Info/Help Please on MARSFIND Browser/Search Hijacker

Just joined - This Forum looks like a great resource - Thanks in advance to all the Moderators and help posters!

A colleague in Japan says her PC is infected with a hijacker called MARSFIND. I am scouring the web looking for EGs of other victims and what to do to help her get rid of the thing.

(I do not have access to her PC so have no Hijack This log. She is using WIN 2000 Pro)

My specific questions are:

1 Anyone here with MARSFIND cleanup/fix experience? Or who knows where to get more help info?

2 I see that gurus in this Forum recommend a combo of Ad-Aware plus Spy Bot, with Spy Sweeper as the last ditch in clean-up efforts. That sounds good, but before I tell her how to set all this up, does anyone know if MARSFIND is caught by Spy Sweeper? Does anyone have a contact at Webroot I can ask? They have not responded to my email info request.

3 Pest Patrol claims to have MARSFIND covered - - see http://www.pestpatrol.com/pestinfo/m/marsfind_search_helper.asp - -

BUT

I am concerned with the reported problems of Pest Patrol, especially the False Positives problems. The user is not a tech-savvy person, and I doubt she can cope with a scanner that seems to generate new problems for each old one it fixes. Can anyone advise on whether Pest Patrol is worth the $40 (assuming we can't find another clean-up alternative)

Thanks for any suggestions! And to luv2bsecure, special thanks for your clean-up worklist in
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=45092

 

If that is all they have on their machine....the below may be of help. However....if it comes down to it....they may have to visit one of the HighJack cleaning Forums to remove not only that Browser Helper Object but others.

O2 - BHO: Httper - {A5483501-070C-41DD-AF44-9BD8864B3015} - C:\Program Files\Httper\httper.dll


This link---> Httper....Internet Explorer Browser Helper Object

Removal
There should be an 'Httper' entry in the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs feature. This works correctly.

Manual removal
Open a DOS command prompt window (from Start->Programs->Accessories) and enter the following commands:

cd "%WinDir%\System"
regsvr32 /u "\Program Files\Httper\httper.dll"
After restarting the computer you should be able to delete the Httper folder inside Program Files.

You can also delete the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Httper in the registry (Start->Run->regedit) to clean up if you like.

 

Thanks, Bubba. Appreciate the fix info. But I think you must be right - her PC is probably crawlin with critters. That's why I am tryin to get her a package that can deal with MARSFIND along with all the others that are surely infesting her PC.

With your info, we can at least have a fallback if I can't find one. BTW, any pros or cons on Pest Patrol from your experience?

 

Pest patrol was just purchased by computer associates, It has not had a very good track as of late.

 

Welcome to the forum ibizwiz

In all honesty, I would not recommend Pest Patrol at this stage. Far too many FP's plus the fact you are also paying for the privilege of getting them.

Stick with AdAware SE and Spybot Search and Destroy, they work very well together, and if she manages to clean her machine, then install SpywareBlaster after.

Webroot's SpySweeper is pretty good, but that's a paid proggy like Pest Patrol. Even though I have it, I rarely run a scan with it, unless I've been to some dodgy sites and then will run all 3, but that's like in only every 6-8 weeks, as I expect my AV/FW/AT/SG to keep me safe in Real Time Monitoring.

Cheers, TAS

edit: Thread about PestPatrol FP's in case you did not see it.

HERE

 

Your friend may be able to do a online scan here:

http://www.spywareguide.com/txt_onlinescan.html

More info about securing a PC here:

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=43117

Hope this helps...

Let us know how you go...

Cheers

 

Many thanks to all! Will post back here after the cleanup project.