what IS ads234????

this spyware has been hijacking alot of my IE pages and its starting to tick me off... i tried S&D and spysweeper and none of them detected any thing.... any suggestions guys? and girls?
4,991 views 19 replies
Reply #1 Top
LINK
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Reply #2 Top
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,11220070~mode=flat

Same method, only heres the third link displayed.
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I am not sure but I think my sister has that or something like it. I install SP2, run spybot, and Adaware, get rid of about 1000 different types of ad and spyware crap that she says she didn't download but it self installs (I believe her partially) and after all of that I still get pop-up on her screen (without even opening explorer mind you, the pop up just pops up).

Her computer is at a state where you can not change the home page to anything other than what it is set to (a work around to that is to set it back to default settings).

On top of all this, all her system restore points are gone. Even the ones I put in there the last time I fixed her system.

Guess its time to do a reinstall.





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Reply #4 Top
Joe - depending on what you've got popping up - you might want to check this out

http://www.grc.com/stm/ShootTheMessenger.htm

It's one of Steve Gibson's Three Musketeers.
Reply #5 Top
this spyware has been hijacking alot of my IE


Well I would want to get rid of the spyware. However, I would also push IE right off the plank' with it.

Ahoy matie' Arr. 'splAsh'
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Reply #6 Top
Thank you, Journeyman! I've been a fan of Steve Gibson for years. But, I also haven't been to his site in years. I knew nothing about the Three Musketeers. I installed and ran them all. I feel so much better. I also ran Shields Up for the hell of it (I have ZA Pro), and I am indeed running in full stealth mode. I feel wayyyyy much better.



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Reply #7 Top
I like that his stuff is compact and very often testable. Also they tend to be switch on and off without any problems. I like to keep copies of stuff I've used in the one folder so I can keep track of the little changes I've made and have the program I need to reverse them if necessary within easy reach.
Reply #8 Top
You're going to need HijackThis http://www.spychecker.com/program/hijackthis.html
run it and look through the log, delete anything that has ads234 in the name. If you're not sure about something, DON'T delete it. Do a Google search for anything you're not sure about. Some items that look bad are really things you need.
You may need to reboot after removal, then run HJ again and see if it still shows up. Sometimes it takes 2 or 3 removals&reboots to get rid of a hijacker.
Once you've cleaned everything out [you should also run Adaware SE, get it at link below] install Spyware Blaster and SpywareGuard http://majorgeeks.com/downloads31.html
Trash IE except for Windows updates, use Firefox, Mozilla, or Opera, they'er not susceptible to hijacking.
I just did all this for my cousin a few days ago. Hijackers aren't removed with regular spyware detectors, the only tool that will work, short of a reinstall, is Hijackthis.
You'll probably have to install Firefox, or another non-IE browser to be able to get some of the other tools.
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If you do insist on using IE after you get things cleared up, you should install BHODemon (get it at MajorGeeks link) It alerts you if someone tries to install Browser Helper Objects.
Reply #10 Top
You'll probably have to install FireFox, or another non-IE browser to be able to get some of the other tools.


THAT IS FOR SURE!!! I think some of the spyware people know about this site because I tried to get on here through my sisters computer to search for links about spyware and stuff like that and I could barely get to the page without being redirected



I installed FireFox and I am starting to see that I am going to have to keep searching her computer for stuff because she still gets pop-ups.

I also believe that her computer is messing with the DSL connection. Probably because it is being used as a ad port for advertisers to send ads around the net.

Here are the list of problems:

Redirected pages
Un-changeable (faded out) home page option in IE
Pop ups without even opening Internet Explorer
Pop ups coming from the hard drive itself (the C drive)
SP2 says virus alert is not working even though its on
Programs re-install themselves


My sister has all sorts of crap downloaded programs on her computer. Including the program Kazaa (I told her about that but apparently she didn't listen).


Speaking of switching to FireFox, Opera, Netscape, Safari and such... some sites don't even know they exist!! FireFox, for example, use is going up (for some sites its 25 percent of their users... mostly tech sites) but the site does not support it. My sister LOVES her Yahoo Launch but it does not support any of the Mozilla stuff.





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Reply #11 Top
KazaaBegone: http://www.spychecker.com/program/kazaagone.html
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http://help2go.com/postt9235.html&sid=49b62f79f13b73a359601d5e92cc7c8b
http://help2go.com/postt9468.html&sid=49b62f79f13b73a359601d5e92cc7c8b
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4086.html
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Don't know happened but ended up with two posts. Links above are to forums where other people have gotten hit with ads1234. Also a post about why you shouldn't use Kazaa, and a link to a removal tool for CoolWebSearch.
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you can use cw shredder to remove cool web search and other browser hijackershttp://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,23551,RSS,RSS,00.asp
spybot spysweeper and adaware won't remove them
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Reply #15 Top

JTB: I was halfway through your post and I was thinking: I'll put 100$ on the table that his sister has Kazaa installed!   Geeh, I hate being right sometimes.

Remove Kazaa with KazaaBeGone and her PC will be 1000% better. If she absolutely wants to use Kazaa, dig around and you'll find KLite Resurection. Or something like that.
I spent a few hours on a friends' computer fixing what his teenage kids messed up. I was afraid I'd have to reformat, but surprisingly, just getting rid of a lot of crap, including Kazaa, made his computer working like a new one.

Reply #16 Top
I spent a few hours on a friends' computer fixing


Hav'nt we all.

I come to the rescue atleast twice a month for my friends PC's.
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I keep trying to tell them. It is not really Norton popping up.

If you catch my drift'''
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:O:

Yeah Paxx... Kazaa.

I'll take a look at my sisters computer again later today. Its so bad that its causing problems with our DSL connection... at least I think it is. We tend to have to restart the DSL modem far too many times when she turns on her computer.

.. and yes, according to our service, we can have up to 4 computers on the line, so it not that!



somewhere on this board there was something about going to your router and changing the setting to cut off some of these bad websites and stuff. I must find that. I am also going to turn my sisters account into a sub account... (do you think she will notice??? )

I just read an article about ad-ware and spyware making the internet... well, a jungle.



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Reply #19 Top
ok i got hijack this and i hope it works, i will run it 5 times and tell ya what happens ... i also have firefox but thats for playin online games on so i dunno i will try and see what happens thanks all..