the right edge of the screen, select Search from the list and search for "control panel".

Or you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control panel from there.

3. When the Add/Remove Programs or the Uninstall a Program screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and remove eSave Security Control, Portaldosites toolbar, New Tabs Uninstall, Desk 365, BrowserProtect and any other recently installed application. As I said earlier, this application is rarely listed as Portaldosites in the currently installed programs list. So, either look for applications mentioned here or try to remember what software you installed recently. It's probably the culprit.

Simply select the application and click Remove. If you are using Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8, click Uninstall up near the top of that window. When you're done, please close the Control Panel screen.

Remove Portaldosites from Google Chrome:

1. Click on Customize and control Google Chrome icon. Go to Tools → Settings.

2. Click Set pages under the On startup.

Remove portaldosites.com by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below.

3. Click Show Home button under Appearance. Then click Change.

Select Use the New Tab page and click OK to save changes.

4. Click Manager search engines button under Search.

Select Google or any other search engine you like from the list and make it your default search engine provider.

Select Portaldosites from the list and remove it by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below.

5. Right-click the Google Chrome shortcut you are using to open your web browser and select Properties.

6. Select Shortcut tab and remove "http://www.portaldosites.com...." from the Target field and click OK to save changes. Basically, there should be only the path to Chrome executable file. Nothing more.

Remove Portaldosites from Mozilla Firefox:

1. Click on the Portaldosites search icon as shown in the image below and select Manage Search Engines....

2. Select Portaldosites from the list and click Remove to remove it. Click OK to save changes.

3. In the URL address bar, type about:config and hit Enter.

Click I'll be careful, I promise! to continue.

In the search filter at the top, type: portaldosites

Now, you should see all the preferences that were changed by Portaldosites. Right-click on the preference and select Reset to restore default value. Reset all found preferences!

4. Right-click the Mozilla Firefox shortcut you are using to open your web browser and select Properties.

5. Select Shortcut tab and remove "http://www.portaldosites.com...." from the Target field and click OK to save changes. Basically, there should be only the path to Firefox executable file.

Remove Portaldosites in Internet Explorer:

1. Open Internet Explorer. Go to Tools → Manage Add-ons.

2. Select Search Providers. First of all, choose Live Search search engine and make it your default web search provider (Set as default).

3. Select Portaldosites and click Remove to remove it. Close the window.

4. Right-click the Internet Explorer shortcut you are using to open your web browser and select Properties.

5. Select Shortcut tab and remove "http://www.portaldosites.com...." from the Target field and click OK to save changes. Basically, there should be only the path to Internet Explorer executable file.

6. Finally, go to Tools → Internet Options and restore your home page to default. That's it!

Remove Ads by Browse to Save, removal instructions

2013-04-17T08:39:00.000-07:00

This page contains removal instructions for the 'Ads by Browse to Save' adware . Please use this guide to remove Ads by Browse to Save and any associated malware from your computer. You may have heard the term ‘adware’ and not be entirely sure what it is, and if so here we’ll attempt to explain exactly what adware is, how it can harm your computer and compromise your personal identity and – most importantly – how to prevent yourself from becoming a victim of it and what to do in the event that you do have a problem.

You know those somewhat annoying advertising banners, pop-up windows or situations when you’re suddenly redirected to a website that you have no interest in viewing? This is adware. Browse to Save adware is basically unasked for software that attempts to display adverts when you’re using your PC. OK, they’re annoying but surely they’re just trying to sell you something - albeit something you’re not interested in buying? But adware can be a little more sinister than merely an unwanted ad for the latest ‘must-play’ online poker game.

Browse to Save browser add-on is often – not always – but a lot of the time integrated with spyware. And spyware is a malware, or malicious software, which can actually do a lot of damage both to your computer and to you personally. Spyware, as the name suggests spies upon your computer usage, noting which websites you are visiting. Important: it doesn't steal your passwords and any other data. It only logs your browsing activity. This information is then recorded and sent to third party users and used to display ads on the website you visit, whether it’s something as basic as your Facebook or Twitter profile or the largest media/news site. For example, it may injects ads on such popular sites as about.com, see the image below.

Click to Continue > by Browse to Save

Some people say, oh well, site owners are trying to earn some extra money but if you are seeing Ads by Browse to Save then your computer in infected and it has nothing to do with the site you're visiting.

Furthermore, Browse to Save virus does not display ads on each page, so sometimes you may not even notice that it's installed on your computer. A few ads there and here probably won't make any difference but when all of sudden youtube.com is filled with five or more ads on a single page, you must realize that your computer is infected with adware.

However, some of the more obvious signs that you have been infected to look out for include pop-up advertisement windows suddenly appearing on your computer, being redirected to websites that you haven’t clicked on or have no interest in visiting whilst you’re surfing the internet, trying to open computer programs and them failing to launch, your computer running considerably slower than usual, and if you’re using a PC, you might find that you are unable to install Windows updates.

Any and all of these indicate that you may have been infected by Browse to Save so it is well worth checking your computer system. As mentioned though, it can be very hard to detect malicious software, so if you’re not a technical whizz, take your PC or Mac to an expert and have them check it out. Some of these symptoms may seem harmless – annoying but harmless – but they can be a vital indication that there is something seriously wrong with your computer and the last thing you want is to have your personal files stolen or your bank account accessed, so do check.

Finally, supposing your computer is infected; then what to do? Even if you’re not completely sure and you are tempted to think ‘it’s only a pop-up advert’, stop using your computer right away and remove Ads by Browse to Save virus from your computer. Please follow the removal instructions below.

So, to sum up: don’t become of victim of malicious adware: install reputable antivirus software on your computer, make sure it’s always up to date, be careful what you’re clicking on – and back up your documents before it’s too late.

If you still have problems removing Ads by Browse to Save, please leave a comment below. Good luck and be safe online!

Written by Michael Kaur, http://deletemalware.blogspot.com

Ads by Browse to Save removal instructions:

1. First of all, download recommended anti-malware software and run a full system scan. It will detect and remove this infection from your computer. You may then follow the manual removal instructions below to remove the leftover traces of this browser hijacker. Hopefully you won't have to do that.

2. Uninstall Browse to Save application from your computer using the Add/Remove Programs control panel (Windows XP) or Uninstall a program control panel (Windows 7 and Windows 8).

Go to the Start Menu. Select Control Panel → Add/Remove Programs.
If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, select Control Panel → Uninstall a Program.

If you are using Windows 8, simply drag your mouse pointer to the right edge of the screen, select Search from the list and search for "control panel".

Or you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control panel from there.

3. When the Add/Remove Programs or the Uninstall a Program screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and remove the Browse to Save application and other applications you have recently installed.

Simply the application and click Remove. If you are using Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8, click Uninstall up near the top of that window. When you're done, please close the Control Panel screen.

Remove Ads by Browse to Save from Google Chrome:

1. Click on Chrome menu button. Go to Tools → Extensions.

2. Click on the trashcan icon to remove the Browse to Save Chrome extension:

Remove Ads by Browse to Save from Mozilla Firefox:

1. Open Mozilla Firefox. Go to Tools → Add-ons.

2. Select Extensions. Click Remove button to uninstall Browse to Save Firefox extension. If you can't find the Remove button, then simply click on the Disable button.

Remove Ads by Browse to Save from Internet Explorer:

1. Open Internet Explorer. Go to Tools → Manage Add-ons. If you have the latest version, simply click on the Settings button.

2. Select Toolbars and Extensions. Click Remove/Disable button to remove Browse to Save from Internet Explorer.

Remove Win32.downloader.gen, removal instructions

2013-04-14T09:20:00.000-07:00

This page contains removal instructions for the Win32.downloader.gen virus. Please use this guide to remove Win32.downloader.gen and any associated malware from your computer. Ok, so, most of us have heard of the term ‘Trojan Horse’ in relation to computer viruses but if you are not sure what exactly a Trojan horse is and how it infects your PC you might be want to know a little more about it. In this article we will take a look at what exactly a Trojan downloader is and, more importantly, how you can protect yourself and your data from being infected and corrupted.

Firstly, how does a Trojan horse infect your computer? Well it may be hard to believe but you actually play a part in the infection yourself because for a Trojan horse to do its damage, you actually need to install the client part of the application yourself. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Why would you physically take steps to infect your own computer, you ask, and quite rightly so. Well this is where the malicious intent behind the Trojan comes in to play as the creator of it needs to somehow convince you to download the application.

