Winshow Popup and 8ad.com = IE startup error

Greetings all,

First off, sorry if this has already been discussed (I did a forum search and read a dozen or so threads, but didn't see my issue listed)...

In any event, here's my question:

Recently my home system (XP w/ IE 5.5xxxxx.....sorry, I'm not at home and don't have the exact specs) started producing the infamous "IE has encountered and error and must close" alert. This results in the browser window closing immediately and subsequent attempts suffering the same fate. Occasionally XP's error diagnosis is allowed to linger and reports this as the "possible" cause: Winshow popups invoked by 8ad.com. Initially I could get IE to function after a handful of attempt and/or a reboot or two, but now its dead in the water. I reinstalled IE to no avail. I visited 8ad.com's site and found at the bottom of the page 2 options: Download their Uninstall.exe (like I trust them) or Remove some program name (that doesn't exist) via the control panel Add/Remove tool. I took the liberty of emailing their support address (yeah, like that isn't a giant void in space)...but got no reply. Microsoft suggests using PestPatrol.com's software ($40) to "try" and fix the problem, but are no way endorsing and/or affiliated w/ the company (puuuh-leeez). Note: Using NetScape Nav 7+ works fine.

Based on what I've seen and read here, I suspect its adware/spyware of some fashion and a simple cleansing of my system will remedy the situation. There are a myriad of possible solutions (Google toolbar, AdAware, SpyBot, etc...), all of which I have downloaded, but have yet to go any further at this point.

Any suggestions to minimize the task before me?

Thanks,
GG

 

Well i definitely reccomend running Ad-aware and Spybot search and Destroy
make sure you update them first

Or try some manual removal here
http://www.pestpatrol.com/PestInfo/w/winshow.asp

 

Uninstaller option

Any idea about that uninstaller they reference? I'm leary of an .exe offered by the culprit.

( There is an uninstaller at http://00hq.com/uninstall.exe )

 

Yeah sorry man never heard of that, guess you take that on at your own risk

 

Adaware question - followup

Many thanks for the helpful info, HiJackThis was next on my list...more for curiosity sake at this point.

I ran Adaware, located a handful of Malware and/or "possible browser hijack attempt" culprits, deleted them and presto!....IE was up and running.

Question 1: Is everything found by Adaware considered "crap"...(Malware, DataMiners, Old Reg files, etc)? Meaning, can I delete all those based on Adaware's pretense of finding such extraneous extras? Since it does a backup of the files, I figure I'll try and see what happens. I ask because I didn't see a recommendation w/in the manual about what to do w/ the results....I'm assuming that by its very nature, Adaware seeks out only BS and reports on it (in my example, I deleted 50 of the 248 items logged...leaving a lot of questionables behind). There were items in there that I have never heard of (makes sense, Ad/Spyware doesn't want to be found), so I'd hate to delete a file/folder that is an auto-updater for say, my vid card.

Question 2: Unless I have an ad-blocker running in the background, are those lil buggers [malware files] going to repopulate everytime I startup...and remain resident until I kick their sorry arse out once again? From the looks of other folks experiences, it would be a good idea to run a handful of programs to catch items that slip past the others.

Thanks again,
GG

 

Good for you! It's amazing what a handy little utility can do.

I routinely delete everything Ad-aware finds, never had a problem. As you pointed out, it backs up evrything in Quarantine in case you want to restore anything. Also the Ignore List is handy to exclude anything you want to keep.

SpywareBlaster will help keep the junk from getting on your machine in the 1st place. Running multiple proggies (e.g Ad-aware, Spybot and SpywareBlaster) is a good defense strategy.

 

Hi Grooveguy
Ive always deleted everything found with Ad-aware and never had a problem,and ive run it on plenty of machines

You may find a lot of the things found are just tracking cookies,i generally clean all my cookies out manually, which means i rarely have anything found, but as you said this program makes a back-up anyway so if you do encounter a problem its pretty painless to fix

Yes the pop-ups will re-occur if you havent completly removed the spyware, so please make sure you run Spybot search and destroy as well to pick up anything Ad-aware may have missed

Make sure you have a look in the Tips Tricks and How to forum here at majorgeeks if you do try to analyse your hijack log as theres some real useful information there

Also for a free pop-up stopper youy cant go far wrong with the Google Toolbar, and remember all the programs listed here can be downloaded over at the main Majorgeeks site


EDIT: hi Alan sorry didnt see you there

 

I will be equipping my system w/ new toys and proggies to combat the evils of the universe. Thanks for the insight and such. Glad I stumbled across the site...most helpful!

Cheers,
GG