Remove Home Search Assistant

13

Comments

  • DexterDexter Vancouver, BC Canada
    edited January 2005
    I have the same problem described with the home search assistant and not being able to get rid of it. I think it might be linked to a problem i have recently gotten with my AIM crashing as soon as i send/recieve an instant message. it works fine untill this happens. the AIM website said the two things might be linked. how do i get rid of home search assitant? i have run the newest versions of adaware, spybot, and norton to no avail.


    Page 1 of the Guide Article says....

    And if you do have trouble working through the guide on your own, help is only a click away! Register for our forums and post your Hijack This log in our Security - Spyware / Virus / Trojan forum. One of our experienced users will point you in the right direction to solve the problem.

    So click that link. At the top of every page you will see a link that says REGISTER. Register as a user, post a Hijack This log, then wait patiently. Someone will help you as soon as we are able.

    Dexter...
  • edited January 2005
    "I got you, you #*&@%!" That's exactly what I said when I ran 'HiJackThis' for the last time, and it came up clean !!! The Removal Guide is invaluable. Just a couple items to note. Update 'AboutBuster' in step one because it can't be done in Safe mode. Also, the Network Security Service entry in the registry was not obvious. It was the first entry in HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services , but the key name was just a bunch of odd characters, so look carefully.

    Anyway, thanks millions for the Guide !!!
  • edited January 2005
    it helped me a lot to kill that dirty hijack virus.. thanks very much..
  • edited January 2005
    Hey! Thanks for the great post, I fallowed the directions to the "T" and it seems to have worked. I did, while in safe mode, before the final boot, run system mechanics register cleaner, pet patrol, and ad aware. The pest patrol showed one of the files that HJT had listed, so I used regedit to delete it from its location in the registry. Strangely the folder in the registry had a title with a bunch of nonsencical characters, I just deleted the whole folder (probably risky). Anyway, thanks again, you guys rock!
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited January 2005
    ...Strangely the folder in the registry had a title with a bunch of nonsencical characters, I just deleted the whole folder (probably risky). Anyway, thanks again, you guys rock!
    That is probably so a registry search for keywords will come up dry. Looks like your instincts were quite correct.

    I'm glad your problem was solved - cheers to the Short-Media SVT Team! :cheers:
  • edited January 2005
    Hey, this is a nice thread however people seems to leave out the original reason to it. Are there any successful ways to remove this thing that any of you can fill us in on. I know I had it once before, and one sure way is to format, but thats something nobody wants to do, or should have to.
  • edited February 2005
    sorry try to register but can't I am have problems getting rid of this hsa spyware, can anyone help. i was readind many of the post what is this guide
  • DexterDexter Vancouver, BC Canada
    edited February 2005
    Hey, this is a nice thread however people seems to leave out the original reason to it. Are there any successful ways to remove this thing that any of you can fill us in on. I know I had it once before, and one sure way is to format, but thats something nobody wants to do, or should have to.


    Umm, yeah you could read the guide, and follow it, since it has helped thousands of people with their HSA problem successfully. If you end up formatting, you did not follow the guide correctly, or just have trouble identifying the bad files, in which case you can register here at Short-Media and post your Hijack This Log for assistance.

    Dexter...
  • DexterDexter Vancouver, BC Canada
    edited February 2005
    sorry try to register but can't I am have problems getting rid of this hsa spyware, can anyone help. i was readind many of the post what is this guide

    To read the Home Search Assistant Removal Guide, click HERE.

    If you need help, you have to regsiter, and post a Hijack This log. You can register by clicking HERE.

    Post your HJT log for help in our Spyware / Virus / Trojan forum HERE.

    Dexter...
  • edited February 2005
    Tried your procedure and three others. After all seems well I reboot PC and everything is back again. Even Norton didn't have any answers for me.
  • DexterDexter Vancouver, BC Canada
    edited February 2005
    Tried your procedure and three others. After all seems well I reboot PC and everything is back again. Even Norton didn't have any answers for me.


    Please follow the instructions in this thread, join the forum, and post an HJT log for help.

    Dexter...
  • edited February 2005
    Hi All,

    Do not follow the instructions of Dexter. I followed all the steps of the removal guide and this is the result... HSA is still their, all my printerdrivers are deleted, ad - Remove programs is missing in control panel, Word, excel, outlook do not work anymore... Dexter instead of helping, your advice is more corrupt than the spyware.... If you don't know about this, give no more advice, if you knew about the damage that your removal guide would involve, i wish you all bad luck in the world asshole
  • KwitkoKwitko Sheriff of Banning (Retired) By the thing near the stuff Icrontian
    edited February 2005
    First off, Dexter didn't write the removal guide. Second, yours is 1 of hundreds of removals that didn't go right. I think the problem lies with you and not with the removal guide.
  • edited February 2005

    ps: Dexter, you talk about "thousands" of people who were helped by your removal guide... I found 3 people on this site, 2 of those are unregistred.....
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited February 2005
    Nah, this is just a case of a dumbass user (you) that is not only so stupid that they managed to get HSA in the first place (and believe me, that requires you to be a computer illiterate idiot. I'm sorry to all of you that got it and managed to remove it, but it's the truth. Nobody that knows how to use a computer should get it in the first place) but you manged to **** up following the instructions to uninstall it. Congratulations to the latest "unregistered" user. You're the front runner in my "idiot of the year" competition for 2005. :thumbsup:

