Tool Bar Problem

[Stewie]

Hello all,

my tool bar all the sudden has this search web bar. I
can remove it by right click -> 'Tool Bar' and
uncheck 'search assistant'. I already ran spybot to
destroy some of the spyware but everytime I restart, the
Search bar is still on my tool bar. I don't know what to
do. Please Help.

 

[Michael D. Alligood]

This behavior is associated with spyware programs and viruses. Anti-virus
software and firewalls do not fully protect your system against the majority
of spyware and privacy threats. Spyware is commonly bundled with software
downloads, attached to e-mails, or transmitted through networks so it can
appear to be
legitimate software, but once installed it can be nearly impossible to
detect and remove without the help of a dedicated spyware removal tool such
as:

Ad-Aware 6.0 (build 6.181)
http://www.lavasoftusa.com

SpyBot 1.3
http://www.safer-networking.org/

SpyWare Blaster
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html/

HiJackThis
http://www.spychecker.com/program/hijackthis.html

Please make sure that you download the updates for each of these programs to
ensure complete detection of known spyware programs. Although nothing is
absolute in removing spyware and keeping it off, downloading and executing
the programs above can dramically decrease future infections.

Also please utilize free virus scans from the following sites:

Trend Micro
http://www.trend.com

Bit Defender
http://www.bitdefender.com

Panda
http://www.pandasoftware.com/

McAfee
http://www.vil.nai.com/vil/stinger

After Spyware / Adware is remove, you may get an error finding files on
reboot

After you use anyone of these programs (with the exception of HiJackThis)
you may receive an error of some sort after rebooting your system. This is
pretty common. Many spyware programs add themselves in the Startup location
and execute when Windows boots. If you recieve an error when rebooting after
removing spyware, do not panic. This is more than likely a startup remnant
trying to access the spyware program that is no longer on your computer.
HiJackThis is a great utility to find and remove these startup remnants.
However, there is a less technical way of removing these items:

(1) Click START to RUN and type: msconfig
(2) Select the STARTUP tab
(3) Uncheck the file that pertained to the startup error message you
received
(4) Click APPLY and OK
(5) Reboot your system

If this fails to fix the startup error message after reboot, there are still
options:

(1) Navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start
Menu\Programs\Startup
(2) Delete the icon that pertained to the startup error message you received
(3) Navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\username\Start
Menu\Programs\Startup
(4) Delete the icon that pertained to the startup error message you received
(5) Reboot your system


--
Best of luck!

Michael D. Alligood
MCSA, MCP, CCNA, A+,
Network+, i-Net+, CIW A, CIW CI

 

[Johnny Schmitt]

I have the same exact problem as Michael. It not only puts "Search
Assistant" on the task bar, but also re-arranges my icons there, and change
my preferred 3 rows to one.

I have the latest updated versions of Spybot and Ad-Aware and have run them.
I have the latest updates to Norton Anti-Virus and have run it, but still
the problem persists.
Any other ideas?

Johnny

 

[Amir Facade]

Try a google for "remove search assistant"

I have the same exact problem as Michael. It not only puts "Search
Assistant" on the task bar, but also re-arranges my icons there, and change
my preferred 3 rows to one.

I have the latest updated versions of Spybot and Ad-Aware and have run them.
I have the latest updates to Norton Anti-Virus and have run it, but still
the problem persists.
Any other ideas?

Johnny


programs

 

[Rock]

I have the same exact problem as Michael. It not only puts "Search
Assistant" on the task bar, but also re-arranges my icons there, and change
my preferred 3 rows to one.

I have the latest updated versions of Spybot and Ad-Aware and have run them.
I have the latest updates to Norton Anti-Virus and have run it, but still
the problem persists.
Any other ideas?

Johnny

Some of these are really nasty and hard to get rid of. First run Cwshredder

http://209.133.47.200/~merijn/files/CWShredder.exe

If that doesn't help run HiJackThis and post the log to one of the
specialty forums for this, _NOT_ this forum:

HijackThis
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=3155

Forums to Intrepret HijackThis Logs:

http://www.spywareinfo.com/forums/
http://forum.aumha.org/viewforum.php?f=30
http://forums.tomcoyote.org/
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/