"Thesearches" Browser Hijack- rwd941 (Bob)

Unknown

Hi,

I'm running Windows 98SE, and my normal browser is IE6. Yesterday (2/8/05) my browser began defaulting to the address http://search21.thesearches.com, which I assume is a hijack, since every time I reset to IE, then open a new browser window, "thesearches" is back.

It has a yellowish background and an extra toolbar and a clickable index to things like "casinos," "cheap hotels," "debt solutions," "divorce," and similar stuff, and the Favorites has a pile of porn sites, including "free rape sex galleries," "toys for men," etc. I guess this is what you folks call "scumware." I really don't like my kids seeing this stuff when they try to do their homework, and it kinda turns my stomach, too.

As you suggested, I updated both AdAware and Spybot and ran both. Only minor tracking cookies were found. Norton AV found nothing.

Per your suggestion, prior to posting this I tried several times to download HijackThis.exe, but all I get is an MSWord file, which in "Properties" is called a zip file, but I can't figure how to unzip it. ("Thesearches" would have fun with that one.) When I open it, it's all gibberish. I'm probably missing something obvious, and apologize for having to ask about this.

I saw the thread #3573, where Buckeye Sam was aiding bestbambini with the same apparent problem, so maybe we can add something to the body of knowledge with a second case.

Could ya help? Please?

Thanks,

Bob

rwd941

Hi,

I got HijackThis unzipped. Here's the Logfile. Also, I reran Spybot and found some entries for CoolWWWSearch.WCADW, which Spybot says it fixed.

Logfile:

Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.0
Scan saved at 7:12:42 AM, on 2/10/05
Platform: Windows 98 SE (Win9x 4.10.2222A)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 (6.00.2600.0000)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\KERNEL32.DLL
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSGSRV32.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MPREXE.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\mmtask.tsk
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSTASK.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COMMON FILES\SYMANTEC SHARED\CCEVTMGR.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COMMON FILES\SYMANTEC SHARED\CCSETMGR.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\IOMEGA\AUTODISK\ADSERVICE.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\TASKMON.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SYSTRAY.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\DDHELP.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\TBPANEL.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COMMON FILES\SYMANTEC SHARED\CCPD-LC\SYMLCSVC.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COMMON FILES\SYMANTEC SHARED\CCAPP.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\AHEAD\INCD\INCD.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\VIEWPOINT\VIEWPOINT MANAGER\VIEWMGR.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\IOMEGA\AUTODISK\ADUSERMON.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\IOMEGA\DRIVEICONS\IMGICON.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\AIM\AIM.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\WEBSHOTS.SCR
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WMIEXE.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SPOOL32.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\WINZIP\WZQKPICK.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT OFFICE\OFFICE\OUTLOOK.EXE
C:\HIJACKTHIS\HIJACKTHIS\HIJACKTHIS.EXE

