Remove Home Search Assistant

MediaManMediaMan Powered by loose parts.
edited June 2005 in Science & Tech
If your PC is going places you don't want it to then here's your guide to remove Home Page Assistant hijacks with Short-Media's Home Page Assistant Removal Guide!

Read it here
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Comments

  • edited September 2004
    Why not just load BPS with System Hijack Scanner, highlight IE icon, click scan, tick the box for the offending web page/s, then click on the fix button (it looks like a exploding bomb). Problem solved, BPS (Bullet Proof Spyware) wins the day and the system hijackers are toast again. I love spanking them for fun Yeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaa!!!!
  • edited September 2004
    removed/edited by MM.
  • DexterDexter Vancouver, BC Canada
    edited September 2004
    Why not just load BPS with System Hijack Scanner, highlight IE icon, click scan, tick the box for the offending web page/s, then click on the fix button (it looks like a exploding bomb). Problem solved, BPS (Bullet Proof Spyware) wins the day and the system hijackers are toast again. I love spanking them for fun Yeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaa!!!!



    Because that software is shareware and costs $29.00 to register. Our removal guide is free. :)

    Dexter...
  • edited September 2004
    hi i do try all this procedure and hsa still active
    i have my networksecutity bogus service run under desktop.ini:pbqck /s and that react with the desktop at reboot even hard reboot
    and when im in safe mode and do a hijk scan or hsrem my norton antivirus find new bogus *.exe file or *.dll create on the same moment the scan run
    im at the point to reformat the disk well,its not my pc but its a customer pc so i guest they will learn a lesson not to go to a bogus site and clik ok on anything proposed
  • DexterDexter Vancouver, BC Canada
    edited September 2004
    As per the instructions in the guide, please feel free to register for our forums, and post your logs for added assistance. Disable your Norton scanning while working on this to prevent the warnings.

    Dexter...
  • edited September 2004
    Hi,

    Just to let you know that previously to reading your removal guide I had tried everything to remove HSA. I had dowloaded all the software that you mention in the quide and Uninstaller Pro however they never completely removed it and every time I started my computer it would re-appear. I had also followed many other guides/recommendations with no success. So I couldn't believe how easy it was to delete it by following your instructions after having it on my computer for months. I think I was nearly 70% of the way their however I was just about to give up. I am so glad I found your guide as it gave me the confidence to delete the final programmes/files that were left in my computer. Thank you very much! Just to point out that after I had sorted my home page problem and cleared out the unwanted file using the download recommended I still had HSA in my add/removes files. I had to use Uninstaller Pro which finally deleted them without them re-appearing. I would recommend that everyone use this guide.
  • MediaManMediaMan Powered by loose parts.
    edited September 2004
    I would recommend that everyone use this guide.

    Words we love to hear. We are glad that we could help. :)
  • edited September 2004
    Hi Have finally removed home search assistant very quickly and very easily using ad-aware, it's freeware and available from http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
    also found that ad-aware finds alot more malicious files, registry entries etc than other scanners. It also deletes the files, Nortons seems to find some then error deleting them, even in safe mode.


  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited September 2004
    Thanks for the info, unregistered. We are very familiar with AdAware, and have been advocating its use for a long time. It can be found on our security downloads page.

    As far as I know, AdAware 1.05 with the most current definitions, does NOT remove the HSA yet. Hopefully, it will soon, because it is very labor intensive to remove manually.
  • TroganTrogan London, UK
    edited September 2004
    Thanks for the info, unregistered. We are very familiar with AdAware, and have been advocating its use for a long time. It can be found on our security downloads page.

    Right on Prime! But to be honest, i've only known about Ad-Aware and SpyBot since the end of july. So, I guess people are finding it :)
  • LincLinc Owner Detroit Icrontian
    edited September 2004
    As far as I know, AdAware 1.05 with the most current definitions, does NOT remove the HSA yet. Hopefully, it will soon, because it is very labor intensive to remove manually.
    It cripples it pretty well (including killing the service in my roommate's instance), but doesn't totally destroy it yet.
  • edited September 2004
    Thank you very much for the concise and helpful guide for removing Home Search Assistant. No other software, including AdAware and Spybot, were successful with it
  • edited September 2004
    I have been trying to remove "search extender" and "home shopping" with "spybot 1.3", "hijackthis", "aboutbuster", "adaware", "winpatrol" and anything else I could find while beating the crap out of my register and wishing I could find the SOB that created this thing. Finally, used "hsremove" and the damned thing is gone. I would like to thank whoever put this tool together, it is great.
  • edited September 2004
    I have been trying to remove "search extender" and "home shopping search assistent" with "spybot 1.3", "hijackthis", "aboutbuster", "adaware", "winpatrol" and anything else I could find while beating the crap out of my register and wishing I could find the SOB that created this thing. Finally, used "hsremove" and the damned thing is gone. I would like to thank whoever put this tool together, it is great.
  • edited September 2004
    i own
    u all suck
    believe
    im making a new one
    :D
    grtz tha M
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited September 2004
    Can't wait to see it "tha M" :rolleyes:

    From your writing style, I can tell that it will be an excellent addition to the anti-spyware community. ;D
  • edited October 2004
    Hallo thank's for this guide
    it was very useful to cancel my problem
    thanks thanks thanks
    L.C
    Italy
  • edited October 2004
    Hi,
    Giant AntiSpyware boasts that their software will remove Home Search Assistent, Search Extender, and Shopping Wizard. Has anybody had success with this software.
  • DexterDexter Vancouver, BC Canada
    edited October 2004
    I checked out their webpage on this at:

    http://www.giantcompany.com/antispyware/research/spyware/spyware-Home-Search-Assistant.aspx

    That info was last updated a month ago.

