Conduit removal

Raphee · Jan 20, 2014

I installed utorrent today. It also installed the Conduit with itself. The toolbar initially appeared on all my browsers: Opera, Chrome and IE.

I uninstalled the utorrent application, but the toolbar remained. I ran System Restore to a few days back, but windows said there was an error in restoring System.

At start up a pop up comes up with the message:

there is a problem starting up. The following file cannot be found: c:user/dell/appdata/local/conduit/background container.dll

I then read the Run and Read Me file in Malware removal on Majorgeeks. Did all the steps suggested and am attaching the log files.

As of now the Conduit toolbar has gone from the following browsers: IE, Firefox, Opera. It is still present in Chrome.

I also sense the system is running slow. Please advise.

TimW · Jan 20, 2014

Rerun Hitman and have it remove all the items under PUPs.

http://imageshack.us/a/img841/7292/thisisujrt.gif Please download Junkware Removal Tool to your desktop.

Shut down your protection software now to avoid potential conflicts.

Run the tool by double-clicking it. If you are using Windows Vista or Seven, right-mouse click it and select Run as Administrator.

The tool will open and start scanning your system.

Please be patient as this can take a while to complete depending on your system's specifications.

On completion, a log (JRT.txt) is saved to your desktop and will automatically open.

Attach JRT.txt to your next message.

Now reboot and rescan with Hitman and attach that log as well,

Be sure to tell me how things are running.

Raphee · Jan 20, 2014

Hello Tim, I have followed the steps you instructed.

Please find the JRT and Hitman logs.

I can't see the Conduit taskbar on Chrome right now.

Thanks for the prompt advise so far. Waiting for your next steps.

Raphee · Jan 21, 2014

Hi Tim,

Forgot to mention in reply below that the popup is still appearing at start up.

Also the browser speed seems better. Need to watch more laptop more though before I can confirm.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

TimW · Jan 21, 2014

Is conduit still showing up in any browser?

Raphee · Jan 21, 2014

None of the browsers show conduit. I have IE, Chrome, Firefox and Opera installed.

TimW · Jan 22, 2014

And you are still getting the pop up when you reboot? I don't see it in any of your run keys.

Raphee · Jan 22, 2014

Yes, the popup is very much there. No doubts about it. I have rebooted multiple times to see.

Raphee · Jan 23, 2014

This is the screen shot of the popup that appears.

Have been unable to send image of screenshot, so I am sending it as attachment. (Please provide instructions for inserting image into reply.)

Thanks

TimW · Jan 23, 2014

Since it is not showing up in your logs, please go to start / run and type in msconfig. When that opens, go to the last tab ( startup ) and see if it exists there.

Raphee · Jan 23, 2014

Tim, can you please provide that last set of instructions again. I seem unable to do what you told me. Thanks.

TimW · Jan 24, 2014

What part of the instructions are you having a problem with?

Raphee · Jan 24, 2014

TimW said: ↑

Since it is not showing up in your logs, please go to start / run and type in msconfig. When that opens, go to the last tab ( startup ) and see if it exists there.
Click to expand...

This set of instructions. It sounds silly, but I am unable to do this. Can you say the same instructions in other simpler words?

chaslang · Jan 25, 2014

Also, please download SystemLook_x64 from one of the links below and save it to your Desktop.
Download Mirror #1
Download Mirror #2
Double-click SystemLook.exe to run it.
Copy the content of the following codebox into the main textfield:
Code:
:regfind
Conduit
BackgroundContainer
PC Speed Maximizer
MyPC Backup
:filefind
Conduit
Click the Look button to start the scan.

When finished, a notepad window will open with the results of the scan. You can just close this notepad window since the log is already saved on your Desktop. Be patient! It may look like it is not doing anything, but it takes awhile for this to scan thru your whole system look for matches.

Please attach the SystemLook.txt log found on your Desktop to next reply.

Raphee · Jan 26, 2014

Please find attached the log file from Systemlook_x64

Thanks for the help so far.

chaslang · Jan 27, 2014

Your problem with Conduit was caused by installing the free version of Hotspot Shield which is adware supported.

