Smart.exe - interfering with browser connection to internet

[Guest]

I just recently reinstalled Windows XP (with SP2) to clear out some of the
accummulated garbage. However, I noticed a couple of new start up programs
in the Task Manager that I had not seen before (previous installation
included SP2).

At this time, I experienced difficulty connecting to the internet with
either or my browsers (IE or Mozilla) but could get my email or listen to
internet radio. After some experimentation using the Task Manager, I
determined that 'smnart.exe' was the culprit.

Does anyone recognize it, know if it are malicious and if so, how to
eradicate it from my system? I used Startup Control Panel 2.8 by Mike Lin
(SCP) to find most of the details below.

smart.exe
name - Windows Smart Manager
path - smart.exe
notes - SCP found two copies in each of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (all users)
[HKLM] and
HKEY_CURRENT_USER [HKCU]; smart.exe located in C:\Windows\system32 as a
Read-Only, Hidden & System file

 

[Yves Leclerc]

Run:

AD Aware SE 1.05

Spybot: Search and Destory 1.3

sine it may be a spyware program.

 

[Malke]

I just recently reinstalled Windows XP (with SP2) to clear out some of
the
accummulated garbage. However, I noticed a couple of new start up
programs in the Task Manager that I had not seen before (previous
installation included SP2).

At this time, I experienced difficulty connecting to the internet with
either or my browsers (IE or Mozilla) but could get my email or listen
to
internet radio. After some experimentation using the Task Manager, I
determined that 'smnart.exe' was the culprit.

Does anyone recognize it, know if it are malicious and if so, how to
eradicate it from my system? I used Startup Control Panel 2.8 by Mike
Lin (SCP) to find most of the details below.

smart.exe
name - Windows Smart Manager
path - smart.exe
notes - SCP found two copies in each of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (all users)
[HKLM] and
HKEY_CURRENT_USER [HKCU]; smart.exe located in C:\Windows\system32 as
a Read-Only, Hidden & System file

I did some Googling, and don't find anything to suggest that this is a
Windows file. It doesn't exist on my system (XP Pro SP2).

I would definitely scan for malware, as follows. Make sure all tools are
updated and that you do all scans in Safe Mode.

1) Scan in Safe Mode with current version (not earlier than 2003)
antivirus using updated definitions.

2) Remove spyware with Spybot Search & Destroy and Ad-aware. These
programs are free, so use them both since they complement each other.
There is a new version of CWShredder from Intermute. I would not
install the other Intermute programs, however. Alternately, there are
CoolWebSearch malware removal steps at SilentRunners.

Be sure to update these programs before running, and it is a good idea
to do virus/spyware scans in Safe Mode. Make sure you are able to see
all hidden files and extensions (View tab in Folder Options).

HijackThis is an excellent tool to discover and disable hijackers, but
it requires expert skill. See below for HijackThis links. A combination
of HijackThis and About:Buster works well in removing the About:Blank
homepage hijacker. Again, this is an expert tool and novices should get
help with it.

3) If you are running Windows ME or XP, you should disable/enable System
Restore because malware will be in the Restore Points. With ME, you
must disable System Restore completely. With XP, you can delete all but
the most recent (presumably clean) System Restore point from the More
Options section of Disk Cleanup (Run>cleanmgr).

4) Make sure you've visited Windows Update and applied all security
patches. Do not install driver updates from Windows Update.

5) Run a firewall.

Links to help with malware:

Software/Methods:
http://www.safer-networking.org - Spybot Search & Destroy
http://www.lavasoftusa.com - Ad-aware
http://www.majorgeeks.com - good download site
http://www.intermute.com/spysubtract/cwshredder_download.html
http://www.silentrunners.org/sr_cwsremoval.html. - SilentRunners

HijackThis:
http://www.aumha.org/a/hjttutor.htm - HijackThis tutorial by Jim
Eshelman
http://spywarewarrior.com/viewforum.php?f=5 - Spyware Warrior HijackThis
forum
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/
http://forums.tomcoyote.org/
http://www.spywareinfo.com/forums/

General:
http://forum.aumha.org/ - look under "Security" for various forums
http://rgharper.mvps.org/cleanit.htm
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://www.aumha.org/a/parasite.htm - The Parasite Fight
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

Malke

 

[Guest]

Run:

AD Aware SE 1.05

Spybot: Search and Destory 1.3

sine it may be a spyware program.

Both are part of my standard arsenal of security applications. They have
been run several times with no hits. Thanks for the reminder anyway.

 

[Peter Adler]

GOOGLE reveals that there are quite a few apps that go by this name, including
an old Microsoft Win 3.1 utility (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q92436/) and
hard drive testers (http://www.beyondlogic.org/solutions/smart/smart.htm,
http://www.windowsstartup.com/wso/detail.php?id=3934). If you don't recall
installing anything like that, and considering the file's attributes and
location, it probably is something that you'd rather not have. Two
suggestions: (1) find the file using Windows Explorer, right click and selct
Properties and check out the "Version" tab. You may find some helpful info
under "copyright" or "other version information" (on the other hand, not every
exe file has a version tab ...) (2) rename the file to smart.exe.old or the
like and see if any expected functionality goes away (or, conversely, if your
performance improves).

I just recently reinstalled Windows XP (with SP2) to clear out some of the
accummulated garbage. However, I noticed a couple of new start up programs
in the Task Manager that I had not seen before (previous installation
included SP2).

At this time, I experienced difficulty connecting to the internet with
either or my browsers (IE or Mozilla) but could get my email or listen to
internet radio. After some experimentation using the Task Manager, I
determined that 'smnart.exe' was the culprit.

Does anyone recognize it, know if it are malicious and if so, how to
eradicate it from my system? I used Startup Control Panel 2.8 by Mike Lin
(SCP) to find most of the details below.

smart.exe
name - Windows Smart Manager
path - smart.exe
notes - SCP found two copies in each of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (all users)
[HKLM] and
HKEY_CURRENT_USER [HKCU]; smart.exe located in C:\Windows\system32 as a
Read-Only, Hidden & System file