W. eWatson said:
I seemed to have gotten, accidentally, into receiving InfAtoms ads. I
found their site, and they have an uninstall mechanism. What
experience has anyone here had with it?
If you run out of ideas, you get some hints here as to how it works.
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=110607.0
*******
:OTL
FF - prefs.js..extensions.enabledAddons: infoatoms%40infoatoms.com:1.4.0.0
FF -
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\mozilla\Firefox\Extensions\\
[email protected]:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla
Firefox\extensions\
[email protected]
[2012/12/01 12:35:56 | 000,000,000 | ---D | M]
[2012/12/01 12:35:56 | 000,000,000 | ---D | M]
(InfoAtoms) -- C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla
Firefox\extensions\
[email protected]
O2 - BHO: (InfoAtoms) - {103089DA-0F31-4A8B-843F-7D24A7FE8345} -
C:\Program Files (x86)\InfoAtoms\IE32\InfoAtomsClientIE.dll
(InfoAtoms Inc.)
:Files
C:\Program Files (x86)\InfoAtoms
:Commands
[resethosts]
[emptytemp]
[CREATERESTOREPOINT]
[Reboot]
*******
So it appears as an extension on a Firefox folder (and perhaps can be
managed
from a Firefox menu). Notice how the prefs.js has "enabledAddons" set for
the InfoAtoms. That means the extension is loaded and enabled. Using the
Firefox menu, you can set it to disabled. As long as the InfoAtoms has
no further code, to jam its stuff in the next time, you're done. (More
malicious software of this types, keeps other code running, to undo
any repairs a user might attempt to do. That's how you get a hint
of a more malicious package, if it resists all attempts to remove it.)
And in Internet Explorer, it installs a browser helper object (BHO).
See if there is a menu in IE, to display any BHOs (as add-ons, extensions,
or whatever terminology they use).
The above code snippet, is the script you apparently feed to OTL, to
remove that crap. The evidence would suggest, that just maybe, it
can be removed without using any special tools.
Try the InfoAtoms uninstaller first. If you can't find it, look for
an "uninstaller.exe" type of application, in C:\Program Files
(x86)\InfoAtoms .
Maybe it is in there. Or, if you've given up on a "proper" cleanup,
you can try using the menus in the browsers, to tame the thing.
This might be classed as a PUP, rather than malware. The companies who
make PUPs, tread a fine line between malware and goodware. And if
a person makes a comment about them, they're respond on any forum
(their tech support will), giving the impression the support
staff are related to St. Francis of Assisi. They will hotly deny
their software is crap, a Klingon, and only exists as a money making
exercise, and the end-users are just along for the ride (to help
function as click-monkey and make them some money).
(A tech support person, from one of the PUP software companies...
"we're the good guys" they'll mutter
Um, OK. )
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Saint_Francis_of_Assisi_by_Jusepe_de_Ribera.jpg
Paul
