Killer Trojan - Coolwebsearch.info *HELPPPPPP*

[Tromp]

Don't know how the hell I got this but it has taken over my computer really bad. Anyone have a good recommendation to get rid of this? Please help.:(

[HarmNone]

Here's a free adware remover that should get rid of it for you:

http://www.noadware.net/?hop=apachelb

[Tromp]

Originally posted by HarmNone
Here's a free adware remover that should get rid of it for you:

http://www.noadware.net/?hop=apachelb

Already downloaded spybot and spyremover and it keeps coming back. This thing is pute evil! Blaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh:no:

[Varsus]

Go to this link:

http://www.intermute.com/spysubtract/cwshredder_download.html

download the "stand-alone version"

reboot into safe mode

run program

If I were you I would download ad-aware SE also, It is good at fixing problems like that.

CWShredder was built for removing Cool Web Search

-Varsus

[HarmNone]

Hookay. CWShredder is supposed to get rid of that thing for good. Here's an article on it:

http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/cws/

[Varsus]

If that does not fix your problem, IM me at MisdaHappy and Ill walk you through what you need to do.

-Varsus

[Tromp]

Originally posted by Varsus
If that does not fix your problem, IM me at MisdaHappy and Ill walk you through what you need to do.

-Varsus

Oh man you are a saint. If you get a strange IM it is me absolutely desperate. I'll try it tonight. Will you be around 9ish EST?

[Varsus]

Should be, if not ill turn my aim's on to my cell so that i can get back to the cpu.

-Varsus

[Fengus]

You prolly said ok to one of those install screens that so many websites have now. For instance Psinet's new host trys to install one of those, mostly likely some spyware.

There is only one program you need: Ad-Aware at http://www.lavasoft.com/ , the rest of those are prolly spyware themselves.

[Mistomeer]

Pestpatrol kicks Spybot and Adaware's ass.
Also, Trend's stuff is really good and has free trials here:
http://nct.digitalriver.com/fulfill/0039.2

[Varsus]

Originally posted by Fengus
You prolly said ok to one of those install screens that so many websites have now. For instance Psinet's new host trys to install one of those, mostly likely some spyware.

There is only one program you need: Ad-Aware at http://www.lavasoft.com/ , the rest of those are prolly spyware themselves.

CWShredder is the best utility to get rid of Cool Web Search.

Ad-aware is good, but after running a full scan CWShredder will still find things, and so will Spybot S&D

-Varsus

[Tromp]

Update on the delima:

Went and bought Norton Systemworks and Firewall. I got rid of McAffee Virus Scan. Never thought it was working too well even though I updated it constantly. It didn't even recognize the trojan. The I downloaded CWShredder. I installed everything and updated all the software.

1. Ran CWShredder (twice)
2. Ran Norton Virus (twice)
3. Ran SpySubtract (twice)
4. Ran SpyBot - just in case
Then reran CWShredder and Virus scan.

No more CoolWebSearch.info!!!!! at least so far. All systems are clear.

Another recaution taken:
In addition to the hardware firewall, I added the Norton Firewall.

Thanks everyone for offering the advice and help.

[Tromp]

scratch that... just checked again and now it had popped out of the blue again. AAAAARRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh

[Artha]

You should start using FireFox.

[Nieninque]

http://cwshredder.net/cwshredder/cwschronicles.html#cwshredder

That has a link to a program that can apparently get rid of it.

Try that and when you have done it, use firefox instead of IE and you're laughing :)

[Tromp]

so what makes firefox better?

Do i just need to uninstall IE then or will that just make my machine screwy?

[Nieninque]

I used to get these trojans and stuff all the time.
I would do a Hijackthis! scan every couple of weeks or so and trash tons and tons of junk every time.

I havent needed to do this once since using Firefox.

Edited to add: I am no computer genius but I think it has something to do with ActiveX which IE uses and a lot of them latch onto your computer because of that (?)


[Edited on 20-12-04 by Nieninque]

[Artha]

With IE, websites can download content to your computer without you saying yes. With FireFox, they can't. That and a ton of other stuff make FireFox far better.

http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

Don't uninstall IE, just stop using it.

[Tromp]

Just curious:

Is it faster then IE?
is Netscape just a vulverable?
Is it a memory hog?

[Shibbidy Joe]

Originally posted by Tromp
Just curious:

Is it faster then IE?
is Netscape just a vulverable?
Is it a memory hog?

Yes. Much
Don't know.
Just checked. On my system, IE used 21mb, firefox used 28.

Firefox is a million times better, IMO. Despite the 7 megs of memory difference, it loads faster, surfs faster, more customizable (skins, extensions, plug-ins), more secure, and has an intelligent popup blocker that works damn near perfectly.

I like opera

[Music Guy]

Originally posted by Artha
With IE, websites can download content to your computer without you saying yes. With FireFox, they can't. That and a ton of other stuff make FireFox far better.

http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

Don't uninstall IE, just stop using it.

Just thought I would note that if you use Windows XP and have downloaded SP2, this isn't necessarily the case anymore. Far more controls involving ActiveX, and it no longer installs them, without giving you the choice.