Typically this is done by social engineering – what this means is that the author of the Win32.downloader.gen will manipulate and convince you to perform an action or to divulge personal information somewhat unwittingly or against your will. Another way of getting you to install the Trojan horse on your computer system is to send you it in an email, with the hope that you will open the attachment. And this is precisely why it is called a Trojan horse; because you have to run the .exe file in order to install the program on your computer. Whether you do this knowingly or unknowingly is irrelevant, but the end result will be a nasty infected PC or laptop.

Although people often call it such, it is precisely because of this that a Trojan horse cannot be classed as a virus; because viruses reproduce on their own. As soon as you have executed the program, the application belonging to the Trojan will be installed and will immediately start running automatically every time you log on to your computer.

Win32.downloader.gen can quite literally spread like online wildfire as the majority of their developers like to spread them via email. They will send out possibly hundreds, or maybe even thousands of emails to a random selection of people via spam email and anyone who opens the email and is then unlucky or incautious enough to download the attachment will end up with an infected computer system.

Did you know that your computer can become a zombie? And no, we’re not talking about one of the walking dead from a TV show or movie. It doesn’t even have to be a person sitting at their computer and maliciously emailing their Trojan horses to unsuspecting users. It could actually be your very own computer that is at fault! If your computer system has already been infected, the person responsible for the Trojan horse in the first place may have sent you, amongst other victims, a Trojan that has turned your PC into a so-called ‘zombie computer’, meaning that they are actually in control of your system! As its name suggests, this particular Trojan will download and install additional malware onto your computer, that's why it's called downloader. Of course, it can easily install spyware or DDos modules or even Bitcoin mining trojan. This type of Trojan horse is particularly nasty because you will very likely be completely unaware that you are being remotely controlled by a hacker who will in turn be using your computer to send out more Trojans or viruses. This will eventually create an entire network of zombie computers, all at the mercy of the malicious hacker. These networks are called botnets.

If all of this sounds like something from a science fiction horror movie, don’t panic because there are steps you can take to protect yourself from becoming the victim of Win32.downloader.gen – or becoming the owner of a zombie computer. First of all, you should never even open an email from a sender that is unknown to you, and you should most definitely not download any attachments included in an email from an unknown sender either. Most spam messages will probably find their way directly to your junk email folder anyway, but don’t be fooled if one does slip through the net and make it to your inbox. If it doesn’t come from someone you know, if in the slightest bit of doubt, delete it.

Another thing to do is to make sure you have reputable – and up-to-date antivirus software installed on your computer as this will scan all of the files that you download, even ones from someone in your contact list. Furthermore, make sure your software and OS is up-to-date as well. This can be easily done using Personal Software Inspector from Secunia. If you do suspect that you’ve been infected with Win32.downloader.gen, you should download recommend antimalware software and run full system scan. Very often users say that their antivirus found the infection but can't remove Win32.downloader.gen, in such case please follow the removal instructions below. If you need help, leave a comment below. Good luck and be safe online!

Written by Michael Kaur, http://deletemalware.blogspot.com

Win32.downloader.gen removal instructions:

1. Download and run TDSSKiller. Press the button Start scan for the utility to start scanning.

2. Wait for the scan and disinfection process to be over. Then click Continue. Please reboot your computer after the disinfection is over.

3. Download recommended anti-malware software (direct download) and run a full system scan to remove the remnants of this virus from your computer.

Qvo6 Removal, How To Uninstall

2013-04-12T11:12:00.000-07:00

This page contains step by step removal instructions for the Qvo6 browser hijacker/adware. At first glance it may look like a typical browser hijacker and technically it is but I think we shouldn't forget the main goal of browser hijacking - advertising. It's not a secret that scammers hijack web browsers in order to promote their search engines or other services as well as display ads. In this day and age we are all used to advertising being part and parcel of our everyday lives but it’s not only billboards and TV advertising that aim to influence the things we buy as now even our computers are used to target us and try and tempt us to click and spend. So, browser hijacking is not only unethical practice but also potentially malicious.

Qvo6 is promoted mainly through software download websites and freeware. Once installed, this browser hijacker will make http://www.Qvo6.com your homepage. It will also come up when you open new tab. Searching directly from omnibox in Google Chrome or from address bar will load results from entirely different search engine search.globososo.com. If you will use Qvo6 custom search it will surprisingly redirect you to Google search engine.

You most probably know these adverts as pop-up boxes, and let’s be honest, most of us find them pretty annoying. Do you actually pay any attention to pop-ups or do you just close them instantly? However they must be effective in some way as they are increasingly used and show no signs of abating. So what is the point of browser hijacking and adware? Basically its function is to generate revenue for its creator or author and whilst adware alone does not do any damage to your computer.

The spyware, which is software that is intended to gather information about the way you use your computer; which websites you visit and so forth, is designed so that you don’t know it is there and it will be integrated with the adware. Qvo6 may track your web surfing habits, so I guess we can safely assume that it it's spyware at some point. At least it doesn't collect personally identifiable information.

So, as we can see, some of those innocent, if somewhat annoying, little pop-up adverts can have a dangerous side to them too. If software which has been designed to monitor and detect which websites we are visiting has been integrated in with the advert it will most likely to be used to then present us with advertising which is relevant to the sites that we are looking at. For example, if you often spend time looking at websites which sell lady’s shoes and clothing, you may well get advertising pop-ups that display female fashion. This means that that particular advert has software monitoring integrated and has therefore been noting which websites you have been recently viewing.

As well as some adware being spyware or privacy invasion software, it may also be what is called shareware (or trialware or demoware). This is software which is provided to the end user, i.e. you or me, for a trial period only. Shareware will normally only give us a ‘taster’ of the full package and will have limited functionality, and it will be provided with a view to getting us to then purchase the full package.

The difference between adware and other types of shareware is that it is mainly supported by the advertising function. We may even be offered the option of a ‘registered’ or ‘licensed’ version of the software that doesn’t feature any advertising – but of course this will come at a price! Some software does it in reverse however. For example some email clients have what is called an adware mode embedded in their programming. You will be able to use the email account with full functionality and able to access all the features for a trial period and when that has expired you’ll be offered a choice of whether to continue using it for free, but with less functions than before, or you can continue using it for free with all functions but with adverts or finally – and you can probably see this one coming! – you can either pay a fee to continue using your account with all of its functions and no adverts.

All in all, Qvo6 browser hijacker may come bundled with freeware and shareware. Read installation details very carefully and especially pay attention to such annoying "offers" as Qvo6.com. Some people find it really difficult to remove this infection from their computers mainly because of two reasons: it's not listed in Control Panel (not the exact name) and it also uses this really nasty trick to add additional line to web browsers' shortcuts forcing them to load the Qvo6 search page.

Without a doubt, this application has a malware behaviour. It downloads and installs additional applications in background without user knowledge. Some components are actually detected as either adware or even Trojan. Guys who created this software did all they could to protect the software from debugging and quick analysis. What is more, Qvo6 creates a new Windows service named eSafeSvc and starts it. Please note that they configure Windows registry so that this service and the pseudo search engines are loaded automatically when Windows starts.

To completely uninstall Qvo6 from your computer please use the guide below. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Comments and useful suggestions are welcome too. Simply leave a comment below. Good luck and be safe online!

Qvo6 removal instructions:

1. First of all, download recommended anti-malware software and run a full system scan. It will detect and remove this infection from your computer. You may then follow the manual removal instructions below to remove the leftover traces of this browser hijacker. Hopefully you won't have to do that.

2. Uninstall Qvo6 and related programs from your computer using the Add/Remove Programs control panel (Windows XP) or Uninstall a program control panel (Windows 7 and Windows 8).

Go to the Start Menu. Select Control Panel → Add/Remove Programs.
If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, select Control Panel → Uninstall a Program.

If you are using Windows 8, simply drag your mouse pointer to the right edge of the screen, select Search from the list and search for "control panel".

Or you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control panel from there.

3. When the Add/Remove Programs or the Uninstall a Program screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and remove eSave Security Control, Qvo6 toolbar, New Tabs Uninstall, Desk 365, BrowserProtect and any other recently installed application. As I said earlier, this application is rarely listed as Qvo6 in the currently installed programs list. So, either look for applications mentioned here or try to remember what software you installed recently. It's probably the culprit.

Simply select the application and click Remove. If you are using Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8, click Uninstall up near the top of that window. When you're done, please close the Control Panel screen.

