Hello again...

Unknown

Hello, remember me? The miracle workers at this site helped my get rid of Home Search Assistant a few months ago. For that, you have my infinite gratitude. But another problem has come up. Occasionally, a window appears, called the "websearch downloader" that claims to be downloading a "websearch toolbar" and the only way to close it is to go into the task manager and end the task. I have used F-Protect and Ad-Aware SE and this thing still comes up. Could you help me out?

Here's my HijackThis log, running in normal mode:

Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.0
Scan saved at 10:25:46 PM, on 3/30/2005
Platform: Windows XP (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP1 (6.00.2600.0000)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\Program Files\FSI\F-Prot\fpavupdm.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VS7Debug\mdm.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\FSI\F-Prot\F-StopW.EXE
C:\Program Files\Roxio\Easy CD Creator 5\DirectCD\DirectCD.exe
C:\AIM\aim.exe
C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\WinTools\WSup.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\WinTools\WToolsA.exe
C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe
C:\hjt\HijackThis.exe

F2 - REG:system.ini: UserInit=C:\WINDOWS\System32\Userinit.exe
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {87766247-311C-43B4-8499-3D5FEC94A183} - C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\WinTools\WToolsB.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [F-StopW] C:\Program Files\FSI\F-Prot\F-StopW.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AdaptecDirectCD] "C:\Program Files\Roxio\Easy CD Creator 5\DirectCD\DirectCD.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [PaciSoft] C:\WINDOWS\System32\pacis.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [exp.exe] C:\WINDOWS\System32\exp.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [WinTask driver] C:\WINDOWS\System32\wintask.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [WinTools] C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\WinTools\WToolsA.exe
O4 - Startup: SendPhotos For Outlook Express.lnk = C:\Program Files\Novatix\SendPhotos\spoe.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: &AIM Search - res://C:\Program Files\AIM Toolbar\AIMBar.dll/aimsearch.htm
O8 - Extra context menu item: &Download with &DAP - C:\PROGRA~1\DAP\dapextie.htm
O8 - Extra context menu item: Download &all with DAP - C:\PROGRA~1\DAP\dapextie2.htm
O9 - Extra button: Run DAP - {669695BC-A811-4A9D-8CDF-BA8C795F261C} - C:\PROGRA~1\DAP\DAP.EXE
O9 - Extra button: AIM - {AC9E2541-2814-11d5-BC6D-00B0D0A1DE45} - C:\AIM\aim.exe
O15 - Trusted Zone: *.frame.crazywinnings.com
O15 - Trusted Zone: *.static.topconverting.com
O16 - DPF: Yahoo! Chinese Checkers - http://download.games.yahoo.com/games/clients/y/cct0_x.cab
O16 - DPF: Yahoo! Cribbage - http://download.games.yahoo.com/games/clients/y/it1_x.cab
O16 - DPF: Yahoo! Pool 2 - http://download.games.yahoo.com/games/clients/y/potd_x.cab
O16 - DPF: {1DF36010-E276-11D4-A7C0-00C04F0453DD} (Stamps.com Secure Postal Account Registration) - https://secure.stamps.com/download/us/registration/3_0_0_834/sdcregie.cab
O16 - DPF: {BE5431D2-0F30-11D4-89D9-00C04F509C0A} (SDCInstaller Class) - https://secure.stamps.com/download/us/cab/stamps/stamps.cab?r=0.409881591796875&file=stamps.cab
O17 - HKLM\System\CCS\Services\Tcpip\..\{5C6BA900-B0A9-4EF3-841E-B90114821D29}: NameServer = 209.208.42.132 209.208.25.18
O18 - Protocol: ms-help - {314111C7-A502-11D2-BBCA-00C04F8EC294} - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Help\hxds.dll
O23 - Service: F-Prot Antivirus Update Monitor - FRISK Software - C:\Program Files\FSI\F-Prot\fpavupdm.exe

Thank you once again...

Buckeye_Sam

Follow these steps to get rid of Wintools. Although it doesn't appear to be fully installed so you may not have the service running.

Wintools may have an entry in the Add/Remove Programs Control Panel. If so, it may be easy to get rid of. If not, there are still ways to remove it from your system.

For either solution:


Reboot into Safe Mode.
Restart your computer and as soon as it starts booting up again continuously tap F8. A menu should come up where you will be given the option to enter Safe Mode. To get back to normal mode just restart the computer as you normally would.


Once in Safe Mode:
Click on the Start Button, Control Panel. Double-click on Administrative Tools then on Services.
Look for a service called Wintools for IE Service. double-click it to open, then click the Stop button and change the "Startup type" to Disabled.
(If the service is not there, no worries...all the better!)

Next, right-click on the Windows Taskbar and select Task Manager.
In the Processes tab, look for WToolsA.exe, WToolsS.exe and WSup.exe. If any or all of these exist, right-click on each one and select End Process Tree, and answer affirmatively to any confirmation questions.

At this point, you can check the Add/Remove Programs Control Panel. If there is an uninstaller for Wintools, try running it now. I would still recommend proceeding through the rest of this fix even if there is an uninstaller, however.

Now, please open a command prompt (Start button -> Run, type cmd and click "OK"). at the prompt, type
regsvr32 /u /s "C:\Program Files\Toolbar\toolbar.dll" then <ENTER>.
Then type exit to close the command prompt window.

Now, we can proceed to delete these directories, located at:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\WinTools <-- Delete the BOLD directory.
C:\Program Files\Toolbar <-- Delete the BOLD directory.


Reboot and post a new log.