Remove Home Search Assistant

[MediaMan]

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 (http://www.short-media.com/review.php?r=259)

[Unregistered]

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!!!!

[Unregistered]

removed/edited by MM.

[Dexter]

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...

[Unregistered]

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

[Dexter]

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...

[Unregistered]

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.

[MediaMan]

I would recommend that everyone use this guide.

Words we love to hear. We are glad that we could help. :)

[Unregistered]

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.

[primesuspect]

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.

[Trogan]

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 :)

[Keebler]

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.

[Unregistered]

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

[gsmith00]

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.

[gsmith00]

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.

[Unregistered]

i own
u all suck
believe
im making a new one
:D
grtz tha M

[primesuspect]

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

[Unregistered]

Hallo thank's for this guide
it was very useful to cancel my problem
thanks thanks thanks
L.C
Italy

[Unregistered]

Hi,
Giant AntiSpyware boasts that their software will remove Home Search Assistent, Search Extender, and Shopping Wizard. Has anybody had success with this software.

[Dexter]

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...

[Unregistered]

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 :-)

[Unregistered]

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.

[Unregistered]

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.

[Unregistered]

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"???

[Unregistered]

Got it sorted...don't worry

[Anti-Spy (Guest)]

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...

[Unregistered]

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

[Unregistered]

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

[primesuspect]

Klink1327, we can help you get rid of all your spyware and malware.

First, Register on the forums (http://www.short-media.com/forum/register.php), then go to the Spyware, Virus, and Trojan discussion forum (http://www.short-media.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=57). Read the steps to take before posting (http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14915), 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 :)

[Dexter]

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...

[Unregistered]

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...

[Dexter]

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...


The Removal Guide does not work for Win 95 or 98. This is because the nature of the infection is different. Please join our forum (it is free) and post an HJT log in the SVT forum so we can help you remove it manually.

There is no simple software solution to this problem, this infection was designed to be difficult to remove, so that the scum who are behind this can keep you infected and keep making money from your page hits. But we can and will help you.

When you join our forum, send me a private message so I can make sure you get helped for the Win 98 version of this problem.

Dexter...

[Unregistered]

Hello,

I just wanted to say, I found your article via a google search, and I read your article on removing the Shitty Ass Search Assistant.. and it's ALL GONE! Thank you so much. Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! If it wasn't for the article, I think I would have tracked down the makers of the bullshit and killed them physically... I hate them all! Those people need to die! Anyways...thanks again.

Twisted -Owner Of:
www.vindictivebastard.com

[Dexter]

Hello,

I just wanted to say, I found your article via a google search, and I read your article on removing the ****ty Ass Search Assistant.. and it's ALL GONE! Thank you so much. Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! If it wasn't for the article, I think I would have tracked down the makers of the bull**** and killed them physically... I hate them all! Those people need to die! Anyways...thanks again.

Twisted -Owner Of:
www.vindictivebastard.com

Take a deep breath...exhale....deep breath...exhale....OK, feel better now...? :D

Glad we could help you Guest. Trust me, many, many people feel the exact same way you do. If you ever need help again, you now know where to find it.

And if you want to feel really good, do something good for mankind with your computer...click the link in my signature to find out about the Folding For A Cure project. :)

Dexter...

[Unregistered]

Just a short note of THANKS!
Ran HJT, hit clean, hard boot, safe mode, deleted files, presto chango - all is okay. Just a short note that there were numerous dll files to purge (all of them 55k in size in both winnt and system32 directories) and two dll's mfcpg32.dll and ntzq32.dll both in system32 (29k I believe). Great stuff.
Really appreciate it!

[Unregistered]

I am trying to download the fix for the Backdoor-BDD virus and I am unable to download the about_:Buster program. It keeps saying the website is unavailable.

How can I get this program another way?

[Black Hawk]

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4289.html

[Unregistered]

Hai,

I was suffering from the Home search assistant for about 2 months. I just searched with the Google and hoked into your website. Without a confidence I went through your document and followed all the steps you have provided in removing the home search assistent. And after finishing all the steps I restarted the System and opened the Internet Explorer. To my surprise the HOME SEARCH DAMN was "VANISHED" Thanks a lot for providing a superb tutorial on removing the Home Search Assistant. I wil recoment your reference for all those who have got this Problem.
All the best for you and provide contineus help like this...

[Unregistered]

First wanted to thanks for putting this information on the website. I was able to remove the pest by disabling the "Workstation Netlogon Service", removing the entries from System Registry, running Hijack This and About Buster. Found few more characteristic that I would like to mention. My OS was Windows XP SP1 Home Edition.
-- Files created by the malware are not just "exe"s or "dll"s but also "".log", ".dat", ".sys" etc. Files can be hidden. Additionally, one can locate these files by running MSDOS "find" command with the search string "onemoresearch"
-- The malware can attach itself to a bogus service (as Workstation NetLogon) or can include itself in the profile startup as a LocalServer. You can check this using the msconfig.exe utility and clicking the "startup" tab. You have to be an administrator to do this.
-- Combination of Adaware and HijackThis can identify most registry entries and files but not all.
-- You can download and run "regmon.exe" to identify program/process that changes the registry entry.
-- In Windows XP SP1, create another account for yourself with limited privileges (not an administrator provilege), so that any rogue program will not be able to modify the registry.
Good luck!!!