Remove Qvo6 from Google Chrome:

1. Click on Customize and control Google Chrome icon. Select Settings.

2. Click Set pages under the On startup.

Remove Qvo6.com by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below.

3. Click Show Home button under Appearance. Then click Change.

Select Use the New Tab page and click OK to save changes.

4. Click Manager search engines button under Search.

Select Google or any other search engine you like from the list and make it your default search engine provider.

Select Qvo6 from the list and remove it by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below.

5. Right-click the Google Chrome shortcut you are using to open your web browser and select Properties.

6. Select Shortcut tab and remove "http://www.qvo6.com...." from the Target field and click OK to save changes. Basically, there should be only the path to Chrome executable file. Nothing more.

Remove Qvo6 from Mozilla Firefox:

1. Click on the Qvo6 search icon as shown in the image below and select Manage Search Engines....

2. Select Qvo6 from the list and click Remove to remove it. Click OK to save changes.

3. In the URL address bar, type about:config and hit Enter.

Click I'll be careful, I promise! to continue.

In the search filter at the top, type: Qvo6

Now, you should see all the preferences that were changed by Qvo6. Right-click on the preference and select Reset to restore default value. Reset all found preferences!

4. Right-click the Mozilla Firefox shortcut you are using to open your web browser and select Properties.

5. Select Shortcut tab and remove "http://www.qvo6.com...." from the Target field and click OK to save changes. Basically, there should be only the path to Firefox executable file.

Remove Qvo6 in Internet Explorer:

1. Open Internet Explorer. Go to Tools → Manage Add-ons.

2. Select Search Providers. First of all, choose Live Search search engine and make it your default web search provider (Set as default).

3. Select Qvo6 and click Remove to remove it. Close the window.

4. Right-click the Internet Explorer shortcut you are using to open your web browser and select Properties.

5. Select Shortcut tab and remove "http://www.qvo6.com...." from the Target field and click OK to save changes. Basically, there should be only the path to Internet Explorer executable file.

6. Finally, go to Tools → Internet Options and restore your home page to default. That's it!

XP Security Cleaner Pro Removal, How To Get Rid Of It Completely

2013-04-11T10:39:00.000-07:00

This page contains step by step removal instructions for the XP Security Cleaner Pro computer virus. These days scareware can still pose a very real and serious threat with victims suffering a great deal of upset and stress as a result. This particular scareware example belongs to infamous Rogue.FakeRean-Braviax malware family. It's not dead yet, cyber crooks register new domains, improve the rogue software and even offer affiliate system for those who would like to distribute this malware.

So what is XP Security Cleaner Pro, how can you tell if you’ve been affected by it and how can you protect yourself from falling prey to it?

XP Security Cleaner Pro is a cleverly designed scareware which has been designed to look just like real antivirus software. When the rogue AV is running on your computer, pop up boxes will start appearing on your screen, asking you if you like to have your computer scanned for viruses or telling you that it’s running slowly and needs cleaning.

It is distributed mostly through hacked websites and fake online virus scanners claiming that your computer is infected with spyware. Social engineering have an important role too.

Once your computer is infected with this malware, a fake Windows Security Center notification will pop up on your computer screen claiming that your antivirus software is turned off.

Then a GUI (a graphical user interface) will be launched and will show you a fake scanning procedure allegedly running through your system and finding so-called viruses. Once the false scan is ‘complete’ the software will normally tell you that your PC or laptop is riddled with viruses and has malicious software downloaded. It will then usually display a window asking you whether you want to continue using your computer without protection or if you would like the software to get rid of ‘the viruses’ for you. DO NOT pay for rogue antivirus products! Never.

Unfortunately, the majority of us will probably decide to get rid of all those nasty viruses that we now think are affecting our PC and we’ll click the corresponding button. Next we’ll be told that to do this we’ll need to pay for the service and be asked to enter our credit card details. Again, it's one thing when you have to pay for genuine security software that will remove found threats and protect your PC from other malware but XP Security Cleaner Pro virus is not one of them. So, once again, DO NOT pay for it.

Placing our faith in our new antivirus software friend, we’ll enter our credit card details and just like that we’ll not only be charged for having had our computer fake-scanned and absolutely no viruses or malware removed but we’ll also be leaving ourselves wide open to identity theft. And that’s not all: XP Security Cleaner Pro may also log how many keys we’re hitting on our keyboards, actually install further malicious software packages and viruses, corrupt documents and even steal our personal files - which naturally further exacerbates the identity theft issue. I've testes at least ten or maybe even more different variants of this rogue security program and what I've noticed is that it rarely comes separately from other malware, mostly rootkits and generic Trojans.
Just like any other fake AV out there, it displays fake security alerts to further scare you into believing that your computer is infected. Less computer savvy users can hardly see the diference because cyber crooks use well designed fake notifications that look like a real thing. Here are a few examples:

XP Security Cleaner Pro Firewall Alert
Chrome is infected with Trojan-BNK.Win32.Keylogger.gen.

Virus infection!
System Security was found to be compromised. Your computer is now infected. Attention, irreversible changes may occur. Private data may get stolen. Click here now for an instant anti-virus scan.

So how can we protect ourselves against rogue antiviruses and what do we need to look out for? One of the most important things you can do in the fight against fake AV is to already have reputable antivirus software running on your machine. If you don’t already have it installed, check online for honest providers of AV and download a suitable one. There are many free versions so you don’t even have to pay if you want a basic package. From my experience however, free antivirus program rarely protect from such infections. You should really consider purchasing a decent and reliable antimalware product.

Now you’ve got antivirus protection make sure you familiarize yourself with your provider’s name, their logo and also the way they design their pop-up boxes. If you do get a pop up box from a different company claiming that your system is slow or needs cleaning, it is very likely to be a rogue imposter. Another thing to set alarm bells ringing is credit card payment screens. If you’re using a genuine antivirus software company and your download is up to date or you’re on a basic free package, they will not be asking you to make payment for the basic function of scanning and cleaning your PC or laptop. The rule of thumb is to not enter your credit card or other personal information anywhere that you are not 100% sure is completely safe.

If you have entered your credit card number and have any kind of doubts about the company you’ve just paid, get in touch with your bank or credit card company as soon as possible and ask them to run through the transactions made on that day. However be aware that just because nothing else has been charged to your card yet, you are not completely safe and you should ask for a new card to be issued and then destroy your current one as the criminals behind the fraudulent software may have collected your details with a view to selling them on to a third party.

To get rid of XP Security Cleaner Pro and related malware please use the guide below. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Simply leave a comment below. Good luck and be safe online!

Written by Michael Kaur, http://deletemalware.blogspot.com

Method 1: XP Security Cleaner Pro removal using activation key:

1. Use any of the keys listed below to register this infection and stop the fake security alerts.

9443-077673-5028
3425-814615-3990
2233-298080-3424
1147-175591-6550

Just click the Registration button (top right corner of the fake scanner).

Select Manual Activation.

Enter XP Security Cleaner Pro activation key and then select Activate Now. Don't worry, this is completely legal. If the activation keys do not work anymore, please follow the alternate removal instructions below.

Once this is done, you are free to install recommended anti-malware software and run a full system scan to remove the rogue program from your computer completely.

2. Download recommended anti-malware software (direct download) and run a full system scan to remove this virus from your computer.

Method 2: XP Security Cleaner Pro removal instructions in Safe Mode with Networking:

1. Reboot your computer is "Safe Mode with Networking". As the computer is booting tap the "F8 key" continuously which should bring up the "Windows Advanced Options Menu" as shown below. Use your arrow keys to move to "Safe Mode with Networking" and press Enter key.

NOTE: Login as the same user you were previously logged in with in the normal Windows mode.

2. Open Internet Explorer. In the Address bar type: http://goo.gl/AXIrU (this is a download link for FixNCR.reg) and click hit Enter or click Go to download the file.

3. Save FixNCR.reg to your Desktop. Double-click on FixNCR.reg to run it. Click "Yes" for Registry Editor prompt window. Click OK.

4. Download recommended anti-malware software (direct download) and run a full system scan to remove this virus from your computer.

NOTE: don't forget to update anti-malware software before scanning your computer.

System Care Antivirus Removal, How To Uninstall

2013-04-10T07:28:00.000-07:00

This page contains step-by-step instructions on how to remove System Care Antivirus from your computer. System Care Antivirus is both an annoying issue and one that can have a far-reaching knock on effect – even going so far as to leave you financially out of pocket. It's yet another rogue security application from the Rogue.WinWebSec scareware family, currently being distributed through infected websites and spam.

