Hi Dale - There appear to be at least five or six different variants (maybe more) of this particular malware, and it is very difficult to remove. While not trying to answer your specific question (since doing so would require knowing considerably more about your particular infestation than you've provided), I'm going to post my most current approach to this issue. Some of the links there may provide you some of the insight you seek, and the cleaning approaches may be useful to you also:
We've been seeing this a lot lately, and these are very difficult CWS parasite variants to remove. Read ALL of this carefully to begin with, then try About:Blank Specific and then Basic Cleaning, below FIRST and then ONLY IF NECESSARY Approach 1 and/or Approach 2 and/or Approach 3 and/or Approach 4 and/or Approach 5.
********Please post back with your results in detail if possible - what you tried, what happened, how you ended up - so that we'll know better what to advise others.********
#########IMPORTANT#########
Before you try to remove spyware using any of the programs below, download both a copy of LSPFIX here:
http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm
AND a copy of Winsockfix
http://www.tacktech.com/pub/winsockfix/WinsockFix.zip
Directions here:
http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=257
The process of removing certain malware may kill your internet connection. If this should occur, these programs, LSPFIX and WINSOCKFIX, will enable you to regain your connection.
#########IMPORTANT#########
Approach 1 - You can try AT YOUR OWN RISK, HSRemove, free, here:
http://www.hsremove.com/. "A few days ago I got hijacked - Nothing new in that, except this time it was a real [censored] to get rid of. - There were simply no tools available to remove this "Home Search" thing. Finally I ended up creating my own tool for it. USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK. And if you find it helpful, then please do not hesitate to make a contribution."
Approach 2 - You can try this AT YOUR OWN RISK. I normally wouldn't advise using a malware provider's uninstall, but this particular approach has been reported to work ONLY IF you have the about:blank CWS variant (there appear to be at least three or four currently) which leads you to a Search page. Paste the following IP into your browser:
195.190.118.131
On the screen you arrive at, you see a "Search For" window, and below it a red "Uninstall Software". Download their uninstaller, uninstall.exe. At this point I would either use TotalUninstall or make a complete backup/Restore Point of my system for safety's sake (on the basis of "at least keep what you've got"). Total Uninstall,
http://www.geocities.com/ggmartau/tu.html or direct dwnld here:
http://files.webattack.com/localdl834/tun234.zip
Run this uninstall program that you downloaded from the malware site, then UPDATE them and go to Safe mode to run UPDATED versions CWShredder, AdAware and SpyBot per the directions in Basic, below.
Approach 3 - Courtesy of "Win" (Win J. Moore) in 24hoursupport.helpdesk
"I had a variant of this CWS.SearchX sucker for about 3 weeks, and I FINALLY seem to be rid of it for good! It is aka Troj_StartPage.sp and BackDoor.Agent.BA. This is what I did:
1. Run Regedit, and DELETE the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows\AppInit_DLLs
The value of this key may look blank for you, but it is not. They hide the value so you can't see it. This registry key tells Windows to load the Trojan DLL every time ANY application is run giving it complete control to do whatever it wants. So you need to remove it so that the Trojan DLL cannot load and keep re-infecting your PC. The way to remove the registry key is not obvious. If you just delete it from RegEdit, since the Trojan DLL is loaded, it will re-add it right back. (Try it. Delete the AppInit_DLLs
registry key and hit F5. Notice that it's added right back by the Trojan).
So what you have to do is the following which worked for me (many thanks to "acomputerpro" at the SpywareInfo.com forums!)
2. Rename the HLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows folder to Windows2.
3. Now delete the AppInit_DLLs key under the Windows2 folder.
4. Hit F5 and notice that AppInit_DLLs doesn't come back.
5. Rename the Windows2 folder back to Windows. Now that AppInit_DLLs is gone, run the latest AdAware 6 to remove the Trojan for good.
6. Reboot your machine, and check the registry and make sure AppInit_DLLs is still gone.
Your computer should be free of this for good now. Hope it works for you...
It seemed to do the trick for me!"
Approach 4 - If you've already tried CWShredder to get rid of this parasite (See below, v.159.0.1 or better and fully updated before use), then take a look at this thread about manual removal of this parasite:
http://www.akadia.com/services/about_blank_virus.html
and this one:
http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread5531.html
and this one:
http://computercops.biz/article-5199-nested-0-0.html
and this one:
http://forum.aumha.org/viewtopic.php?t=6437
Approach 5 - I don't usually recommend anything but freeware that I've confidence in, but AT YOUR OWN RISK, not free ($29.95), Adware Away, here:
http://www.adwareaway.com/ claims to fix it automatically, and several users now have reported success using it. I would backup my system before using it, however - always try to "keep what you've got".
___________________________________
About:Blank Specific fixes:
1) See the procedures here:
http://www.pchell.com/support/onlythebest.shtml
and especially here:
http://www.pestpatrol.com/pestinfo/c/cws_aboutblank.asp Pest Patrol (free) claims to remove at least some of the about:blank variants
2) Download AboutBuster, here:
http://www.malwarebytes.biz/AboutBuster.zip or here:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4289.html Then, "First unzip all files from the zip folder to a folder or your desktop. Start it and hit ok. Then hit update. A new screen should popup. On that screen hit Check for Updates. If it sais it found an update hit Download Updates. If it doesnt it will automatically tell you and exit. Now for the scanning part. Hit start and then Ok. The program should start scanning. Then hit exit and reboot.