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Bar = http://search21.thesearchs.com/search.html
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://search21.thesearchs.com
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchURL,(Default) = http://red.clientapps.yahoo.com/customize/ie/defaults/su/ymsgr/*http://www.yahoo.com
R3 - Default URLSearchHook is missing
O2 - BHO: AcroIEHlprObj Class - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\ADOBE\ACROBAT 5.0\READER\ACTIVEX\ACROIEHELPER.OCX
O2 - BHO: CNavExtBho Class - {BDF3E430-B101-42AD-A544-FADC6B084872} - C:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\NavShExt.dll
O2 - BHO: IE Search Toolbar Helper - {2C5175A2-ADF3-4F57-AB70-BA90FD60A383} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\IESEARCHTOOLBAR\IESEARCHTOOLBAR.DLL
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {53707962-6F74-2D53-2644-206D7942484F} - C:\Program Files\Spybot - Search & Destroy\SDHelper.dll
O3 - Toolbar: &Radio - {8E718888-423F-11D2-876E-00A0C9082467} - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSDXM.OCX
O3 - Toolbar: Norton AntiVirus - {42CDD1BF-3FFB-4238-8AD1-7859DF00B1D6} - C:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\NavShExt.dll
O3 - Toolbar: AIM Search - {40D41A8B-D79B-43d7-99A7-9EE0F344C385} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\AIM TOOLBAR\AIMBAR.DLL
O3 - Toolbar: IE Search Toolbar - {EB381422-F797-4A98-A266-9DC490821907} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\IESEARCHTOOLBAR\IESEARCHTOOLBAR.DLL
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ScanRegistry] C:\WINDOWS\scanregw.exe /autorun
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [TaskMonitor] C:\WINDOWS\taskmon.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SystemTray] SysTray.Exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [LoadPowerProfile] Rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvCplDaemon] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\NvCpl.dll,NvStartup
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [nwiz] nwiz.exe /install
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Gainward] C:\WINDOWS\TBPanel.exe /A
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Symantec Core LC] C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\CCPD-LC\symlcsvc.exe start
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ccApp] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccApp.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [InCD] C:\Program Files\Ahead\InCD\InCD.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Aqe] C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\AQE.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [2P3AKMW393@2RE] C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\Bxe0n.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ViewMgr] C:\Program Files\Viewpoint\Viewpoint Manager\ViewMgr.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [vrsskn] C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\vrsskn.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ADUserMon] C:\Program Files\Iomega\AutoDisk\ADUserMon.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Iomega Drive Icons] C:\Program Files\Iomega\DriveIcons\ImgIcon.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Deskup] C:\Program Files\Iomega\DriveIcons\deskup.exe /IMGSTART
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Srv32 spool service] C:\WINDOWS\System\spoolsrv32.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Symantec NetDriver Monitor] C:\PROGRA~1\SYMNET~1\SNDMON.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [LoadPowerProfile] Rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [SchedulingAgent] mstask.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [ScriptBlocking] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\Script Blocking\SBServ.exe" -reg
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [ccEvtMgr] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccEvtMgr.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [ccSetMgr] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccSetMgr.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [ADService] C:\Program Files\Iomega\AutoDisk\ADService.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [AIM] C:\PROGRAM FILES\AIM\aim.exe -cnetwait.odl
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Yahoo! Pager] C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Messenger\ypager.exe -quiet
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Srv32 spool service] C:\WINDOWS\System\spoolsrv32.exe
O4 - Startup: Webshots.lnk = C:\Program Files\Webshots\Launcher.exe
O4 - Startup: WinZip Quick Pick.lnk = C:\Program Files\WinZip\WZQKPICK.EXE
O8 - Extra context menu item: &AIM Search - res://C:\PROGRAM FILES\AIM TOOLBAR\AIMBAR.DLL/aimsearch.htm
O9 - Extra button: AIM - {AC9E2541-2814-11d5-BC6D-00B0D0A1DE45} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\AIM\AIM.EXE
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {4528BBE0-4E08-11D5-AD55-00010333D0AD} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\YAHOO!\MESSENGER\YHEXBMES0411.DLL
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Yahoo! Messenger - {4528BBE0-4E08-11D5-AD55-00010333D0AD} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\YAHOO!\MESSENGER\YHEXBMES0411.DLL
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {120E090D-9136-4b78-8258-F0B44B4BD2AC} - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\ms.exe (file missing)
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: MaxSpeed - {120E090D-9136-4b78-8258-F0B44B4BD2AC} - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\ms.exe (file missing)
O12 - Plugin for .spop: C:\PROGRA~1\INTERN~1\Plugins\NPDocBox.dll
O16 - DPF: {5D9E4B6D-CD17-4D85-99D4-6A52B394EC3B} (WSDownloader Control) - http://www.webshots.com/samplers/WSDownloader.ocx
O16 - DPF: {A17E30C4-A9BA-11D4-8673-60DB54C10000} (YahooYMailTo Class)

Thanks in advance for your help,

Bob

rwd941

My thanks to Buckeye Sam. I followed the advice he gave "thebestbambini" on eliminating this vile scumware called "Thesearches." So far, a day later, no sign of reinfection.

Sam, you're the hero of the month, at the very least!

Thanks again, Bob

Buckeye_Sam

Glad I could help, even if it wasn't directly.