How does it find its way onto your PC in the first place, how do you know if you've been affected – and most importantly; how do you prevent it from happening?

Rogue antivirus software, including this one, is normally extremely professional looking and to the untrained eye it is virtually impossible to distinguish between a legitimate version and a fake one. Unless you are familiar with scareware families or did some sort of investigation or research yourself. The criminals behind this fake AV are clever – in fact the industry is worth over a billion dollars per year! At least it was so profitable a fee years a ago. They design a graphical user interface (or GUI for short) that looks just like a genuine antivirus application and once this rogue version is running on your PC, the GUI is launched which in turn displays a bogus scanning procedure on your screen. However it is completely false and no scan will be occurring.

Once the fake scan has been ‘completed’, System Care Antivirus will then tell you that your PC is infected and that you have unwittingly installed malicious software or fallen victim to a virus. Usually it lists at least twenty supposedly detected infections on your computer ranging from low severity to extremely dangerous. What happens next is that the fake antivirus software will normally offer you two choices: one to clean your computer system for you, thus getting rid of the viruses or two it will ask if you want to continue using your computer without protection. Most of us will of course take the software up on its kind offer to remove the viruses. DO NOT pay for it!

So, not only are we now making payment and handing over our hard earned cash for something unnecessary that doesn’t actually exist, but we’re leaving ourselves wide open to identity theft, fraud and bank account hacking too. And it’s not just about the money and the ID, the fake antivirus application is often also able to log your key strokes, steal documents from your files, and actually do the one thing that it is claiming to assist with: it will infect your other files, your networks and even install more malicious malware. Very often this rogue AV program comes in the same package with trojan droppers and rootkits, for instance Sirefef.

So let’s just sum that up: you are paying for the privilege of letting supposed antivirus software install actual viruses onto your computer or laptop!

So how does System Care Antivirus find its way on to your PC? Well there are in fact a few different methods that the creators of rogue antiviruses use – all of them designed to catch you off guard and leave you none the wiser that you’re a victim. Firstly, it can come through your inbox. You see that attachment to an email or that link embedded into correspondence? Stop before you open it or click on it as it may be malicious. If you don’t know the sender it’s wise to ignore the mail, although having said that anyone can fall victim to viruses so there’s no guarantee that a friend isn’t unknowingly sending you an infected attachment.

Furthermore, this scareware may also be found and accidently downloaded via a social media site such as Twitter or Facebook, with a link taking you to a website that will automatically download the rogue AV on to your computer. The software can also be downloaded by malware (short for malicious or malevolent software) that is already present on the PC’s system. Although very unlikely, but this application may be downloaded from its official website hxxp://systemcare-antivirus.org. Once the software is on your system, pop up boxes will start appearing asking you if you want to scan and clean your computer.

Warning: Your computer is infected
Detected spyware infection! Click this message to install the last update of security software...

Spyware.IEMonster activity detected. This is spyware that attempts to steal passwords from Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Outlook and other programs.
Click here to remove it immediately with System Care Antivirus.

So what are the warning signs and when should you be on your guard? The first thing to do is to make sure you know what genuine antivirus software you already have installed on your computer: know its name, its logo and familiarise yourself with what its design looks like. That way if any other so-called antivirus software pops up on your screen you’ll know that it’s most probably fake. If you don’t already have antivirus software running on your system, you should take steps to protect yourself as soon as possible and download one from a reputable antivirus software manufacturer’s website.

These days thanks to identity theft becoming an increasing problem, fake AV’s can present a very real risk, so take steps to protect yourself, make sure you have antivirus software installed and that you know who your provider is.

If your computer is already infected, you will have to use recommend anti-malware software to remove System Care Antivirus virus and any other malware that could have been installed on your computer. Of course, the rogue application may be removed manually, but even if you are lucky enough to get rid of it manually, I still highly recommend scanning your computer with anti-malware software.

If you need help with remove this malware, please post your comment or question below. Good luck and be safe online!

Written by Michael Kaur, http://deletemalware.blogspot.com

Method 1: System Care Antivirus removal guide using activation key:

1. Open System Care Antivirus. Click the "Registration" button.

Enter the System Care Antivirus activation key given below and click "Activate" to activate the rogue antivirus program. Don't worry, this is completely legal since it's not genuine software.

AA39754E-715219CE

Once this is done, you are free to install recommended anti-malware software and remove System Care Antivirus from your computer.

2. Download recommended anti-malware software (direct download) and run a full system scan to remove this malware from your computer.

NOTE: if you can't run anti-malware software, rename the installer to iexplore.exe and try again.

Method 2: System Care Antivirus removal in Safe Mode with Networking:

1. Reboot your computer is "Safe Mode with Networking". As the computer is booting tap the "F8 key" continuously which should bring up the "Windows Advanced Options Menu" as shown below. Use your arrow keys to move to "Safe Mode with Networking" and press Enter key.

NOTE: Login as the same user you were previously logged in with in the normal Windows mode.

2. Download recommended anti-malware software (direct download) and run a full system scan to remove this malware from your computer.

NOTE: if you can't run anti-malware software, rename the installer to iexplore.exe and try again.

Method 3: System Care Antivirus manual removal guide:

1. First of all, go to your Desktop and right click the System Care Antivirus.lnk shortcut file and select Properties.

2. Select Shortcut tab. Find the location of System Care Antivirus executable file (target location). It should be a randomly named file. Simply click the Find Target button.

3. Browser to the executable file. Rename it, for instance to virus.exe. Restart Windows.

4. Download recommended anti-malware software (direct download) and run a full system scan to remove this malware from your computer.

NOTE: if you can't run anti-malware software, rename the installer to iexplore.exe and try again.

How to Remove Start Sweetpacks and Sweetpacks Toolbar

2013-04-09T11:52:00.000-07:00

Start sweetpacks (start.sweetpacks.com) is one of a few apps created SweetPacks Technologies Ltd. Some of them became quite popular, for instance SweetIM. The main goal if this company is to create apps that will hopefully enhance your web surfing experience. I really do wish them luck but at the same time I think that they need to improve certain aspects of their software. What I don't like is that people find it rather difficult to complete remove Start sweetpacks from their computers. What is more, some of the users that got "infected" (it's not technically a virus, maybe a browser hijacker at worst) wasn't even planning to install it in the first place. SweetPacks are very often bundled with freeware and advertised through really questionable sites, for example illegal download sites, etc. On the other hand, it's not entirely their fault. Advertising companies should watch where and how they serve ads more closely; otherwise it's a waste of money. Anyway, this post is not about advertising, so I won't go into details about those issues this time. This page contains step by step instructions on how to remove Start Sweetpacks from Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer.

When I installed SweetPacks on my computer, I got the following notification from Google Chrome. Not only this application changed my default search engine to start.sweetpacks.com instead of Google but also installed a web browser extension which apparently can "Access all data on your computer and the websites you visit".

By the way Start sweetpacks shows up each time you open a new tab. It doesn't just occupy your home page. In short, I was experiencing issues that were not present before. Searching directly from omnibox in Google Chrome or from address bar in other web browser redirects users to bing.com which isn't even their own search engine. So, they basically load their own homepage with ads and then loads results from Bing. It doesn't make sense at all. On the other hand, the point of adware from the developers perspective is to attempt to recover some of the costs of developing their software and in some cases it might enable the software to be given to the user for free or at a reduced rate. Any income that is attained from advertising to the user often means that the software developer is encouraged and motivated to continue with the development and maintenance of the software product, and to continue upgrading it.

Furthermore, it installs Sweetpacks toolbar to Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer. Perhaps that wouldn't be a problem at all if users could easily remove it. Yet again, they are facing some serious problems since it can't be removed though Control Panel. Everything has to be done manually. Like it or not, you will have to mess with all the preferences and browser settings if you want to use your web browser as you did before.

To remove Start sweetpacks and SweetPacks toolbar from your computer, please follow the removal instructions below. Questions and comments are welcome.

Written by Michael Kaur, http://deletemalware.blogspot.com

Start Sweetpacks removal instructions:

1. First of all, download recommended anti-malware software and run a full system scan. It will detect and remove this infection from your computer. You may then follow the manual removal instructions below to remove the leftover traces of this browser hijacker. Hopefully you won't have to do that.

