Removing "winfixer"

<< IE Addon Program Listing and Removal

<< Windows Tutorials - Herong's Tutorial Examples

This section provides a tutorial example on remove adware 'winfixer'.

Symptom: Once a while, an IE pop up window shows up with http://202.67.220.233 in the address field. This pop up window contains a false warning message and advertisements for "WinAntiVirusPro 2006, WinAntiSpyware 2006, and WinFixer 2006". The warning message said:

Attention! Security Center has detected spyware on your PC sending
private information and documents to remote computer. One of processes
(Win32res.exe) has just sent this information: 

IP address: 66.19.202.184 
Browser: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; ....
Computer OS: Windows XP 
Full PC control: Gained 
Sent Information: approximately 17 Megabytes 

Sometime later, another IE window pops up with "http:www.winfixer.com/..." in the address field. The pop up window also contains a false warning message:

This site might require the following ActiveX control: 
'WinFixer2006FreeInstall.cab' from 'WinSoftware Corporation, Inc.'.
Click here to install...

Warning: Your computer may have critical errors in registry and 
file system! These errors can lead to computer crashes, instability,
slowness, and full system failure.

Immediate repair may be required.

To scan your computer for errors click the "Next" button below.

HijackThis Report: In the report, I could not find anything specifically related to winfixer. My guess is that the pop up is generated by one of the following IE addons:

O2 - BHO: AcroIEHlprObj Class - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3}
   - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\ActiveX
   \AcroIEHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: DriveLetterAccess - {5CA3D70E-1895-11CF-8E15-001234567890} 
   - C:\WINDOWS\system32\dla\tfswshx.dll
O2 - BHO: ATLDistrib Object - {93C6313C-9DB4-4694-8BD0-E378C573A9AD} 
   - C:\WINDOWS\system32\vtsts.dll
O2 - BHO: NAV Helper - {BDF3E430-B101-42AD-A544-FADC6B084872} 
   - C:\Program Files\Norton Internet Security\Norton AntiVirus
   \NavShExt.dll

Quick Research: I found some reports about winfixer 2006 on the Web. But nothing can help me to identify the bad IE addon.

What I Did:

1. Looked at IE > Internet Options > Programs > Manage Addon, and disabled:

AcroIEHlprObj Class
Adobe Acrobat Control for ActiveX
ATLDistrib Object
AUTIO__X_MS_WMA Moniker Class
DHTML Edit Control Safe for Scripting for IE5
DriverLetterAccess
HTML Document
InstallShield Update Service Agent
Java Plug-in 1.4.2_03
Java Plug-in 1.4.2_03
MetaStreamCtl Class
Real.com
SearchAssistantOC
Shockwave Flash Object
Sun Java Console
VIDEO__X_MS_WMV Moniker Class
Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player
Windows Messenger
XML Document

The following IE addons were kept enabled:

CNavExtBho Class           Symantec
CHisExtBho Class           Symantec
Norton AntiVirus           Symantec
Norton Internet Security   Symantec
Shell Name Space           Microsoft for managing IE "Favorites"

Result: Winfixer 2006 problem is gone.

Sections in This Chapter

What Is an IE Addon?

Removing deSrcAs.dll - MyWay Search Assistant

Removing Google Desktop Icon - GoogleDesktop.exe

Removing IE Default Search Settings

Removing Google Toolbar

Removing SunJavaUpdateSched - jusched.exe

Removing "winfixer"

Removing Yahoo! IE Services Button - yiesrvc.dll

Removing MySearch Toolbar - S4BAR.DLL

Removing NetZero Toolbar - Toolbar.dll

Removing Windows Messenger Extra Button