Attached Link: http://www.google.se/search?q=dso+exploit&ie=UTF-8&hl=eng&meta=

Message edited on: 08/08/2004 04:53

I find that I can quite safely delete anything that spybot chucks up in red, like these. Hasn't given me any problems up till now doing that.

Thanks for the link. My AV is up-to-date, and I downloaded and installed all MS security updates last week, but obviously you might as well be p*****g in the wind as try to have any security with Windoze. I used Spybot to delete the DSOexploit thingies, so fingers crossed. My nephew, who's not very computer savvy, has an unusable pc at the moment. He can't even go online any more, his browser has been taken over by porn. I think it must be one of those 'fun' coolwebsearch things. Haven't a notion how to get rid of it, he has Win98, so it's not possible to go back to an earlier configuration like it is with XP.

Reformat is the best way. Sounds like that system needs it. :)

Yup, unfortunately I think you're right :o( Luckily he doesn't use it for anything but internet, so he doesn't have 5 years' worth of work to lose!!

Just make sure that he has the windows update files, and an antivirus installed before he logs on the web. Hell get Sasser otherwise. Zonealarm is also a good thing.

You are safe in deleting the stuff Spybot finds... I have yet to have any trouble with doing so...

There's a worm going around called "sandboxer". Do a search for information about it on the web. I don't think you're going to like what you find, because I think that's what you might have.

also, it may not be a virus, but 'malware', a background download by going to the 'wrong' page. I have c(r)ool Web Search stuck on my machine. Here's how bad it is..
It downloads itself to your System32 directory as a randomly-named dll file, and executes on startup. I creates registry entries to change your home page to 'about:blank', then puts a few others in there as well. If you use anti-spyware, it randomly re-names the dll. I have the following running; Spybot, Add-aware, CWShredder, Spy Sweeper, Killbox, and the score is Cool Web Search 1, all other programs 0. It finally 'killed' IE altogether, so I use Mozilla now. I got IE back, but it immediately became infected again.
This is how they work..why do a virus, when you can @#$% up someones' machine so much more effectively this way...rant over..;)
Most of the above programs are free, and frequently updated. You can fight some of this stuff to a draw, but I wouldn't be surprised if I have to reformat the Hard drive to get rid of it..so far, I'll just use mozilla (which is free, too)

hmmmnnnnn....I deleted it earlier, just ran Spybot again and the same thing is back :o( I know I don't have the dreaded CoolWebSearch because when someone visits my website with an infected machine it shows up in the Raw Log Files. So I've visited and checked, nothing showing in the details about my pc. Next month's competition subject should be an instrument of torture for the a******* who dream up these things and distribute them.

A tip: If your browser is kidnapped (after checking out some love sites :-) you can run a built-in Win XP feature -the SystemRecover! Just go back to a day when everthing worked and it will heal your browser.

Attached Link: http://lavasoft.element5.com/software/adaware/

I do the same as attileus. So far system recover has always worked for me to restore my system and get rid of @#$% malware. Of course most of the folks who over-clock and hotrod their PCs in quest of every last ounce of performance they can wrest from their system will have this feature turned-off 'cause it "bloats the OS and slows down the computer",lol.

I did a system restore back to July 1st, ran Spybot, and the bugger's still there :o(( Next step ttops lavasoft link, I think. I've changed over to Mozilla, think I'll stay with it from now on.

Lavasoft's free Ad-Aware 6.1 keeps me safe.

Any cool web search probs, download cwshredder this kills most problems. I had a similair problem for a while with a browser hijack and tried spybot, adaware etc only cwshredder solved my problem.

Like orbital said CWS Shredder is the ONLY way to go, trust me, I got CoolWeb Search which was installed trough some freeware i found on the web, so, you always get what do you pay for, lol !!!

Attached Link: http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html

Try an app called Pest Patrol(do a google search), It gets stuff even Adaware and Spybot misses,.........it costs $49 US(and there is no workable demo) but it gets EVERYTHING ! Even gets rid of stuff from the infamous N case 180 Solutions and Gator. Just be sure to quarrantine the offenders first.

Attached Link: http://www.spychecker.com/program/hijackthis.html

http://forums.techguy.org/index.php

You will get good help from them in cleaning the crap out of your system.

There is a Quick Start that shows you how to use HijackThis at the following url...

http://www.tomcoyote.org/hjt/

Hope this helps a little.... it can help prevent the need for reformatting. Yep Sackrat... I use PestPatrol, SpyBot, and HijackThis along with McAfee Antivirus. It is a shame that people have to run so many programs to keep the junk stuff off their computers.

Message edited on: 08/08/2004 15:19

yeah, you might want to think about reformatting, and if you were using IE before thats part or better yet most of the problem. IE has more holes than swiss cheese. Use a more secure browser like Mozilla Firefox or Opera. I also use Adaware which has been mentioned as well as antivir. It has kept me pretty good thus far.

I hate to be the party pooper, but this version has beaten and laughed at
Ad-aware
(Can find the results of CWS, but not delete it) Hijack this
Spy Sweeper
(finds it, but can't delete it
Cwshredder (the latest version can't even find it
And I sympathize with poguemahone (sp?), I have a little fantasy involving finger bones and a ball-peen hammer...and I'm usually a nice guy..;)

DSO exploit, as far as I know is a know hole in Internet Explorer. Just running Mozilla or Opera will not do the trick (it will still show up). IE is in a minor way part of the Windows OS. Run IE6 service pack from microsoft.com and update Spybot and AdAware definitions should get rid of it.

I guess I'll just have to live with it :o( I updated everything (spybot, adaware, IE6 service pack)...close, but no cigar Also, I reformatted my nephew's hd last night - spybot found 146 malware items, that refused to die. I can't even see the logic in all that stuff, because the pc was unusable - I couldn't even get the Start button to work - so you HAVE to reformat. If the malware was a bit less destructive guys like him wouldn't even know it was there, would surf blissfully on, which is what you'd think the malware people want.

Awww, you're a good Auntie Pog!

There is a way to beat some of these things. It involves booting up in safe mode (disables all but essential startup items) and then figuring your way around regedit. If that fails for some reason, then it's time to reformat.

nope..did the safe mode/delete dll/reboot..they though of that..but it would beat some of them..;) There's a command that kills individual named processes, now if I could just remember it..

I'm p****s that I'm paying annually for Norton AV and Internet Securiyt with automatic live update and it didn't catch whatever it is. Seems like I'da been as well off with a freebie AV glower