2. Uninstall Start Sweetpacks from your computer using the Add/Remove Programs control panel (Windows XP) or Uninstall a program control panel (Windows 7 and Windows 8).

Go to the Start Menu. Select Control Panel → Add/Remove Programs.
If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, select Control Panel → Uninstall a Program.

If you are using Windows 8, simply drag your mouse pointer to the right edge of the screen, select Search from the list and search for "control panel".

Or you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control panel from there.

2. When the Add/Remove Programs or the Uninstall a Program screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and remove the following entries:

SweetPacks
SweetPacks Toolbar
Updater by Sweetpacks

Simply select each application and click Remove. If you are using Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8, click Uninstall up near the top of that window. When you're done, please close the Control Panel screen.

Remove Start Sweetpacks from Google Chrome:

1. Click on Customize and control Google Chrome icon. Go to Tools → Settings.

2. Click Set pages under the On startup.

Remove http://start.sweetpacks.com by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below. Click OK.

3. Click Show Home button under Appearance. Then click Change.

Select Use the New Tab page and click OK to save changes.

4. Click Manager search engines button under Search.

Select Google or any other search engine you like from the list and make it your default search engine provider.

Select start.sweetpacks.com from the list and remove it by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below.

5. Click on Customize and control Google Chrome icon. Go to Tools → Extensions.

6. Select Sweetpacks Chrome extension and Updater by Sweetpacks and click on the small recycle bin icon to remove the extension.

Remove Start Sweetpacks from Mozilla Firefox:

1. Open Mozilla Firefox. Go to Tools → Add-ons.

2. Select Extensions. Remove Sweetpacks toolbar for Firefox and Updater by Sweetpacks. Close the window.

3. Go to Tools → Options. Under the General tab reset the homepage or change it to google.com, etc.

4. In the URL address bar, type about:config and hit Enter.

Click I'll be careful, I promise! to continue.

In the search filter at the top, type: sweetpacks

Now, you should see all the preferences that were changed by Start Sweetpacks. Right-click on the preference and select Reset to restore default value. Reset all found preferences!

Remove Start Sweetpacks from in Internet Explorer:

1. Open Internet Explorer. Go to Tools → Manage Add-ons.

2. Select Toolbars and Extensions. Select Sweetpacks toolbar for Internet Explorer and Sweetpacks Browser Helper and click Disable/Remove.

2. Select Search Providers. First of all, choose Live Search search engine and make it your default web search provider (Set as default).

3. Select Start Sweetpacks and click Remove to remove it. Close the window.

4. Go to Tools → Internet Options. Select General tab and click Use default button or enter your own website, e.g. google.com instead of http://start.sweetpacks.com/. Click OK to save the changes.

Remove Optimizer Pro (Uninstall Guide)

2013-04-07T10:58:00.000-07:00

Optimizer Pro is a PC maintenance suite that promises to speed up your computer even if you got a brand new one. Basically, it's just another system optimization and clean up application that pushes features and tools which are very often available for free, for instance, removing Windows temporary files, clearing browsing history, etc. All these tasks can be done without buying a third party optimization software. Or you can always find free alternatives that do the same thing, have real depth and offer truly useful advice. It wouldn't even bother me but I got a few emails from my readers asking whether Optimizer Pro is a genuine application or not and how to remove it? One of my readers complained that this application comes up every time he loads up his computer. It then does a quick system scan and finds thousands of items that may slow his computer. But the worse part is that it can't be uninstall through Control Panel.

OK, so I spent a couple of hours testing this application on my test machine and what can I say... Well, it's somewhere between black hat and black hat. Not necessarily misleading or malicious but hardly useful at the same time. I like to keep on top of junk that lingers around my computer but honestly, Optimizer Pro won't improve performance much if at all. I mean it might help a little but it doesn't include tools that you won't find elsewhere. It is largely snake oil laced with the feel good factor for me. And I don't want to be harsh or anything, but honestly, most of the fixes aren't worth paying 30 bucks or more. Another thing that worries me is the way this application is advertised and distributed. It either comes bundled with freeware or using very misleading ads that honestly remind me those that were used by scammers pushing rogue security products. It's sad that such huge ad networks like Yahoo! and AppNexus allow these misleading ads show up on various websites, including very popular ones.

Oh well, such ethical issues are rarely taken seriously, so instead of complaining, let's return to the main question which is how to remove Optimizer Pro from your computer if it doesn't have a proper uninstaller? First of all, go through the list of currently installed applications and make sure it's not there. Order them by date installed and look for Optimizer Pro v3.0 or something similar. If you can't find anything, then it's either listed as a completely different application or it came bundled with software that you installed recently. Removing the culprit will likely remove the offending application as well.

Do you have something to say about dealing with Optimizer Pro? Post your comment or question below. Good luck and be safe online!

Written by Michael Kaur, http://deletemalware.blogspot.com

Optimizer Pro removal instructions:

1. First of all, download recommended anti-malware software and run a full system scan. It will detect and remove this infection from your computer. You may then follow the manual removal instructions below to remove the leftover traces of this browser hijacker. Hopefully you won't have to do that.

2. Uninstall Optimizer Pro from your computer using the Add/Remove Programs control panel (Windows XP) or Uninstall a program control panel (Windows 7 and Windows 8).

Go to the Start Menu. Select Control Panel → Add/Remove Programs.
If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, select Control Panel → Uninstall a Program.

If you are using Windows 8, simply drag your mouse pointer to the right edge of the screen, select Search from the list and search for "control panel".

Or you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control panel from there.

3. When the Add/Remove Programs or the Uninstall a Program screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and remove Optimizer Pro.

Simply select each application and click Remove. If you are using Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8, click Uninstall up near the top of that window. When you're done, please close the Control Panel screen.

If you can't remove it through Control Panel, then you will have to remove it manually.

C:\Program files\Optimizer Pro\
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start menu\Programs\Optimizer Pro\

Remove Mixi Dj Claro Search – mixidj.claro-search.com Removal Instructions

2013-04-05T12:38:00.000-07:00

Mixi Dj Claro Search is a rather common type of online attack in which scammers change the configuration of your web browser to go to mixidj.claro-search.com and also add Mixi DJ search toolbar. A browser hijacker, by itself, is harmless. One thing is certain, however, recovering from mixidj.claro-search.com can be one of the most difficult problems to solve. Why? Because it comes bundled with other software, changes way too many web browser settings, makes Internet access difficult and all this constitute a genuine threat to protection against invasion of privacy. In other words, it changes what and how is displayed when you're surfing the web. It even changes the way you interactive with your web browser, Google Chrome, Firefox or any other web browser. It doesn't matter. It can't be easily uninstalled through Control Panel either.

So, all these nuisances and possible privacy threats encouraged me to write this removal guide. Personally, I don't think that authors of this search engine and toolbar can't make a proper uninstaller. It's not so difficult after all. They do this on purpose. At the moment, their uninstall removes MixiDJ Toolbar only and leaves Mix Dj Claro Search unaffected. Users have to remove the remnants themselves but since not everyone is computer savvy enough to deal with web browser preferences and Windows registry, modifications can remain for months if not years. Needles to say, this is the main goal of scammers. They have plenty of time to promote other products that are sometimes misleading or even harmful. OK, so you may ask, how do I remove mixidj.claro-search.com once I've determined I have it? Simply follow the removal instructions below. I've made this removal guide as detailed as possible but if you still have problems removing Mixi Dj Claro Search from your computer, please leave a comment below. I will gladly help you. Good luck and be safe online!

Written by Michael Kaur, http://deletemalware.blogspot.com

mixidj.claro-search.com removal instructions:

1. First of all, download recommended anti-malware software and run a full system scan. It will detect and remove this infection from your computer. You may then follow the manual removal instructions below to remove the leftover traces of this browser hijacker. Hopefully you won't have to do that.

2. Remove MixiDJ Toolbar from your computer using the Add/Remove Programs control panel (Windows XP) or Uninstall a program control panel (Windows 7 and Windows 8).

Go to the Start Menu. Select Control Panel → Add/Remove Programs.
If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, select Control Panel → Uninstall a Program.

If you are using Windows 8, simply drag your mouse pointer to the right edge of the screen, select Search from the list and search for "control panel".

Or you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control panel from there.

