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
However, the Spybot writer has stopped doing updates because too many corporations were using his product without sending him any money. I understand he's in the process of turning his free product into a real business. I hope so, I thought it was much better than Ad-Aware.
Glad that it worked!
Exactly. Messing around with the registry could leave your computer inoperable. What you want is to get rid of the garbage spammers install on your computer in unwanted drive by downloads and keep it off for good.
Run Spybot in safe mode. If necessary, delete the dll's in safe mode and reboot, then rerun Spybot.
I have the same problem, and my tech knowlegge is limited to the ON/OFF function..MY ISP ( Optonline) help dept spend three hours with me trying to fix it...they use the gizmo where they take over my computer..it stumped them all..they switched me to Mozilla....so far no prob..
Spammers have figured out how to turn off or bypass Ad-Aware.
What you need to do is:
1) uninstall the version of Ad-aware that you have.
2) go to Lavasoft.com and download the updated version.
You'll still need to run the program on a regular basis.
Shareware's worth the price if there are regular improvements and monthly updates. Norton Anti-Virus/Personal Firewall are worth the price. And I have yet to be infected by a virus.
Thanks Again for your help.
All Hackers must be democrats :-)
Thanks, Will do!
Thanks for these! We do all of our schoolwork on the computer and with the Internet, so I've been looking for ways to protect the systems.
Thanks as well for correcting me. I have limited knowledge of computer innards, so the Adware problems can cause a great headache. We DID try any number of programs after-the-fact and, although the bug appeared to vanich it would come back upon re-start. For us re-installing Windows worked. But there are numerous nitwits out there constantly thinking of how to destroy the property of others and, as someone else pointed out, it is difficult for any program to keep up.
You are right about "prevention."
bumping for future reference :)
The worst thing about this crap is these folks have discoverd that since we no longer read their e-mail spam, they figure if they take our computer hostage, we will put up to get some relief. Well, they figured wrong. I don't like my personal privacy invaded, period. Especially if its to make someone money. If this is the way to run a business, I hope they all go to jail. No one should be subjected to pitches for buying products they neither want nor need.
bump
The Spybot guy didn't even have a shareware price - just a button to click to donate. Corporate techies around the country, probably the world, were passing the word to each other to download & run this (I certainly was!), but corporate accountants who pay real bills aren't real keen on making "donations." He apparently started feeling used, rightfully so IMO, and bagged it. I hope he makes a comeback as a corporation of his own, with updates.
Thanx for the PING, Jinx!
Well, MJY, looks like the deal got done for you.
Goldstate does what I do: a multi-layered defense, for redundant coverage. And do the sweeps and backups regularly, that's my best advice!
And RH found the solution for this little bit of malware. I have yet to see it, but I'll be running diagnostics tonight, just the same. Paranoia in computer operations is a virtue, not a vice.
Callin the Internet the "Wild West" isn't an understatement. There's a section of it to be shunned like people shun the bad part of town.
Agreed. I have to make forays into "Injun Country" in the course of the day, and you don't take a knife to a gunfight.
Which one did you use or which one fixed the problem?
I'm glad I noted your post. Spy Subtract nailed that eZula malware I've been trying to dig out of my registry. eZula somehow defeated my firewall's pop-up block. Thanks.
I successfully removed this manually from my husbands Windows 98 computer. It took a couple of hours.
First of all I triggered the hijack by deleting the files I recognized as malicious. Then I restarted his computer. I searched by date and time from Windows Explorer to find newly created files. I could tell by the date and time which files had been created upon startup. Then I manually deleted those. Somehow I figured out the executible that was creating these files. I probably pressed "Control, Alt Delete" and spotted the *.exe that was running that was not familiar. I don't remember the name of that *.exe file, sorry. His computer would not let me delete the *.
exe file because it was in use!
I finally opened the computer in Dos mode. The *.exe file was hidden so I had to use the attrib command to unhide and then rename it. I then deleted the *.exe in dos mode. All this is very complicated and not recommended for the novice.
I am glad the cwsshredder worked as what I did was a lot of work. I am very familiar with which *.exe files should be running on my computers at all times. I frequently press control alt delete and check which tasks are executing just to be familiar with each of my programs *.exe files.
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