    Oh, and yes, I'm aware that I'm an arrogant ass. When you're as good as I am (and most of the other regulars here are) you have a right to be arrogant every once in a while. :p
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited February 2005
    Unregistered: If you aren't still busy screwing up your computer, why not take a look through the Spyware/Virus/Trojan Forums and check out the scores (if not hundreds) of people who Dexter has helped to successfully remove their spyware problems.

    He has spent countless hours helping people use the guide to fix their problems and deserves a lot of credit for it.

    So lay off. :cool:
  • edited February 2005
    I just was looking through there and since that forum was started a little over a year ago there's been 146 PAGES of issues that I'm sure Dex has had a hand in helping a goodly percentage of.

    Dex and I might not always see eye to eye on stuff but I will say this, he's a hell of a guy for taking the time to help everyone he has and if you'd registered and actually posted in the forum instead of sniping from the sidelines I'm certain he'd have helped you fix the issues you had.

    You need to remember every single one of the people helping the poor fools that get inflicted with spyware are doing so out of the kindness of their hearts, they're not making a red cent offa helping anyone but they are making the 'net safer for you, me and everyone else.

    I personally don't suffer fools well so I don't help but I have major admiration for the guys that do help, my hat's off to all of 'em.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited February 2005
    Yeah, the stats say otherwise, mr afraid-to-register..... this guide has over 13,000 views alone. You'd think that if he was giving out bad information, a few more people than ONE (you, in case you missed it), would complain..

    It's called peer review.. Google it.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited February 2005
    Oh, and Dexter did indeed write the removal guide. mediaman edited and posted it.

    Dexter did a damned fine job at it too. Bottom line: it works.
  • edited February 2005
    wayyyyy too much for my head @ 3 am.....maybe things will look better after some sleep....i am freaking out about this damn home search thing....i have enuff trouble with keeping my 16 yr old happy ;) one q....would this have come through aol aim? is what it has seemed to target with me....every time i uninstall and reinstall the aol aim, it keeps crashing when u go to send the im.....my daughter is very unhappy...was wondering if this had anything to do with the "new" aol 5.9 ???? had not noticed the home search/assistant etc b4 downloading the new aol.aim.....i am now back @ running the 4.8 version for her....which is very dark ages compared to the 5.9 but am not getting the illegal opts on it when sending an im like i was with the new version.......some1 pleaseeee helpppppppp meeeeeeee !!!!!!!!
  • edited February 2005
    btw....Happy Valentine's Day to all !!
  • edited February 2005
    Man.... whoever programmed this damned POS Home Search Assistant should be put in a Tiajuana, Mexico jail for life. I have two clients who i do computer tech work for and each office has about two infected computers EACH... :(


    I wish there was a great removal tool that i can just click and let it clean this evil software out of the systems!

    Thanks for the guide though, i'll be using it tomorrow on those hijacked systems.
  • DexterDexter Vancouver, BC Canada
    edited February 2005
    Hi All,

    Do not follow the instructions of Dexter. I followed all the steps of the removal guide and this is the result... HSA is still their, all my printerdrivers are deleted, ad - Remove programs is missing in control panel, Word, excel, outlook do not work anymore... Dexter instead of helping, your advice is more corrupt than the spyware.... If you don't know about this, give no more advice, if you knew about the damage that your removal guide would involve, i wish you all bad luck in the world *******

    ps: Dexter, you talk about "thousands" of people who were helped by your removal guide... I found 3 people on this site, 2 of those are unregistred.....


    Wow, I only just saw this post today, I missed it when it was first posted.

    Well Guest, I think you have seen the comments of my colleagues. This removal guide was written after hours and hours of hard work, testing and research by several members of the Short-Media staff. We tested fixes with users here, we combed the net for other information, and then I took all that information we collected and wrote the first step-by-step guide for removing the Home Search / CWS problem from people's computers. We did this on our own time, for absolutely free, to help out those who are not as computer knowledgeable as we are. We did not write this because we had problems ourselves: people like us do not usually get spyware problems...and if we do, we can remove them pretty easily. No, we do this for people like you. People who do not know how, or just don't bother to to protect themselves. We feel sorry for people who do not know how. We don't feel sorry for people who just don't bother. We help them nonetheless, but it's hard to feel sorry for people who know that bad things can happen to your computer if you surf the net stupidly, and don't take suitable measures to protect themselves.