[Unregistered]

I am not able to get into the Services.msc screen. I receive a windows popup that sayd I need Internet Explorer 5.5 or greater. I have WinXP SP2 with IE 6.whatever. Any ideas as to what I can do becuase I can't do anything if I can't get into that screen

[Dexter]

I am not able to get into the Services.msc screen. I receive a windows popup that sayd I need Internet Explorer 5.5 or greater. I have WinXP SP2 with IE 6.whatever. Any ideas as to what I can do becuase I can't do anything if I can't get into that screen


Guest,

You are going to have to register as a user here (it's free) and post a Hijack This log in our SVT forum. Make sure to use HJT v1.99 as it will show the services in the scan.

Send me a private message whem you post your log so I can review it.

Dexter...

[Unregistered]

[Post Edited by Leonardo]

Mr. Unregistered,

Your posts are deleted in this thread. We'd like to help you, but let's do things properly. Don't Place HJT logs here. Please register at Short-Media, here (http://www.short-media.com/forum/register.php?), become a full member (no charge, no spam, no hassle); then post your problem and HJT log here (http://www.short-media.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=57)

[Unregistered]

Actually, Guest, if you read our removal guide, you will see that HSRemove is discussed in the guide, complete with a download link, no Googling necessary.

Post edited by moderator.

[Unregistered]

//Edited by Leonardo// Please see my post about registering.

[Dexter]

type in hsremove in google then download and then run the dam installer and its ****ing gone!!!

Actually, Guest, if you read our removal guide, you will see that HSRemove is discussed in the guide, complete with a download link, no Googling necessary.

You would also find that HSRemove is not 100% effective on it's own every time. It is a good first step, but is not always the last step, and we have dozens upon dozens of forum posts here which back that statement up.

Dexter...

[Unregistered]

Hi guys.
My problem is that i have search assistant installed on my computer and damn, ait can't be removed. My homepage always returns to 'about:blank'everytime i try to change it. Seems to me that the site is oz.msie.tv. Please help !

Thanks,
aryo

[Dexter]

Hi guys.
My problem is that i have search assistant installed on my computer and damn, ait can't be removed. My homepage always returns to 'about:blank'everytime i try to change it. Seems to me that the site is oz.msie.tv. Please help !

Thanks,
aryo


Guest,

Please see the comments above about getting help. The only way we can help you is if you register as a member here, then post an HJT log in our Security SVT forum. Otherwise we cannot help you.

Dexter...

[Unregistered]

yet I did not remove home search from add/remove program. help me how to remove it. I used all spywares

[Unregistered]

Strange. I can't seem to comment when logged in.

Anyway, I have a question in regards to your guide, which seems excellent for the most part. I'm just unlcear on what exactly I use the printed copy of the first HJT log for. Am I supposed to clear out anything that appeared on the second HJT log and not the first? or compare it in some way?

If I could get that one point cleared up, I think I could get this bastard fixed. Let me know, thanks
DarkTlaloc

[kORy]

ur removal guide isnt working. HSA must have created a new and improved version so we cannot delete everything. i hav tried next to everything. spybot, ad-aware se personal, hsremoval, even your own guide to remove the damn thing. but nothing is working on my computer. would service pack 2 have any to do with it "not" working? please reply to help me get rid of HSA once and for all!!!

[Unregistered]

I go about half way through this tedious process and said screw it I refomatted and reinstalled. Damn that was easy compared to this. Good luck if you are going to try.

[Unregistered]

One more thing if I would have followed it and not got it right it would be like a double wammy.

[Unregistered]

where is the guide i can't see it where cab i downdload it?

[profdlp]

where is the guide i can't see it where cab i downdload it?
Click on the word "here" in the very first post on page one of this thread. :)

[rbich]

I'm trying to remove HSA but the link http://www.atribune.org/downloads/AboutBuster.zip gives an error page I've gone to the site but I can't find it there their. Could you please tell me where I can download this file.

[profdlp]

...Could you please tell me where I can download this file.
Try this link. (http://www.spychecker.com/program/aboutbuster.html) :)

[Kwitko]

A reminder, DO NOT POST LOGS IN HERE!! They go in the SVT forum. Thanks.

[Unregistered]

Happened to one of my computers, and it stole all internet functionality from that computer. Not even windows update could function. I followed the step by step instructions and now am adware/spyware free. Great work and a heartfelt thank you for making this free and available to everyone. Anyone that has been hijacked, remember to unplug the computer for a hard shutdown. I forgot that step the first time and it came back.

[Unregistered (Guest)]

IM going to kill the son of a bitch ****er who created home shopping assistent,search extender, and shopping wizard!!!