3. When the Add/Remove Programs or the Uninstall a Program screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and remove the following entries:

MixiDj
MixiDJ Toolbar
MixiDJ Toolbar for Chrome
BrowserProtect

Remove mixidj.claro-search.com from Google Chrome:

1. Click on Customize and control Google Chrome icon. Go to Tools → Settings.

2. Click Set pages under the On startup.

Remove mixidj.claro-search.com by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below. Click OK.

3. Click Show Home button under Appearance. Then click Change.

Select Use the New Tab page and click OK to save changes.

4. Click Manager search engines button under Search.

Select Google or any other search engine you like from the list and make it your default search engine provider.

Select Mixi.DJ Search from the list and remove it by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below.

Remove mixidj.claro-search.com from Mozilla Firefox:

1. Click on the Mixi.DJ Search search icon as shown in the image below and select Manage Search Engines....

2. Choose Mixi.DJ Search from the list and click Remove to remove it. Click OK to save changes.

3. Go to Tools → Options. Under the General tab reset the startup homepage or change it to google.com, etc.

4. In the URL address bar, type about:config and hit Enter.

Click I'll be careful, I promise! to continue.

In the search filter at the top, type: mixi

Now, you should see all the preferences that were changed by Mixi.DJ Search. Right-click on the preference and select Reset to restore default value. Reset all found preferences!

Remove mixidj.claro-search.com from in Internet Explorer:

1. Open Internet Explorer. Go to Tools → Manage Add-ons.

2. Select Search Providers. First of all, choose Live Search search engine and make it your default web search provider (Set as default).

3. Select Mixi.DJ Search and click Remove to remove it. Close the window.

4. Go to Tools → Internet Options. Select General tab and click Use default button or enter your own website, e.g. google.com instead of mixidj.claro-search.com. Click OK to save the changes.

Remove Sirefef.gen!C and associated malware

2013-04-05T08:30:00.001-07:00

Sirefef.gen!C is a generic detection of the Sirefef rootkit which can steal passwords and other sensitive information. Imagine if there was someone who was watching every move you made on your computer. Someone who knew exactly which websites you were looking at, knew the content of all your files and documents and who had access to your passwords, user names and log in information. Sounds like something out of George Orwell’s famous novel 1984 where Big Brother was the all seeing eye that knew everything about everybody doesn’t it? But in actual fact it can be a reality for anyone who is unfortunate enough to have been hacked by someone using this rootkit.

So what is a rootkit? If you haven’t heard of this term before, it is certainly something to know a little more about so that you can protect yourself from one of the most serious computer crimes currently around. The clue to what a rootkit is and does is in the name: in the simplest terms this is a set – or a kit – of processor utilities and tools that enables someone to monitor and maintain the files and activity on your PC at its most root core. Sirefef.gen!C is even more sophisticated. It has various modules that can load popup ads on your computer and redirect your browser to malicious or spammy websites.

And the worse thing about a rootkit is that it is almost completely undetectable. I mean without using anti-rookit and anti-malware software. Sounds scary but in actuality a rootkit cannot be described simply as malware (i.e. malicious software) as it can be used for rather more innocent purposes as well as for hacking. For example an employer, concerned parents or a law enforcement agency could use a rootkit to monitor its workforce, children or suspected criminals. The ethics of this may be debated but where rootkits really garner attention is when they are used in illegal or suspect activity.

But first things first, how does the Sirefef.gen!C end up on your computer? Well, it can be installed by a virus or a Trojan – a piece of malicious software which has been disguised as a normal application. In this case, it's named TrojanDropper:Win32/Sirefef.gen!C. As its name suggests, this dropper Trojan installs Win32/Sirefef.gen!C virus on the affected machine. You may have clicked on a link in an email from an unknown sender or opened an infected file or email attachment; any of these could have been designed to install a rootkit on your PC or laptop.

So what can a hacker who has installed this rootkit on your computer do? Well, they pretty much have access to anything and everything that you have saved and can see everything that you do. Once a rootkit is installed on your computer the hacker will have access to all of your information and can use this to spread throughout your network collecting different passwords and user names to create new personas for him or herself. This is called creating a DoS – a Denial of Services and means that they can then target and attack other computers remotely via yours, without the target knowing their identity.

The hacker will enter your computer system using ‘back door entry’ which basically means that it’s undetectable. They will also alter and change the log files and administrator tools to further avoid detection, making it very difficult to know that someone other than you, or other authorized users has been in your system.

So how do you know if you have been hacked and someone has installed a rootkit on your computer’s system? Unfortunately it is not that easy to tell however if you’ve spotted some unusual activity such as popups and Chrome redirects, ports that you didn’t open suddenly appearing or other bizarre behavior then you may well have been hacked.

And although it is also equally difficult to avoid being the victim of a rootkit, there are steps that you can take to try and do your best to prevent it from happening. Make sure you have reputable antivirus and security software installed on your PC or laptop and make sure that the version and patches are always up to date. Remember never to click on any link or open an attachment in an email from a sender that you do not know or trust.

Finally, if you do suspect that you have had Sirefef.gen!C rootkit installed on your computer, I recommend following the removal instructions below. While it's a rather sophisticated malware it can be removed in a few minutes if you know the right tools and how to use them. I'm afraid manual removal is almost impossible unless you are a computer genius. So, don't waste your time and if you want to remove Sirefef.gen!C virus completely, follow the step in the removal guide below. Yes, it’s a pain, but at least you know that you know that you are not being monitored by someone with malicious intentions. And one ore thing, if one or more of your accounts have been hacked, change your passwords immediatily. Please read my post about strong passwords.

Written by Michael Kaur, http://deletemalware.blogspot.com

Sirefef.gen!C virus removal instructions:

1. Download and run TDSSKiller. Press the button Start scan for the utility to start scanning.

2. Wait for the scan and disinfection process to be over. Then click Continue. Please reboot your computer after the disinfection is over.

3. Download recommended anti-malware software (direct download) and run a full system scan to remove the remnants of this virus from your computer.

FBI Cybercrime Division Ransomware Virus Removal – How To Detect and Defeat This Infection

2013-04-03T08:58:00.000-07:00

FBI Cybercrime Division (International Cyber Security Protection Alliance) is a ransomware infection from the Reveton malware family. This particular warning is also being used by another Trojan ransomware family called Urausy. If I remember correctly, Urausy gang used this police themed warning first, so Reveton pretty much copied it or perhaps both malware families are controlled by the same group of cyber crooks, though, I don't think this is the case. By the way, Urausy allows two payment methods, Green dot MoneyPak and MoneyGram. Reveton allows MoneyPak only.

We all know about computer viruses and while they are indeed a huge nuisance there is actually an even bigger reason to be worried about the information we have on our PC's and laptops. You may or may not have heard of 'ransomware' – or as it can also be known: Trojan ransom, cryptotrojans and scareware. None of them sound particularly friendly and that's because they're not!

So what is FBI Cybercrime Division ransomware virus, how does it worm its way onto our computers and how can we fix the problem if we are unlucky enough to become a victim of this virus?

Ransomware is pretty much as the title suggests: it infects your computer then holds your files ransom and asks for money to release them. Unlike regular computer viruses, ransomware is known as a 'drive-by' virus, which means that instead of it installing its malicious software on your PC when you click on an infected email attachment or file, it can be installed simply by you having visited a website that has been compromised. Of course, I'm not saying that 'drive-by' downloads are responsible for all infections and indeed this virus may be distributed via spam or infected websites, it's just from what I've seen so far, 'drive-by' downloads are in a leading role.

There are two basic forms of ransomware; as mentioned the one above which will encrypt your files and documents and then demand payment for providing the decryption code or key. The other is, if anything, even more sinister as it pretends to have originated from the police. Known as police themed ransomware, depending on your home country, you may be held to ransom by criminal hackers pretending to be the FBI, the UK's Metropolitan Police Force or another similar organization across Russia or Europe. Since I live in the United States, the infection takes my IP address and loads the FBI. Cybercrime Division warning. But if let's say you live in Europe, UK then you will probably see the United Kingdom Police themed worning, either Police Central e-crime Unit or Metropolitan Police.

In fact ransomware and this form of online extortion was believed to have originated in Russia but it soon spread to other parts of the world with some criminal groups believed to be making as much as $54,000 in US dollars in a single day. It's big business! And like any lucrative way of making easy money, the problem is not going to go away; if anything hackers are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their attempts to part you with your hard earned cash. Let's take a closer look at police-themed ransomware. Imagine you're sitting at home innocently reading the news online or browsing eBay when suddenly your computer freezes and a page pops up, purportedly from the FBI or the national police force in your country, telling you that you have been caught viewing under age porn or illegally downloading software, music, movies or your favourite TV show.

