Spoof Favorites

[Wells Fargo]

I have a pc here that has at least 50 'advertising' links in the
Favorites. They were put there by spyware no doubt. The pc has now
been thoroughly cleaned.

However, you can't right-click these links and delete and they are not
in the Favorites folder! Neither are they 'hidden'. It's a real
mystery!!

It's very clever, I'll admit, but anyone know how to remove them and
what's the source?

TIA

 

[Wesley Vogel]

The pc has now been thoroughly cleaned.

Or not.

You do not have to be able to right click the items to delete them.

Try this...
Start | Run | Type: favorites | Click OK |
Highlight however many items and hit the Delete key.
Or to delete by bypassing the Recycle Bin hit Shift + Delete.

By opening the Favorites folder instead of IE and Favorites you can
highlight the items and get rid of them.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[The Print Guy]

If you can do a search on your PC for them, you should be able to locate
what folder they are in. Make sure that you have your Search options set
to search hidden files and folders. Once you've located them, you
should be able to right click then modify the properties so that they
aren't "read only" if that's the case.

Also, you should try Microsoft Anti-Spyware. It is very good at
finding stuff like that. And if all else fails you can either
restage your PC or use a different browser (like Firefox)

 

[Wells Fargo]

No, you don't understand. They are not 'real' favorites', and are NOT
in the favorites folder! They neither show up on any search!

Although they look like real favorites in IE, only genuine ones show
up and can be deleted; these can't!

As I said, this is really strange. I've run at least 4 spyware
programmes and updated anti-virus. Nothing picks this up.

It's very strange...

 

[Wesley Vogel]

No, I do not understand.

50 advertising links in Favorites.
They do not show up in the Favorites folder.
are NOTin the favorites folder!
Neither are they 'hidden'.
They neither show up on any search!

Then how/where do you see them?

Open IE | Alt + A ?


--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Wells Fargo]

When you open IE and click on Favorites, all the links drop down as
normal. BUT the spoof ones are mixed in with the genuine ones. The
genuine ones are normal and can be deleted and moved, and are in the
favorites folder. The spoofs cannot be deleted, moved or anything else
and are NOT in the favorites folder! But they appear as normal links.

I know, it's damn hard to visualize but I've never seen anything like
it before either.

 

[Jim]

Are the files in C:\Documents and Settings\~your account~\Favorites?

 

[Wesley Vogel]

First, clean out *ALL* of your Temporary Internet Files.

To delete *all* Temporary Internet Files...

1) Start | Run | Type: inetcpl.cpl | OK
Or right click the Internet Explorer icon on your Desktop.
Or: Start | Settings | Control Panel | Internet Options.
Best to do this with all instances of Internet Explorer closed. Especially
if there are a large number of files.
2) On the General Tab, in the middle of the screen, click on Delete Files
3) Check the box Delete all offline content {This cleans >>
%homepath%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files
AND
%homepath%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5
and \Content.MSO (Created by an MS Office program)}
4) Click on OK and wait for the hourglass icon to stop after it deletes the
temporary internet files
5) You can now click on Delete Cookies and click OK to delete cookies that
websites have placed on your hard drive.

You failed to mention what antispyware application(s) you have run.

If you need a scan right now.

Follow the instructions!
THE PARASITE FIGHT QUICK FIX PROTOCOL
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.php

Download, install, run, update and run again; one or all. They are all
good, FREE utilities. Make sure you update every program, even if you
just downloaded it. You must have the latest updates. Without updates,
you have a gun without ammo. You also need to use more than one
anti scumware program. One program will *not* catch everything.

1) CWShredder ver. 1.59 direct download:
http://www.merijn.org/files/cwshredder.zip

1a) CWShredder ver. 2.13 direct download:
http://www.aumha.org/downloads/cwshredder.zip

2) SpywareBlaster
[[SpywareBlaster doesn't scan and clean for spyware - it prevents it from
ever being installed.
The most important step you can take is to secure your system. And
SpywareBlaster is the most powerful protection program available.]]
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

3) Spybot S & D (More for the advanced user)
http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?lang=en&page=download

4) HijackThis (More for the advanced user)
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html

4a) HijackThis (direct download)
http://aumha.org/downloads/hijackthis.zip

5) Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner v1.13
http://www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner/index.html?source=appvisit

6) ToolbarCop
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/toolbarcop.htm

7) Ad-aware SE Personal
http://www.lavasoft.de/support/download/

HijackThis log tutorial
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/htlogtutorial.html

HijackThis Log Tutorial
http://www.aumha.org/a/hjttutor.htm

How to use HijackThis to remove Browser Hijackers & Spyware
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?showtutorial=42#warning

How To Install Spybot Search and Destroy & a brief tutorial
http://tomcoyote.com/SPYBOT/index1.php

Spybot More Help
http://tomcoyote.org/SPYBOT/index2.php

HOW TO: Reconfigure Ad-aware for a Full Scan
http://forum.aumha.org/viewtopic.php?t=5877

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Guest]

Dear Wells Fargo, i has the same problem as well, do you come up with any
idea to solve the problem yet ? if you do, please show me how to get rid all
that ad in my farorites. Thank you.