[Unregistered]

This guide did the trick! It was the most comprehensive one I could find! Thanks!!!

[Unregistered]

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.

[Dexter]

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 (http://www.short-media.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=57). 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 (http://www.short-media.com/forum/register.php?). Register as a user, post a Hijack This log, then wait patiently. Someone will help you as soon as we are able.

Dexter...

[Motobergie]

"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 !!!

[Unregistered]

it helped me a lot to kill that dirty hijack virus.. thanks very much..

[Unregistered]

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!

[profdlp]

...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:

[Unregistered]

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.

[Unregistered]

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

[Dexter]

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...

[Dexter]

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. (http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18846)

If you need help, you have to regsiter, and post a Hijack This log. You can register by clicking HERE. (http://www.short-media.com/forum/register.php?referrerid=299)

Post your HJT log for help in our Spyware / Virus / Trojan forum HERE. (http://www.short-media.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=57)

Dexter...

[Unregistered]

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.

[Dexter]

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...

[Unregistered]

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

[Kwitko]

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.

[Unregistered]

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.....

[Geeky1]

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

[profdlp]

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:

[madmat]

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.

[primesuspect]

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.

[primesuspect]

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.

[Unregistered]

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 !!!!!!!!

[Unregistered]

btw....Happy Valentine's Day to all !!

[Unregistered]

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.

[Dexter]

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. (http://www.short-media.com/forum/register.php?referrerid=299)

Post your HJT log for help in our Spyware / Virus / Trojan forum HERE. (http://www.short-media.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=57)

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:

[Unregistered]

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

[profdlp]

You need to register and post your log in a new thread in the Spyware/Virus/Trojan Discussion Forum (http://www.short-media.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=57). :)

[profdlp]

You need to register and post your log in a new thread in the Spyware/Virus/Trojan Discussion Forum (http://www.short-media.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=57). :)
The Sequel. :rolleyes:

[Unregistered]

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

[Kwitko]

Go here and register: http://www.short-media.com/forum/register.php?

Then go here and post a log: http://www.short-media.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=57

[Unregistered]

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

[Unregistered]

your advise has removed search assistant from my system iam on WIN98,
THANKS from
INDIA

[Unregistered]

UM where do I find this removal guide?

[Kwitko]

http://www.short-media.com/review.php?r=259

[hallie06]

since this morning i realized that i've got home search assistant in my comp, along with shopping wizard and some other search program. i can't get rid of it. i have adaware v.6, and i dont know how old that version is. is there an effective way to get rid of this stupid hsa?

thanks for your time :)

[profdlp]

Hi, hallie06, welcome to Short-Media. :)

Follow the guide found here. (http://www.short-media.com/review.php?r=259) You may also want to post a HijackThis (http://www.short-media.com/download.php?dc=69) log in a new thread in our Spyware/Virus/Trojan Discussion forum (http://www.short-media.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=57) along with a description of your problem.

Our crack SVT Team will be happy to help you out. :thumbsup:

[Unregistered]

Applause! great work. "Normal" (hehehe) blue collar people like me need friends like you and well appreciate it. Thanks again.

[ronbo]

This is the first forum I've ever seen where an Unregistered Guest can post in the forum. Whats with that?? I thought that was the main reason to register in the first place.. :confused: :confused:

[profdlp]

Guests are permitted to comment on articles which appear on the S-M Front Page. (http://www.short-media.com/index.php) :)

Unregistered "blue collar" Guest: Glad you found the article helpful. :thumbsup:

[ronbo]

Thanks profdlp, for getting me straight on that. The article was very interesting reading for sure. That search assistant sounds like a nasty thing to have on ones computer.....

[Unregistered]

Thank you ... thank you ... thank you ... and I hope that the bastard who wrote this nasty pernicious piece of evil burns (slowly and painfully and forever) in hell ... it took me three trys through the Guide, but I believe a wooden stake was finally driven into its vicious heart.

Thank you.

[Unregistered]

Hi, I successfully removed Home Search Assistant with this guide. Thanks

[Unregistered]

where is this guide located?

[profdlp]

where is this guide located?
Follow the guide found here. (http://www.short-media.com/review.php?r=259) :)

[Unregistered]

"hsremove" (http://hsremove.com/) seems to have done the job, rebooted and everything is fine.
excellent work by the writer, I even considered donating (poor mofo over here)

I was lucky enough to try it out before I started poking around, thnx gsmith00 for mentioning it

[elementreaper]

can u help me one on one how to delete it...cas that other guy who said messed up his computer kind of freaked me out......

[Dexter]

can u help me one on one how to delete it...cas that other guy who said messed up his computer kind of freaked me out......


http://www.short-media.com/review.php?r=259

Follow the steps there. If you do them properly, you will not mess your computer up. If you need help, follow the instructions in this link to and post an HJT log in our SVT forum:

http://www.short-media.com/forum/showpost.php?p=172584&postcount=2

Dexter...