Of course, you panic – this is the Federal Bureau of Investigation as far as you're aware – and when they show you a list of penalties for your 'crime' and tell you that by paying a fine you will not have criminal charges pressed against you (and your computer will be unfrozen) then the temptation to freak out and pay up can be overwhelming. FBI Cybercrime Division virus even has the ability to turn on your laptop's webcam and will snap your picture and display it on your screen in an attempt to further enforce the illusion that you are being watched or recorded. Pretty terrifying stuff!

And of course, if you don't pay, then what? You fight the FBI to clear your name? After all, you've never downloaded anything illegal or watched illegal adult material. But how does one go about doing such a thing – and anyway, what about your computer and all of your files which are now frozen and completely inaccessible?

Ransomware certainly preys on our vulnerability, whether we're convinced we're completely innocent or are now panicking about that illegal download of the latest Hollywood blockbuster but the key thing to remember is that both the FBI in the United States and the Metropolitan Police Force in the UK have stated that they would never ask citizens to pay to unlock their PC, decrypt their files or pay an online penalty in this fashion.

So what should you do if this happens to you and your computer suddenly locks and you receive a message or a pop up page that is supposedly from a law enforcement agency saying "Your computer has been locked"? Unfortunately malicious software of this type is typically rather difficult for the regular home PC user to remove from their machine but I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to remove FBI Cybercrime Division virus, so hopefully you will be able to fix it yourself. Please note that, this ransomware infection is not the same for everyone. What works for you, may not work for other user and vice versa.

The other crucial thing to remember is to regularly back-up your files – malware of this nature can not only encrypt your files - sometimes beyond redemption - but can steal them too. Make backing up something you do on a regular basis and do everything you can in the fight against police-themed ransomware. And of course, use decent antivirus software and make sure it's always updated.

To remove this ransomware virus from your computer, please follow the removal instructions below. Do you have something to say about dealing with ransomware? Post your comment or question below.

Written by Michael Kaur, http://deletemalware.blogspot.com

FBI Cybercrime Division virus removal instructions using System Restore in Safe Mode with Command Prompt:

1. Reboot your computer in "Safe Mode with Command Prompt". As the computer is booting tap the "F8 key" continuously which should bring up the "Windows Advanced Options Menu" as shown below. Use your arrow keys to move to "Safe Mode with Command Prompt" and press Enter key.

2. Make sure you log in to an account with administrative privileges (login as admin).

3. Once the Command Prompt appears you have few seconds to type in explorer and hit Enter. If you fail to do it within 2-3 seconds, the ransomware virus will take over and will not let you type anymore.

4. If you managed to bring up Windows Explorer you can now browse into:

Win XP: C:\windows\system32\restore\rstrui.exe and press Enter
Win Vista/Seven/8: C:\windows\system32\rstrui.exe and press Enter

5. Follow the steps to restore your computer (select date when your computer was clean).

6. Download recommended anti-malware software (direct download) and run a full system scan to remove the FBI Cybercrime Division International Cyber Security Protection Alliance virus from your computer.

False Positive: Ikarus and Comodo detecting TDSSKiller as a Trojan horse

2013-03-30T05:19:00.000-07:00

This awkward moment when you realize that your favorite rootkit removal utility is detected as malware. I probably wouldn't even have noticed, but I got an email from my reader Matt who apparently has been been having some problems with malicious software lately. He said, that TDSSKiller (the tool I like a lot and usually recommend to my readers) is actually a Trojan horse. Obviously, this can't be true, so I though maybe he downloaded an infected TDSSKiller variant from some naughty site, so that would explain everything. He then quickly replied to me that he downloaded TDSSKiller from Kaspersky's site and that's clearly not the case. Comodo antivirus blocked the file when Matt executed it. I had to see it for myself, so I downloaded TDSSKiller on my computer and then uploaded it to VirusTotal. Surprise, surprise, it's indeed a Trojan with detection ratio: 2/46. Since I was too lazy to install Comodo and Ikarus, I decided to use Hitman Pro. It uses Ikarus antivirus engine, so it should detect TDSSKiller. Yep, we have a false positive here. Matt was right.

Tdsskiller.exe was detected as Trojan.Crypt by Ikarus antivirus. Comodo detected it as Packed.Win32.MUPX.Gen. Software packaging issues or something like that I guess.

However, I can assure you guys that TDSSKiller is a genuine and safe utility. It's a false positive and it's just a matter of time when the issue will be resolved. So, don't worry. The funny think is, though, tdsskiller.exe has a valid certificate, just like it should be, signed by COMODO.

Yeah, COMODO, the one that detects it as Packed.Win32.MUPX.Gen a the moment. Well, what can I say, this is not the first time when antivirus companies are flagging each others tools as dangerous :) Unfortunately, such things happen from time to time.

Remove Price Peep (Uninstall Guide)

2013-03-28T08:53:00.000-07:00

Price Peep is a web browser add-on which injects ads into the web pages you visit. Sometimes ads are highly targeted and sometimes they are rather random. It shouldn't be hard to guess that they collect and analyze information about your browsing activity. For example, if you recently searched for laptops, it's very possible that you will see burning laptop deal ads from various online stores, including Amazon and many other well known companies. Of course, there are also many not so well known companies that are happy to pay for possible customers. Technically, it's not malware, nor it is a virus as some of you may think. However, I agree, it's a potentially unwanted application/adware. It's up to you to decide whether you want to keep it or not. Personally, I hate pop-ups ads, so would definitely uninstall it. Besides, I don't feel comfortable knowing that some app is collecting information about my browsing activity.

It's probably happened to most of us and just a quick search in Google will turn up dozens of forums of bewildered and frustrated PC users asking how and why 'such and such' an add-on has all of a sudden appeared on their computer. Whether it's a Price Peep extension or some sort of browser hijacker, these potentially unwanted applications are usually just that – unwanted and seemingly uninstalled by you, so how did they get there?

Tempting as it is to immediately lay the blame at the door of our anti-virus software, it's not actually its fault, because whilst PUA's are annoying they're actually also incredibly sneaky. Think back to when you first started seeing ads you've never seen before. Chances are you downloaded some software right beforehand.

This is how potentially unwanted programs, including PricePeep, work; whilst occasionally they might take the form of a pop-up on an online shopping website and will try and direct you to a certain seller, shop or amazing special offer, they are most often to be found lurking in the background of software downloads.

As strange as it may seem some of the most well-known names in internet software do try and sneak the odd PUA or two past us! We all trust, and many of us use, Adobe Reader, Java, Flash Player and Foxit Reader but in fact if you install or update one of these on your PC you're likely to have some unwanted add-on foisted upon you too.

You know when you download something and it shows window after window and has you clicking on button after button saying 'Next' or 'Continue'? This is precisely when you're liable to end up with something unwanted on your computer. Normally the PUA will be briefly mentioned and will have a tick or check box next to it – for example 'We recommend installing some toolbar' – however the check box – and here's the catch – will have already been ticked.

Occasionally some potentially unwanted applications will be completely hidden and have no warning whatsoever but thankfully this is not a common occurrence.

Well, yes, generally speaking it is, particularly when you take into consideration that the companies concerned hope that you will blame your anti-virus for being defective and letting something slip through the net, but if questioned they will tell us 'we should have read the small print' or 'should have paid more attention' – and to be perfectly honest, they do have a point.

The problem is, and most of us are probably guilty of it – in fact if we've ever had an unwanted home page, search engine or tool bar installed, then we're definitely guilty of it – installing software is not the most interesting of computer-based tasks. I for one have installed or updated plenty of software on my laptop and sat there glassy eyed clicking 'Next', 'Next', 'Next' only to then be outraged when a search engine I've never seen before suddenly appears in the right hand corner of my screen asking me what I want to look for!

If there's one semi-silver lining to the Price Peep cloud it's that this application is not normally malicious or virus causing, however it has often been added to gain unauthorized access or to monitor the sites you visit and your computer usage. Which in itself isn't particularly appealing. However, some PUA's can actually be useful if you know how to use them, for example a system administrator in a corporate environment (who probably pays much more attention to these things than your average home user!) may choose to install certain remote administration tools, FTP servers or port scanners – hence the use of the word 'potentially' in the title.