Once rebooted run About:Buster once more to make sure everything is ok.
The database will be updated very frequently so check your versions once a day."
3) Download dllfix.exe and CWShredder from here:
http://www.renonce.com/pub/utils/dllfix.exe
and
http://209.133.47.200/~merijn/files/CWShredder.exe
or
http://www.zerosrealm.com/downloads/CWShredder.zip
or
http://downloads.subratam.org/CWShredder.exe
Unzip or install dllfix.exe to its own folder, run it and do options 1 and 2.
Now proceed with the Basic Cleaning steps, below.
4) It has been reported that the evaluation version of Panda Software's Titanium Antivirus 2004, here:
http://www.pandasoftware.com/regist...&Ref=WW-TIT4-DES&Idioma=2&Country=Us&sec=down will completely remove about:blank. I have not been able to independently verify this yet, however, so this is AT YOUR OWN RISK. You'll have to give them some information, and I expect you may want to uncheck some of the "opt-in" boxes at the bottom just above and below the send button.
Basic Cleaning - Note that this symptom often indicates the possibility of other malware. You might want go to this page at Jim Eshelman's site, here:
http://aumha.org/a/noads.htm or here:
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/parasite.htm and wait a little bit (be patient), while an analysis of a number of possible parasites on your machine will be made to help you identify and remove them. NOTE: You will need to disable Ad Blocking in Zone Alarm 3.x, if present or any other Ad
Blocking software which interferes with Java Scripting for this scan to work. You should get a message between the two lines of **** giving the results of the scan.
#########IMPORTANT#########
All of these removal tools should be run from Safe mode when possible. Reboot and test if the malware is fixed after using each tool.
#########IMPORTANT#########
Download sysclean.com , from Trend Micro, here:
http://www.trendmicro.com/download/dcs.asp along with the latest pattern file, here:
http://www.trendmicro.com/download/pattern.asp Be sure to read the "How-to" info here:
http://www.trendmicro.com/ftp/products/tsc/readme.txt (You might also want to get Art's updater, SYS-UP.Zip, here for future updating of these:
http://home.epix.net/~artnpeg/). (If you download and use the updater from the beginning, it will automatically handle downloading the other files.) Place them in a dedicated folder after appropriate unzipping, and then run. This scan may take a long time, as Sysclean is VERY extensive and thorough.
For the general hijack case, the best way to start is to get Ad-Aware 6.0, Build 181 or later, here:
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/. UPDATE, set it up in accordance with this:
http://forum.aumha.org/viewtopic.php?t=5877 and run this regularly to get rid of most "spyware/hijackware" on your machine. If it has to fix things, be sure to re-boot and rerun AdAware again and repeat this cycle until you get a clean scan. The reason is that it may have to remove things which are currently "in use" before it can then clean up others.
Then, courtesy of NonSuch at Lockergnome, open Ad-aware then click the gear wheel at the top and check these options to configure Ad-aware for a customized scan:
General> activate these: "Automatically save log-file" and "Automatically quarantine objects prior to removal"
Scanning > activate these: "Scan within archives", "Scan active processes", "Scan registry", "Deep scan registry," "Scan my IE Favorites for banned sites," and "Scan my Hosts file"
Tweaks > Scanning Engine> activate this: "Unload recognized processes during scanning."
Tweaks > Cleaning Engine: activate these: "Automatically try to unregister objects prior to deletion" and "Let Windows remove files in use after reboot."
Click "Proceed" to save your settings, then click "Start." Make sure "Activate in-depth scan" is ticked green, then scan your system. When the scan is finished, the screen will tell you if anything has been found, click "Next." The bad files will be listed. Right click the pane and click "Select all objects" - This will put a check mark in the box at the side, click "Next" again and click "OK" at the prompt "# objects will be removed. Continue?"
Another excellent program for this purpose is SpyBot Search and Destroy available here:
http://security.kolla.de/ SpyBot Support Forum here:
http://www.net-integration.net/cgi-bin/forums/ikonboard.cgi. I recommend using both normally. After UPDATING and fixing ONLY RED things with SpyBot S&D, be sure to re-boot and rerun SpyBot again and repeat this cycle until you get a clean "no red" scan. The reason is that SpyBot sometimes has to remove things which are currently "in use" before it can then clean up others.
Note that sometimes you need to make a judgment call about what these programs report as spyware. See here, for example:
http://www.imilly.com/alexa.htm
A currently common parasite is some malware called CoolWebSearch. Do the following:
Download, UPDATE before running, and run:
http://209.133.47.200/~merijn/files/CWShredder.exe to remove the parasite.
Be sure to close all instances of IE and OE. You may also get it here if
that link is blocked:
http://www.zerosrealm.com/downloads/CWShredder.zip
There's a good tutorial about CWS and using CWShredder here:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?showtutorial=47#domain
BE SURE that you get v.159.0.1 or later!