    They list a lot of file names they have as signatures. They also list the "MD5" hash signatures, and registry entries for BHO's. I don't see any mention of the Services registry entries.

    If they only remove this based on known file names, it is not going to work, because the file names are randomly generated using variable name lengths (4 or 5 chars usually) and sometimes have a "32" attached to those names making them 6 or 7 chars long. So checking against a database of known files is not going to work. If they are checking file name patterns to get a suspected match, then it could work.

    It would be interesting to try to get someone who is infected to try their software out. I'll try and get someone form our forums to test this out. I think if it really worked that effectively, we would have heard about it before, but it is worth testing.

    Dexter...
  • edited October 2004
    Hey your guide is really good i had my doubts to weather it would work but it got rid of all of HSA and people should make sure they follow the guide completly before sating it dosent work because it does work. Cheers :-)
  • edited November 2004
    Hello, I followed your guide for home search assistant removal. Although I did it 3-4 times I could not get the virus off. I then noticed that a file kept running a suspicous script. the file name was system[1].exe I deleted it and it kept coming back. After this I decided to search the registry and I came across it in the registry too. So I deleted it there as well. I would suggest that adding something into your instructions just incase this happens to someone else. I also noticed that I was getting Bargain Buddy and sites showing up in my trusted zones. This also kept infecting me. I would suggest that people search their registry and for any of these files. I also found that I had iefeats.dll in my registry. I'm not sure how all of these files were connected. But they seem to be. 1 other file that was running on my sytem is Isexeng it had an executable file in my windows file called angelex.exe I had to stop the service and disable it then delete the angelex.exe file in my registry as well as do a complete search of the registry for those files. I am glad to say that after a little hard work I defeated the viruses on my computer. You do have clean out all of your temporary files even though the aboutbuster program says it cleans it out, Make sure you check the registry for any files you find that are viruses. They come back because there is more than one entry in the registry. I also found out when using the registry tool you need to be at the top of list when starting a new search. This caused me to miss a few files the first couple of times.
  • edited November 2004
    I have removed lots of spyware but this was the most difficult to remove... I just installed xp on this computer for my mother and i thought i was already going to have to reformat and install again.
  • edited November 2004
    I'm sorry, and I know this is gonna sound really pathetic, but how do I get this stuff on my computer to get rid of "HSA" or "Home Search Assisten"???
  • edited November 2004
    Got it sorted...don't worry
  • edited December 2004
    hi all...its been 5days combating this SOB cws-ns3/cws/hsa/search extender/shopping wizard spywares...its seems near impossible to do it...but after goin tru each registry file...i manage to kill 90% of their work...now still counting...these adware mutates around our hardisk...juz b xtra careful...
  • edited December 2004
    Hi - THANK YOU! I followed the instructions to the letter - it took 3 times - but it worked!! the only additional thing I did was to stop a service that's name was all funny characters and quarantine the source file as the instructions said to do with the others... don't know if that was the trick, but just glad to be rid of it!!! thanks again! ~Michael
  • edited December 2004
    I'd just like to declare my undying love for the 'Dexter'. Thank you so very much for providing a product that got rid of HSA and programs of that ilk. I've been trying for months to get rid of them and was nearing the point of violence. And if you could possibly help me with a program called TSA, it would be very appreciated. Thanks.
    Klink1327
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited December 2004
    Klink1327, we can help you get rid of all your spyware and malware.

    First, Register on the forums, then go to the Spyware, Virus, and Trojan discussion forum. Read the steps to take before posting, and it will show you how to post a HijackThis log for an expert to look at and tell you what to fix.

    Welcome to short-media :)
  • DexterDexter Vancouver, BC Canada
    edited December 2004
    Hi - THANK YOU! I followed the instructions to the letter - it took 3 times - but it worked!! the only additional thing I did was to stop a service that's name was all funny characters and quarantine the source file as the instructions said to do with the others... don't know if that was the trick, but just glad to be rid of it!!! thanks again! ~Michael


    We have had a couple of users mention a randomly named service. We We will look into it and see if we can add some info on that to our guides. Thanks for the feedback. If you read this, I would appreciate if you could email me some more info about your entry.

    Dexter...
  • edited December 2004
    Hi all... how do I remove this awful thing??? I have windows 98 and am NOT computer-literate. I found the instructions very difficult and finally gave up. Isn't there a simpler way? I even purchased software called Zerospyware and it couldn't remove it. Of course, Adaware and Spybot are useless. If someone has an update on software that removes it, I'd sure appreciate hearing about it...
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