If you're not a system administrator though and the sight of your beloved Google or Firefox browser being replaced by some search engine imposter or your computer screen is covered with ads there really is only one thing to do: slow down when you're downloading software, don't just unthinkingly click 'Next!' in every window, but stop to take a moment and see exactly what you are installing along with your chosen software.

To remove Price Peep pop ups from your computer, please follow the removal instructions below. I've already tried uninstalling it from Control Panel but you are still stuck with Price Peep, then scan your computer with recommend anti-malware software and make sure all the web browser extensions are gone. You may even have to uninstall recently install software because sometimes, this PUA comes bundled with other software.

Do you have any additional information or questions on this adware? Post your comment or question below. Good luck and be safe online!

Written by Michael Kaur, http://deletemalware.blogspot.com

Price Peep removal instructions:

1. First of all, download recommended anti-malware software and run a full system scan. It will detect and remove this infection from your computer. You may then follow the manual removal instructions below to remove the leftover traces of this browser hijacker. Hopefully you won't have to do that.

2. Uninstall Price Peep application from your computer using the Add/Remove Programs control panel (Windows XP) or Uninstall a program control panel (Windows 7 and Windows 8).

Go to the Start Menu. Select Control Panel → Add/Remove Programs.
If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, select Control Panel → Uninstall a Program.

If you are using Windows 8, simply drag your mouse pointer to the right edge of the screen, select Search from the list and search for "control panel".

Or you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control panel from there.

3. When the Add/Remove Programs or the Uninstall a Program screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and remove the Price Peep application and other applications you have recently installed.

Simply the application and click Remove. If you are using Windows Vista, Windows7 or Windows 8, click Uninstall up near the top of that window. When you're done, please close the Control Panel screen.

Remove Price Peep from Google Chrome:

1. Click on Chrome menu button. Go to Tools → Extensions.

2. Click on the trashcan icon to remove the Price Peep Chrome extension:

Remove Price Peep from Mozilla Firefox:

1. Open Mozilla Firefox. Go to Tools → Add-ons.

2. Select Extensions. Click Remove button to uninstall Price Peep Firefox extension. If you can't find the Remove button, then simply click on the Disable button.

Remove Price Peep from Internet Explorer:

1. Open Internet Explorer. Go to Tools → Manage Add-ons. If you have the latest version, simply click on the Settings button.

2. Select Toolbars and Extensions. Click Remove/Disable button to remove Price Peep from Internet Explorer.

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Remove Solid Savings (Uninstall Guide)

2013-03-27T12:55:00.000-07:00

You know how annoying it is when you're used to using Google Chrome as your chosen browser, you're happy with your choice of home page when you log on to your PC or laptop and you're more than happy with the way your toolbar functions and then suddenly – boom – seemingly out of nowhere you have a whole host of new Solid Savings pop-ups and ads littering up your screen?

Unless you're one of the (very) lucky ones it's probably happened to you at some point. It's certainly happened to me and it's both annoying and somewhat bewildering. What are these and toolbars and browser helper objects – and perhaps more importantly – where on Earth did they come from?

Like me you've probably been somewhat taken aback to suddenly find that Google Chrome is no longer your search engine of choice or that you simply do not understand what the devil is going on with that weird little coupon popups that you've never seen before, and more disconcertingly, you wonder if you're going mad because as far as you know, you sure didn't log on to your laptop late last night after a few drinks thinking it was a good thing to install them!

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the PUA's or the PUP's – or for those who like to know what their acronyms actually mean, the Potentially Unwanted Applications or Potentially Unwanted Programs. Solid Savings by 215 apps web browser extenions is one of these. You may also have heard the term foistware used to describe them and in fact all three terms do explain the situation rather neatly. Basically you have had something - an application or a program - installed on your computer that you potentially do not want. In other words it has been 'foisted' upon you.

Click to Continue > by Solid Savings

Sounds rather ominous doesn't it? Well the good news is that on the whole Potentially Unwanted Applications are usually harmless i.e. they're not normally bugs or malicious viruses; however that doesn't mean that they're not annoying! On the other hand, Solid Savings Chrome extension and browser add-ons for web browsers can be easily classified as adware. Let's face it: you've chosen to use Google or Mozilla Firefox as your browser, you may have chosen your personal website as your go-to home page and you sure as hell liked your tool bar that you've spent the last goodness knows how many years using without any problems - and why shouldn't you?! Not to mention all those annoying popups you see visiting online stores.

So, to answer the sixty million dollar question; what are these Potentially Unwanted Programs and how and why do these uninvited PUP's appear on your laptop, PC or tablet all of a sudden, especially when you have an anti-virus installed.

The thing here is to not start blaming your anti-virus; it's not its fault. In fact to be honest the only one at blame is you. Or me. All of us! We let these PUA's invade our computers, but to be fair, they are incredibly sneaky.

Solid Savings pop up on certain shopping sites and aim to direct you towards a particular shop, vendor or special offer but the majority of them 'tag along' with software downloads. Think back to when you first noticed that ugly little search box sitting in the corner of your screen begging you to use it, or to when no matter how many times you tried to search for something with Google or Firefox your PC kept reverting back to some other hitherto unseen browser. Now think back and remember if you'd downloaded something just before that. Chances are you probably did.

Well, don't we all! But actually it might surprise you to learn that many of the trusted names in software do actually 'foist' unwanted applications or programs on to us. Or at least they try to. We all know and trust Skype, Adobe Reader, Flash Player and Foxit Reader right? Well in fact they are just some of the well-known names that use PUP’s, PUA’s, Foistware – whatever you want to call them.

What happens is that when you download, let's say, the latest version of Adobe Reader from non-official website how it works is that a Potentially Unwanted Program will be surreptitiously lurking in the background, be it a new tool bar, browser or home page. Have you ever noticed that when you're downloading something you need to click on seemingly endless 'Next' or 'Continue' buttons which take you to new windows? Hidden in some of these windows will be text saying something along the lines of 'Install This Really Annoying New Tool Bar or some other web browser add-on' – now normally you wouldn't want to install a really annoying new tool bar when you're perfectly happy with the one you've already got, but what if this box was already pre-ticked and you didn't notice…?

Well, sorry to break it to you but there is only one way; the next time you download something stop and read the small print and be sure to un-check anything that you don't actually want to install.

So, as I said, Solid Savings is adware, it collects certain information about you and your browsing habits, including search terms, think you are looking for and then sends all this information to third party ad network. The ad network then send a response instantly with possible deals to this app. This is how it works. Huge privacy issues in my opinion. That's why I recommend you to remove Solid Savings from your computer. If you can't uninstall or don't know if you removed it properly, please follow the removal instructions below.

As always, post your comment or question below. Good luck and be safe online!

Written by Michael Kaur, http://deletemalware.blogspot.com

Solid Savings removal instructions:

1. First of all, download recommended anti-malware software and run a full system scan. It will detect and remove this infection from your computer. You may then follow the manual removal instructions below to remove the leftover traces of this browser hijacker. Hopefully you won't have to do that.

2. Uninstall Solid Savings application from your computer using the Add/Remove Programs control panel (Windows XP) or Uninstall a program control panel (Windows 7 and Windows 8).

Go to the Start Menu. Select Control Panel → Add/Remove Programs.
If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, select Control Panel → Uninstall a Program.

If you are using Windows 8, simply drag your mouse pointer to the right edge of the screen, select Search from the list and search for "control panel".

Or you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control panel from there.

3. When the Add/Remove Programs or the Uninstall a Program screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and remove the Solid Savings application and other applications you have recently installed.

Simply the application and click Remove. If you are using Windows Vista, Windows7 or Windows 8, click Uninstall up near the top of that window. When you're done, please close the Control Panel screen.

Remove Solid Savings from Google Chrome:

1. Click on Chrome menu button. Go to Tools → Extensions.

2. Click on the trashcan icon to remove the Solid Savings Chrome extension:

Remove Solid Savings from Mozilla Firefox:

1. Open Mozilla Firefox. Go to Tools → Add-ons.

2. Select Extensions. Click Remove button to uninstall Solid Savings Firefox extension. If you can't find the Remove button, then simply click on the Disable button.

Remove Solid Savings from Internet Explorer:

1. Open Internet Explorer. Go to Tools → Manage Add-ons. If you have the latest version, simply click on the Settings button.

2. Select Toolbars and Extensions. Click Remove/Disable button to remove Solid Savings from Internet Explorer.

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