Is this SpyWare?

[free lunch]

I recently went to a, ummmm...how should I say this? A risque web
site, by accident of course, and it has reset my home page to a search
site. ( http://search-company.com/ ) It is most annoying as that it
pops up momentarily after a yahoo search. I did an Ada-Ware scan and a
Norton scan and it removed the spyware and found no viruses. But it
still pops up after a Yahoo search.

Any Ideas?

jim

 

[PA Bear]

Yes, it's spyware; hijackware, to be more specific.

Check your system for "hijackware":

Dealing with Hijackware
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://www.mvps.org/inetexplorer/Darnit.htm#tshoot
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm

CoolWebSearch Chronicles
http://www.merijn.org/cwschronicles.html

Important: You *must* seek updates for Ad-Aware, Spybot, etc., before each
and every use, even "right out of the box". But even they can't catch
everything, 24/7. When all else fails, HijackThis
(http://www.merijn.org/files/hijackthis.zip) is the preferred tool to use.
It will help you to both identify and remove any hijackware/spyware. **Post
your files to http://forums.spywareinfo.com/ or the HijackThis Logs forum at
http://forum.aumha.org/ for expert analysis, not here.**

Also update your virus definitions and then run a full system scan. From
now on, do both daily.

[Many anti-spyware sites continue to suffer from a week-long DoS attack.
Alternative download pages for Ad-Aware, Spybot, HijackThis and CWShredder
may be found on this page: http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm.]

So How Did I Get Infected Anyway?
http://boards.cexx.org/viewtopic.php?t=957
--
HTH - Please Reply to This Thread

~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE), AH-VSOP

AumHa Forums
http://forum.mvps.org/

Protect Your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect

 

[Mike Burgess]

Jim,
search-company.com = Coolwebsearch trojan

How to remove Coolwebsearch and affiliates
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm#Coolwebsearch

Note: this type hijack indicates an unpatched machine, that is lacking
in "Defense". Please visit Windows Update to avoid these exploits.
____________________________________________________________
Mike Burgess [MVP Windows Shell\User] http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/
Blocking Spyware, Adware, Parasites, Hijackers, Trojans, with a HOSTS file
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm [updated 03-15-04]
Please post replies to this Newsgroup, email address is invalid

 

[free lunch]

Yes, it's spyware; hijackware, to be more specific.

Check your system for "hijackware":

This is a new one to me, but I did see it on the tube.

Dealing with Hijackware
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://www.mvps.org/inetexplorer/Darnit.htm#tshoot
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm

CoolWebSearch Chronicles
http://www.merijn.org/cwschronicles.html

Important: You *must* seek updates for Ad-Aware,
Spybot, etc., before each
and every use, even "right out of the box".

It was that "right out of the box" that fooled me. This computer was
an extra computer until recently. Even though it was mostly updated,
it was a few late. I started having problems yesterday and installed
Ad-Aware and did not update the database. It passed all tests
including Norton. I updated Ad-Aware and it found the problem, then I
updated the OS.

Many thanks for your help.

But even they can't catch
everything, 24/7. When all else fails, HijackThis
(http://www.merijn.org/files/hijackthis.zip) is the preferred tool to use.
It will help you to both identify and remove any hijackware/spyware. **Post
your files to http://forums.spywareinfo.com/ or the HijackThis Logs forum at
http://forum.aumha.org/ for expert analysis, not here.**

Also update your virus definitions and then run a full system scan. From
now on, do both daily.

Done. Good advice.

[Many anti-spyware sites continue to suffer from a week-long DoS attack.
Alternative download pages for Ad-Aware, Spybot, HijackThis and CWShredder
may be found on this page: http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm.]

So How Did I Get Infected Anyway?
http://boards.cexx.org/viewtopic.php?t=957

thanks again,
jim

 

[free lunch]

Jim,
search-company.com = Coolwebsearch trojan

How to remove Coolwebsearch and affiliates
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm#Coolwebsearch

Note: this type hijack indicates an unpatched machine, that is lacking
in "Defense". Please visit Windows Update to avoid these exploits.

I was a few behind, but the one I should have had was one too many
;-))

____________________________________________________________
Mike Burgess [MVP Windows Shell\User] http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/
Blocking Spyware, Adware, Parasites, Hijackers, Trojans, with a HOSTS file
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm [updated 03-15-04]
Please post replies to this Newsgroup, email address is invalid

Thanks,
jim

 

[PA Bear]

Yes, it's spyware; hijackware, to be more specific.

Check your system for "hijackware":

This is a new one to me, but I did see it on the tube.

Dealing with Hijackware
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://www.mvps.org/inetexplorer/Darnit.htm#tshoot
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm

CoolWebSearch Chronicles
http://www.merijn.org/cwschronicles.html

Important: You *must* seek updates for Ad-Aware,
Spybot, etc., before each
and every use, even "right out of the box".

It was that "right out of the box" that fooled me. This computer was
an extra computer until recently. Even though it was mostly updated,
it was a few late. I started having problems yesterday and installed
Ad-Aware and did not update the database. It passed all tests
including Norton. I updated Ad-Aware and it found the problem, then I
updated the OS.

Many thanks for your help.

But even they can't catch
everything, 24/7. When all else fails, HijackThis
(http://www.merijn.org/files/hijackthis.zip) is the preferred tool to
use. It will help you to both identify and remove any
hijackware/spyware. **Post your files to http://forums.spywareinfo.com/
or the HijackThis Logs forum at http://forum.aumha.org/ for expert
analysis, not here.**

Also update your virus definitions and then run a full system scan. From
now on, do both daily.

Done. Good advice.

[Many anti-spyware sites continue to suffer from a week-long DoS attack.
Alternative download pages for Ad-Aware, Spybot, HijackThis and
CWShredder may be found on this page: http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm.]

So How Did I Get Infected Anyway?
http://boards.cexx.org/viewtopic.php?t=957

thanks again,
jim

YW, TINSTAAFL! Thanks for posting back, it really matters.