MSN 6.2 question

My son instaled MSN messenger 6.2 on our PC and to be honest, it has never been the same since. Is there a general issue with MSN or am I just unlucky? It has hijacked the home page, changed the connection settings so that i need to open up settings and uncheck "never connect" before I can connect. It also frequently stops responding hangs. I have a feeling it was also responsible for fetching smiley cental, bringing mywebsearch along with it. I would uninstall the program immediately but it seems to be the popular media for teenagers and I don't want to exclude my son from it.

I have downloaded BHODemon and it is constantly monitoring but MSN still seems to screw things up somewhat.

Any suggestions on what I should do?

 

lol....my suggestion is.... remove smiley central! Mywebsearch will crash you pc at every opportunity.

The guys on here will guide you thru the removal process of both if you ask, as i dont doubt there will be traces of it after an attempted removal. There is a set procedure to go thru here, and this can be found HERE

A passing thought... MSN 7 is now available, and is in my opinion, a better and more complete messenger.

Hope this helps and im not treading on anyones toes by suggesting this and redirecting u to the main removal page

Alistair

 

Thanks Ali,

BHODemon has disabled mywebsearch and the rest of its associate programs so I'm not too concerned about it still being on the system. i tried uninstalling a few times but it just kept rebuilding itself. I don't want to go to the trouble of a windows re install to get rid of it. It seems to be under control now but MSN still bothers me. Is the finished version of msn 7 out now or is it still the beta test version? I guess unistalling 6.2 and installing 7 can't be much more troublesome!?

Ta

sandy

 

just a note on 7.0 version...it is a final version and you may safely install it over your current 6.2. I did. But I wasn't having any issues such as the ones you've described. In this case I installed 7.0 from it's MSN site.

 

a windows reinstall isnt needed. Far from it. I have removed the problem from many people pc's via a different forum but will not breach this sites code of practice as i hope my relationship with the people here is reciprical, and we can learn from each other.

tritonobx is correct, msn 7 is new and complete, not beta, and is excellent, including a feature which allows u to display your music playing on windows media player to the ppl on your contacts list.

If you go to the link i placed on my earlier post which is the first steps this forum gives in attacking this kind of problem , run thru the procedures there, Mywebsearch will be removed. Spybot and Adaware will both do this as long as you follow the instructions concerning turning Sys restore off. You may also be suprised as to what else is found on your pc. I've just run CCleaner and removed 70meg of rubbish in one fel swoop! 70 meg!!!! The process of removal is relatively easy to follow, and things like MyWebsearch which can slow your pc and selfupdate are far better removed than left dormant. FunBuddyIcons is also an annoyance from Smiley Central which gets passed via Instant messenger to messenger, and can infect all of your contacts pcs without u knowing it. I would recommend, nay i would request that you follow these procedures as otherwise you may unwittingly pass this problem on.

Just as a side note ... Webroots Spysweeper has a 30 day free trail and this to will remove mywebsearch (as long as the sys restore is off). Tis easilly found on webroots homepage

To reset your homepage (assuming your using IE) click Tools>Internet Options> and then alter the page to what u want it to be. Spybot will allow u to lock your ie start page and should prevent any changes unless you agree to them.

I hesitate to go into detail until you have performed the requested procedures linked to earlier,as like i say, i dont want to tread on toes here. Post back on what you iuntend / have decided to do and we can take it from there

 

I spent most of last weekend downloading, installing and using the programs listed in the link and I must admit it was most useful. Found lots of things on the pc that should not have been there, and are no longer. mywebsearch still prevailed though. Other sites recommended uninstalling it from add/remove programs but mywebsearch does not show up on the populated list. it does not appear in CCleaner tools either but believe me, it is still there. If there is something else I can try I will. I'll give spysweeper a go. Is it better running that in safe mode too?

The READ ME FIRST link got rid of everything else and the system does seem to be better now. My original issue was with my pc slowing up and hanging every Sunday evening between 7.30 and 8pm so i will need to wait until then to see if that issue has been resolved.

Back on msn, I'll download 7 and see how things go.

Thanks for the help

 

When you install Messenger it gives you the option of making MSN your home page, installing a toolbar, making MSN the defalt search engine etc.

They are all enabled by default so you have to uncheck them if you don't want them.

 

Will do insomniac - cheers

Alistair, i have ran spysweeper and it found cdila, funwebproducts and a couple of cookies. neither spybot, xoftspy, noadware or adaware found these. Interestingly enough (I think) It did not find mywebsearch! Is this part of funwebproducts perhaps?

cheers

Sandy

 

How do you know that Mywebsearch is still there? What is the message you get which tells you this?

Funbuddies is part of the issues which come in with smiley central, and is indeed linked with My Web Search. What happens with that is, u send an instant message to someone and they have appear on their screen a promt saying that u have a new buddy icon, and to click on a link. They do so, and bang.. their pc is infected, and you never know that the link was sent, even though it is recieved from your pc.

I love spysweeper, i only wish it were free! Id be curious to know if Mywebsearch is still on your system if Spysweeper never found it. I note on Spybot. If you swich to Mode>Advanced (it'll promt you "Do you really want to do this") and then go to settings, and click "ignore products" on the left, and then select "All products" from the offered tabs, you should get a list of products which you can choose to ignore.

If you have the new version of Spybot, which i assume you have having completed the tasks on your first steps, if you scroll thru down that list of products you should find 3 products checked to be ignored. Mysearch is one of them, the other 2 being "New Net" and "Side Step"! These need to be unchecked to match the rest, and a scan redone.

With safe mode on, no browser windows open, and system restore turned off, i see no reason why it should not be removed. I dont have the authority to ask you to post a Hijack This log, but if this doesnt remove it completely im thinking i will ask someone to transfer the topic / or restart the topic in specific spyware issues forum, lol, or i will be lynched by the powers that be!

Just a thought, have a shufti in your control panel and see if MyWebSearch is in your Add/Remove progs after all the scans you've done. I know this is part of the process mentioned earlier but it may be interesting to see if it has been repopulated.

Related to this also are :
# My Web Search (Smiley Central or FWP product as applicable)
# My Way Speedbar
# My Way Speedbar
# Search Assistant - My Way

and these should also be removed.

There are possibly some Hkeys which need amending but i would need the exact locations. There is a similar topic to this on here already which is to be found HERE

Let me know if it has gone

Alistair

 

Ajs, you say you have SpySweeper, Spybot, Xoftspy, Noadware and Adaware?

Spysweeper is very good, as are Spybot and Adaware, but I would immediately get rid off Xoftspy and Noadware. They generally are nowhere near as good as the others and can flag false positives.

I would also try Micro$$oft AntiSpyware, but remember no one program unfortunately does it all so you will need a combination.

I strongly suggest you follow the recommendations posted in the Spyware Forum, and if needed post a Hijack This log file. They are best equipped to recommend what to do.

 

I agree with your comments re xoftspy and noadware. i have already ditched these two.

i have re ran a scan in safe mode with system restore turned off after unchecking the ignore programs as you described Alistair and no immediate threats were found. mywebsearch does not appear in add/remove progs. However... BHO Demon still recognises 2 browser help objects named mywebsearch and mywebsearch assistant. When I re enabled these from BHO Demon and re opened IE, the mywebsearch toolbar was back. i have disabled both BHO's again and the toolbar has gone.

I'll have a look at the other topic you mentioned tomorrow. i think I've had enough for one night

What does "post a hijack this log file" mean?

cheers

Sandy

 

Go to the Spyware Forum and all will be revealed.