Browser Hijacker!

[Starman]

I've been hijacked by searchmaid homepage, how I do i remove this? I've run
adaware, spymaster and cw shredder to no availa and it still remains! please
advise.

 

[Harry Ohrn]

Have you tried running your removal tools from Safe Mode? If not you should
try that. You may want to try Microsoft's new AntiSpyware Tool. It was
formerly owned by Giant and is good at detecting newer and nastier variants
of spyware
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

You might also want to visit Jim Eshelman's forum here
http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30&sid=e0f550067d910439f3a9fa2b03404857 as
the techs there will help you to prepare and analyse a HiJackThis log file
which should fix your problem

 

[Jack]

Tryed HiJack This?:
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html

 

[Guest]

Clean internet temp folders, erase cookies. Look for it using search. Delete
files.

 

[John Barnett MVP]

You could try HiJackThis or, alternatively Microsoft's antispyware

 

[Starman]

Ok I downloaded the microsoft beta version of anti-spyware. it detected and
cleared three hijackers, great software. Now something doesn't seem right.
it won't allow me to update the microsoft a software, even my anti-spyware
updates, it's saying "can't make an internet conection" Yet everything else
works fine, suring the net, web browsing, downloading etc. Has the
searchmaid somehow re-installed intself? I've read that this is
possible...Also the pop ups are continuing for some reason!!!!

 

[Alias]

If you're backed up, just reinstall or spend hours and hours trying to get
rid of it. Sometimes, it's faster and easier and surer just to format and
reinstall windows.

Alias

 

[Tom]

Don't ever use beta products, even from MS. They do not support them, and
the touchy feely statement MS gives with their betas gives an air of "it
works" when you are actually the guinea pig for their beta software.
Uninstall it, and try doing a SFC /SCANNOW with your XP install disk. Put it
in your CDROM, then click START/RUN then type SFC /SCANNOW (note, there is a
space between "C" and "/"). If that doesn't work, do a repair install, but
you'll have to then get all of the Windows updates (including SP2, if that
wasn't part of your original install) again.

Repair install:

http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

 

[Sleepless in Seattle]

Run LSPFix http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm. Keep the entries for mswsock.dll,
winrnr.dll and rsvpsp.dll. Remove any other entries and click finish.

Try updating Microsoft AntiSpyware again and run scan.

N.B. It is also possible that the above 3 files have been replaced by
counterfeit versions. Use HiJack This
http://216.180.233.162/~merijn/files/HijackThis.exe to identify any
culprits.

 

[Starman]

Ok, I restarted the computer and with my firewall now on, I was able to
download all updates for all programs including Microsoft Antispyware. It
again found two major spywares one was called Security IGuard and another
was something else. I clean the system. Now the only thing that appears to
remain from all of this are the pop ups! Once I can figure out how to remove
these things, it would seem that the system is completely clean. or am I
being naive?

 

[Sleepless in Seattle]

Install, update and run http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/ Spybot
Search and Destroy.