Copy the bold text below to notepad. Save it as fixme.reg to your desktop. Be sure the "Save as" type is set to "all files" Once you have saved it double click it and allow it to merge with the registry.

REGEDIT4

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\AppDataLow\Software\Hotspot_Shield\toolbar]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Hotspot_Shield\toolbar]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Low Rights\ElevationPolicy\{F0B1E805-D65F-460A-9E3D-F66D5D861F8A}]
[-HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-1429905150-4230708046-3960260400-1000\Software\AppDataLow\Software\Hotspot_Shield\toolbar]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Schedule\TaskCache\Tasks\{BF0021E9-FC19-4735-AD21-EAF97BDFD453}]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Schedule\TaskCache\Tree\BackgroundContainer Startup Task]
Click to expand...

Make sure that you tell me if you receive a success message about adding the above
to the registry. If you do not get a success message, it definitely did not work.

Now reboot your PC and tell us how things are working.

Raphee · Jan 28, 2014

Merged fixme.reg with registery. It was added successfully. I restarted laptop. The popup has disappeared.

Thanks Chaslang. Does that mean utorrent is fine to use since the problems immediately started after I installed utorrent.

Best.

chaslang · Jan 28, 2014

You're welcome.

Raphee said: ↑

Does that mean utorrent is fine to use since the problems immediately started after I installed utorrent.
Click to expand...

I think you just answered your own question. If you don't wish to have Conduit junkware on your PC then the answer is no. You need to avoid installing toolbars that many programs come bundled with because you will be installing things like Conduit, Ask Search......and or many more pieces of junkware.

Raphee · Jan 28, 2014

Great. What other steps do I need to take, eg undoing all the settings that I changed, system restore etc.

chaslang · Jan 30, 2014

If you are not having any other malware problems, it is time to do our final steps:

We recommend you keep Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for scanning/removal of malware.

Renable your Disk Emulation software with Defogger if you had disabled it in step 4 of the READ & RUN ME.

Go to add/remove programs and uninstall HijackThis. If you don't see it or it will not uninstall, don't worry about it. Just move on to the next step.

If running Vista, Win 7 or Win 8, it is time to make sure you have reenabled UAC by double clicking on the C:\MGtools\enableUAC.reg file and allowing it to be added to the registry.

Now goto the C:\MGtools folder and find the MGclean.bat file. Double click ( if running Vista, Win7, or Win 8 Right Click and Run As Administrator ) on this file to run this cleanup program that will remove files and folders related to MGtools and some other items from our cleaning procedures.

If we had you download any registry patches like fixme.reg or fixWLK.reg (or any others) and running MGclean.bat did not remove them, you can delete these files now.

Any other miscellaneous tools we may have had you install or download can be uninstalled and deleted.

If you are running Win 8, Win 7, Vista, Windows XP or Windows ME, do the below to flush restore points:

Refer to the instructions for your WIndows version in this link: Disable And Enable System Restore

What we want you to do is to first disable System Restore to flush restore points some of which could be infected.

Then we want you to Enable System Restore to create a new clean Restore Point.

After doing the above, you should work thru the below link:

How to Protect yourself from malware!

Raphee · Feb 1, 2014

All steps carried out. No problems. Thanks a lot.

chaslang · Feb 2, 2014

You're welcome. Surf safely!

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Conduit removal

Raphee Private First Class

Attached Files:

HitmanPro_20140120_1620.log

mbam-log-2014-01-20 (15-48-04).txt

MGlogs.zip

RKreport[0]_S_01202014_153936.txt

TDSSKiller.3.0.0.19_20.01.2014_16.05.42_log.txt

TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

Raphee Private First Class

Attached Files:

JRT.txt

HitmanPro_20140121_0950.log

Raphee Private First Class

TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

Raphee Private First Class

TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

Raphee Private First Class

Raphee Private First Class

Attached Files:

popup.jpg

TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

Raphee Private First Class

TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

Raphee Private First Class

chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

Raphee Private First Class

Attached Files:

SystemLook.txt

chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

Raphee Private First Class

chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

Raphee Private First Class

chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

Raphee Private First Class

chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member