You will need to show Hidden files first and then at the end clear the malware garbage from your System Restore backups after you've cleaned up. It's best to perform CWShredder (and most other malware fixers too) from Safe mode and then reboot. AFTER cleaning things up, then you can disable
and then re-enable System Restore. See ******** below.
The following links give instructions on how to do these various functions:
HOW TO Restart in Safe Mode
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2001052409420406
HOW TO Enable Hidden Files
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2002092715262339
HOW TO Disable/Flush System Restore (do this at the end AFTER cleaning or
use the suggested procedure for XP at the ******'s)
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2001111912274039
(WinXP)
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2001012513122239
(WinME)
Then download and run:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/regs_edits/iegentabs.reg to restore your tabs and remove any restrictions that the parasite has put in place.
Now download and run:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/regs_edits/RestoreSearch2.REG to restore your search functions if they've been affected (as they probably will have been).
Be sure that you also download and install hotfix Q816093, here:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=816093
which blocks the exploit upon which this parasite family depends.
If they don't fix it then start here:
Download HijackThis, free, here:
http://209.133.47.200/~merijn/files/HijackThis.exe (Always download a new fresh copy of HijackThis [and CWShredder also] - It's UPDATED frequently.) You may also get it here if that link is blocked:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloadget.php?id=3155&file=3&evp=3304750663b552982a8baee6434cfc13
There's a good "How-to-Use" tutorial here:
http://computercops.biz/HijackThis.html
In Windows Explorer, click on Tools|Folder Options|View and check "Show hidden files and folders" and uncheck "Hide protected operating system files". (You may want to restore these when you're all finished with HijackThis.)
Place HijackThis.exe or unzip HijackThis.zip into its own dedicated folder at the root level such as C:\HijackThis (NOT in a Temp folder or on your Desktop), reboot to Safe mode, start HT then press Scan. Click on SaveLog when it's finished which will create hijackthis.log. Now click the Config button, then Misc Tools and click on Generate StartupList.log which will create Startuplist.txt
Then go to one of the following forums:
Spyware and Hijackware Removal Support, here:
http://216.180.233.162/~swicom/forums/
or Net-Integration here:
http://www.net-integration.net/cgi-...86d536d57b5f65b6e40c55365e;act=ST;f=27;t=6949
or Tom Coyote here:
http://forums.tomcoyote.org/index.php?act=idx
Sign in, then copy and paste both files into a message asking for assistance, Someone will answer with detailed instructions for the removal of your parasite(s).
*******
ONLY IF you've successfully eliminated the malware, you can now make a new, clean Restore Point and delete any previously saved (possibly infected) ones. The following suggested approach is courtesy of Gary Woodruff: For XP you can run a Disk Cleanup cycle and then look in the More Options tab. The System Restore option removes all but the latest Restore Point. If there hasn't been one made since the system was cleaned you should manually create one before dumping the old possibly infected ones.
*******
Once you get this cleaned up, you might want to consider installing Eric Howes' IESpyAds, SpywareBlaster and SpywareGuard here to help prevent this kind of thing from happening in the future:
IESpyads -
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ehowes/www/resource.htm "IE-SPYAD adds a long list of sites and domains associated with known advertisers, marketers, and crapware pushers to the Restricted sites zone of Internet Explorer. Once you merge this list of sites and domains into the Registry, the web sites for these companies will not be able to use cookies, ActiveX controls, Java applets, or scripting to compromise your privacy or your PC while you surf the Net. Nor will they be able to use your browser to push unwanted pop-ups, cookies, or auto-installing programs on your PC." Read carefully.
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html (Prevents malware Active X installs) (BTW, SpyWareBlaster is not memory resident ... no CPU or memory load - but keep it UPDATED) The latest version as of this writing will prevent installation or prevent the malware from running if it is already installed, and it provides information and fixit-links for a variety of parasites.
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html (Monitors for attempts to install malware) Keep it UPDATED. All three Very Highly Recommended
Next, install and keep updated a good HOSTS file. It can help you avoid most adware/malware. See here:
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm (Be sure it's named/renamed HOSTS - all caps, no extension) Additional tutorials here:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?s=14f3f9225081133297a8acdd11137c5b&showtutorial=51 (detailed) and here:
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/viewtopic.php?t=410 (overview)
Finally, go to Windows Update and ensure that ALL Critical updates are installed.
--
Please respond in the same thread.
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP
My IE6 start page is stuck on "about:blank". I get some search engine page with the Microsoft logo at the top left. It's easy enough to view the HTML source to see that all searches from this page go to "full-search.net". I'm pretty sure that someone is getting paid for clicks from this page. Could it be possible that full-search.net has some kind of partnership with Microsoft so that IE6 users are always directed to this search page?
Here's what's happening in the registry:
By using a register monitoring program "regmon.exe" by sysinternals, I can see that when I open or close IE, iexplore.exe itself is chaning my start page in the registry back to "about:blank". It also deletes registry entries for my restricted zones. Very strange.
I'd much rather find out why this is happening than install 20 different anti- spyware/virus programs. Anyone have any insight?