    I'm guessing you fall into that second category. Why? Because the guide pretty clearly states that if you do not feel comfortable doing the removal yourself, or wanT any assistance, or have any problems, that you can register here at Short-Media (for free!) and get help from one of our volunteer staff (again, for free!) I'll be blunt: buddy, if you botched up the removal, I don't feel sorry for you. You could have asked for help, choose not too, made mistakes, and buggered up your system.

    So, you got yourself infected, you could not follow a simple guide that has helped thousands of others, you were too stubborn/foolish to ask for help, and you buggered up your computer. How is that my fault?? ;D

    As to your comment about how many people this guide has helped....as Primesuspect said, the guide as posted on the front page in article form has had over 13,000 views. The guide in it's forum post version (http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14915) has had almost 117,000 page views. From that, we have only had 500 posts asking for assistance (and alot of those just found us by search engines straight to the forum, and so never even read the guide before posting). That means that of the nearly 120,000 views of the guide, 99.6 percent of those views did not result in someone needing further assistance. We have no way of knowing how many of those people actually had a problem themselves or were helping someone else, but the numbers are pretty impressive. We do not have 120,000 posts telling us our guide doesn't work.

    But seeing as how you said you could not find any other people we have helped, you have demonstrated again just how inept you are at doing things on the internet. Why don't you check our fourms, and do a search. Or just manually check the Feedback forum, where, gee, people leave feedback for us. Here are several people who were grateful for our removal guide, were able to follow it easily, and were able to solve the problem without any futher assistance , then took the time to post or e-mail us:

    http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20665
    http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28084
    http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22870
    http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20310
    http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18653
    http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18776
    http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18869
    http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18746
    http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18697

    Do yourself some favours. Download and use Firefox. Use some anti-spyware protection, lots of free stuff available here:

    You can download those here - http://www.short-media.com/download.php?dc=69

    With some free explanations available here:

    http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14915

    Learn some more about the threats out there, and how to fight them:

    http://www.short-media.com/review.php?r=132
    http://www.short-media.com/review.php?r=252&p=4
    http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15488
    http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12261
    http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28346
    http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19537
    http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16748


    Now even though you were rude and left undeserved negative feedback, we will still help you. That's what we do here. If you need help, you have to regsiter, and post a Hijack This log. You can register by clicking HERE.

    Post your HJT log for help in our Spyware / Virus / Trojan forum HERE.

    Wait patiently for help...there are dozens of nice, polite people waiting in line ahead of you. :)

    Dexter...

    ///EDITED TO ADD: a couple more thoughts....

    - if you followed my instructions carefully, you can easily undo any problems you have caused. Hijack This creates backups of everything it removes, so as long as you installed it properly according to the instructions the guide, you can undo everything you did in HJT. And, if you followed my advice of quarantining suspect files instead of deleting them, then you can easily replace the files from the quarantine folder I advise users to make. So anything that has been done wrong can be undone easily...if you were smart enough to follow my instructions.

    - I have come to the assumption that you have to be a "troll." Any normal person with reasonable intelligence can follow the instructions in the guide, and will see that they could ask for help easily, and undo any mistakes made easily. So either you are really, really bad at following instructions, or you are a troll who posted those comments to try and piss us off. If that is indeed the case, I'm sorry I wasted any of my valuable time responding to you, but hopefully others may see my reply here and realize that if they do have problems, we are very willing to help, and that if they do make mistakes, if they have followed the guide properly, everything is correctable. :thumbsup:
  • edited March 2005
    I have had that search assistant - my search on my system for many months and I can not get rid of it. Every time I click on to the internet the blue bar comes up in the bottom of the sreeen. I have tried to uninstall it through control panel but all I get is a blank screen that pops up. Please help me remove this ASAP, it's making my computer very slow.

    Thanks
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2005
    You need to register and post your log in a new thread in the Spyware/Virus/Trojan Discussion Forum. :)
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2005
    profdlp wrote:
    You need to register and post your log in a new thread in the Spyware/Virus/Trojan Discussion Forum. :)
    The Sequel. :rolleyes:
  • edited March 2005
    I must be doing something wrong can you please explain how I register and post my log I thought I already did that above.

    thanks
  • KwitkoKwitko Sheriff of Banning (Retired) By the thing near the stuff Icrontian
    edited March 2005
  • edited March 2005
    This is the best, step-by-step guide, for removing all sorts of hijack crap. I look at several places, but most wanted you to buy their software. I have XOFTSpy and it could find the stuff, but could never remove it. Ad ware was the same. It's tough, and it took me about 2 hours to be thorough, but I am free!!! I used it to remove home search assisant, search extender, shopping wizard, 180 search assistant, cool web search and only the best. Man was I infected. I dealt with this stuff for about two weeks - what a pain. A big thanks to you all, and especially Dexter - whoever you are for this guide One extra thing, I saw alot of the web addresses in my "Trusted Zone" when I ran when I ran the Hijack this software. Since none of them look familiar I had Hijack this remove them. Thanks again

    Fred
  • edited March 2005
    your advise has removed search assistant from my system iam on WIN98,
    THANKS from
    INDIA
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