Posted on 11/30/2004 8:04:57 AM PST by MJY1288
I need help getting rid of an adware file that hijacks my browser and changes my "Home" page "About:blank"
The Adware file is something called CWS/hijack.html and the CWS stands for Cool Web Site. I have tried everything and it just won't go away. Any help would be greatly appreciated
Download CWS Shredder to get it rid of. Then download Ad-Adware to clean up your windows file and download Spybot S&D to catch what Ad-Adware doesn't. Then download JavaCool Spyblaster to keep this nasty from EVER reinstalling. Finally, download Pivx to hardwall Internet Explorer from malicious code. And get a Trojan scanner like Ewido Security Suite to catch any trojans your anti-virus software misses. Hope all this helps.
It sounds like Lop.com was somehow installed on your computer. I believe Search200.com has a removal program but be wary because this is where your problem came from…
I use several different spysweepers because none of them find it all.
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I downloaded free Spybot about 6 months ago and have been trouble free since. Highly recommended!!!!
I bought SpySweeper because of a dialer that I couldn't get rid of--drove me nuts. I ran SpySweeper and it didn't find it. I called SpySweeper Tech Support and explained the problem. Those guys fixed it within a half hour. They're great and very patient. I highly recommend the product. I do, however, run both SpySweeper and Adware.
As I remember, that was a horrible one to get rid of.
My first recommendation is to switch to a Mac or Linux, which don't have these problems. Apple is better if you want to continue using commercial software like Microsoft Office. It will save you an unbelievable amount of heartache with problems like this.
If that's not possible, search the web for "cws removal". I did, and found this, among millions of other links:
http://www.silentrunners.org/sr_cwsremoval.html
Ignore the ones that say you have to buy stuff. Often what they're selling you just introduces new spyware. If you want a spyware removal program, Spybot Search and Destroy and Ad Aware are said to be the best, but last time I looked even they didn't do much against CWS and variants.
Hope that helps.
D
people people..... before you simply throw out "spybot" or "adaware" you should at least take the time to see what the problem is. There are plenty of things that those cant fix.
my favorite post is "download hijack this"
hijack this does NOTHING to fix anything...and unless you are good at fooling around in the registry it is useless---unless you want a 10lb paperweight
ping
I had this problem and it is very difficult to eradicate. None of the standard spyware software will get rid of it for you, so people who are recommending Lavasoft don't know what they're talking about. You have to manually remove it yourself. By searching google for information, I found a tech support website that gave me step-by-step directions. I don't remember exactly where, but I put some search terms into Google and found it.
The basic concept is that you have to download a free program that creates a text file showing each command being executed on bootup. Then you have to go into your bootup file and manually delete the command lines that were inserted by the virus.
I followed the directions and it worked. The problem went away and my computer was not harmed in any way. But it was scary because I was concerned about deleting a command line that I needed. But as it turned out, it wasn't that hard to tell which ones were the offending commands that rerouted your browser.
a copy of CoolWebShredder should take care of it. Spybot will also grab it and let you delete it.
Just a general spyware note - sometimes you need to install and run the updates for the programs mentioned - then reboot into safe mode and run the programs to clean up the mess.
To get to safe mode, start tapping on the F5 key when your PC is first booting up.
Hackers should be drawn and quartered after being burned over a spit for an hour ot so.
Thanks for posting this.
Hijack This should be set to SCAN only. It lets you look in the bowels of Windows to see what's running and then post the results in one of the anti-spyware forums. The experts there can help return your computer to normal. However, once you get it back, the best piece of anti-intrusion software I've tried is Pvix's Qwik Fix Pro. It will lock down Windows by turning off unneeded services and patching dangerous exploits used by virus and trojan writers and malware pushers. Check it out. http://www.pivx.com
I have three kids. So, I've had this Adware problem twice in the past year. The last time it happened my oldest disengaged Norton and downloaded a browser hijacker (thinking it was something else). Subsequent attempts to get programs to get rid of the bug failed and the virus always regenerated.
So far only one thing has worked: Re-installing the operating system. I hate to discourage you but I think you will arrive at this outcome.
It looks like CWshredder is a new program written since I had the problem which was specifically designed to get rid of just this specific virus. Better than manually deleting registry entries yourself. Glad you found a solution.
I noticed on another post that someone mentioned "Hijack this." That rings a bell as the name of the program I used to create a registry log. But as someone else pointed out, if you mess up your registry, you could have serious problems with your computer.
Not necessarily. Some of the nasties also break your internet connection string and if its broken even reinstalling Windows won't fix it. That's why you should use LSPfix software to fix the connection string before reinstalling Windows. The best course is still prevention and having either IE-SpyAd or Qwik-Fix will keep dangerous websites out of bounds. So if a kid disables anti-virus software or a firewall, malicious code can't run because its blocked. Think of it as a condom for the World Wide Web.
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