I ate my wafer...

2/12/2004

That @#$%@#$% IM "Game" Round II UPDATED!

Ok, it seems the "fun" little IM adware problem that I discussed this afternoon is spreading...it figures, my friends are always early adopters of security flaws.

This is my latest and best set of removal hints:

These instructions based on the best of my knowledge, from repeatedly infecting and cleaning my FrankenDell computer running Windows 98 SE and XP Pro. There is no universal solution to this kind of problem, and you could manage to screw something up. If you feel intimidated, ask a friend to help, or IM me (bob327ss).

A. If you are reasonably competent with computers, and willing to deal with editing the registry, you can simply follow Norton's removal instructions removal tutorial here. I highly reccomend the Norton site.

B. If you read the Norton instructions, and aren't comfortable with that kind of thing, you can download HiJack This and use it to kill the offending regisrty keys. But otherwise follow the Norton instructions.

C. If you are totally lost at this point, your best bet it to try the "add/remove programs" option in the control panel, and uninstall the following:

? BuddyLinks
? PSDT Messaging Integration
? PSD Tools ChannelUp v1.0 (remove only)

The problem with option C is that the jerks that made this @#$% program also made it very prone to only partially uninstalling, and simply reinstalling itsself over and over again. Also, on some computers, the programs won't even be listed in the "Add/Remove Programs" list. If you go with option "C", I highly reccomend manually deleteing the files and folder that the program installs:

That is, delete the entire:

C:\Program Files\buddylinks.net

and

D:\Program Files\Common Files\PSD Tools

folders. If you can't find these folders, then the uninstall program may have actually worked for you.


If you receive an an error message that you cannot delete the files, you can either reboot in safe mode and kill the files from there, or you can kill the offending process by using "ctrl" +"atl"+"del" then selecting the "task manager"-"processes" -then select the ChannelUp process, then click on end process. Either way, you should be able to delete the files at that point.

Good luck.


0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home