180 Search Assistant is Evil!!!

[ilovemyZ]

I downloaded a program that was supposed to be a card game. I got the card game and immediately the antichrist took over my computer in the form of 180 Search Assistant. It even turned google and yahoo front pages into their own ad/spyware crap. I've tried doing a search, but this POS does the searches for me so it's to no avail.

I've tried to system restore, it didn't work. I've tried to uninstall but it won't let me. (It says network not available, try again later.) I've tried to download something from symantec (it said it was updated to about 2/14/05), and that still didn't totally get rid of it. The little I could find out about it says it reinstalls itself all the time.

Could anyone please give me any idea how to completely remove this demon from my computer. I'd greatly appreciate it!

Thanks in advance.

[TheMetetron]

System restore didn't work?

Somehow, I think completely wiping your hard drive and re-installing the OS would do wonders... isn't this system restore or am I misapplying terminology here?

[ilovemyZ]

From my limited understanding, system restore takes a "picture" of what your hard drive looks like periodically and when you restore it, it returns the hard drive to that state. However, this search assistant program reinstalls itself after the system restore. Furthermore, it logs your web activity "anonymously" (so they claim) and report it to their marketing department. Bastards!

Techies... I need your help. /images/graemlins/confused.gif

[jdl22]

Google search turned up this (http://spyware.pcwash.com/180search-Assistant.html).

[jdl22]

here's another page (http://www.sawtoothdistortion.com/Articles/Uninstall180Search.html)

[37offsuit]

Microsoft Anti-Spyware Beta (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=321cd7a2-6a57-4c57-a8bd-dbf62eda9671&displaylang=en) - I've had a lot of success with this software. Run it twice, if that doesn't get rid of all the spyware on your system, you might need to boot into safemode and run it (on Windows XP, hold down F8 key after the initial bios screen until you get an optional boot menu. If F8 doesn't work, wait until the loading Windows splash screen and then do a hard reboot of your system).

[Rushmore]

Go here: http://www.pchell.com/support/onlythebest.shtml

The problem with these sorts of hijackers is that they take over your add-ons in the form of .dlls. For instance, click on tools in your browser and click on manage add-ons. Any .dll from a company whose name you do not recognize is probably part of a hijack.

The link I provided has two valuable tools: Hijack This, and Buster. They will work.

I know the hell of which you speak. Mine came in the form of Only The Best, with a side order of Search Assistant.

After you get this cleaned up, make sure you're using Ad-Aware, Spybot Search and Destroy, and Registry Mechanic.

They will keep you clean.

[Derek in NYC]

Try searching in the Google groups section, rather than in the websearch section.

[Derek in NYC]

Thanks for the link to the MS beta. I had read about it, but didnt realize it was available for public installation.

[ilovemyZ]

Thanks for the Microsoft Anti-spyware Beta. It removed the spyware. I appreciate all the support, especially since I couldn't use any of the basic search engines like google, yahoo, or msn. Beware of the freeware!