Browser Helpers

I am not sure what a browser helper is. I believe that there is a program BHO Demon that keeps up with these and tells what they are.

Is this a good program, and what do the BHOs do?

Jerry

 

BHOs are other websites redirecting your home page, redirecting your searches, and cause browser instability. They are NOT a good thing.

 

They also redirect you to nasty websites that usually contain trojans/spyware.

 

My confusion stems from the fact that Win Patrol shows Spyware Doctor, and Spyware Guard under IE Helpers as BHOs.

I am not sure how to reconcile all that.

Jerry

 

Hi JerryM,

I am afraid TrBot is only partially correct. There are valuable BHO's and Toolbars and also malicious BHO's and Toolbars.

Please see: The CLSID / BHO List / Toolbar Master List

The list will show both good and bad BHO's and Toolbars. You can see which is which by the "key" letter in the Status column.
"X" - Certified spyware/foistware, or other malware
"L" - Legitimate items
"O" - Open to debate
"?" - Unknown Status

If you want to check a particular BHO or Toolbar, you can enter it's CLSID into the search for more detailed information on it.

Regards,

snap

 

Hey Jerry,

The below explanation at Spywareinfo should help you understand Browser Helper Objects in respects to Internet Explorer.

This link---> BHO's- Browser Helper Objects

 

Jerry,

the programs you mentioned are actually "hoax" antispyware programs that pretend to be "antispyware" programs, but are actually trojans, such as "Trojan rameh". They just mask their intent.

 

Thanks, Snap and Bubba.
Do you have any information or thoughts on BHO Demon?

thanks, again all,
Jerry

 

See above.

 

It's a very nice app. I've used it for a long time.

Good info on what a BHO is on their site,

http://www.definitivesolutions.com/bhodemon.htm



snowbound

 

It's very good at what it does in that it shows all the BHO's(dll files) registered.

So there is no mis-understanding on my part....which programs are you meaning....Spyware Doctor and Spyware Guard

 

Thanks, Snowbound. I had downloaded it, but wanted some input as to its usefulness, and if it causes problems.

Jerry

 

I find it very useful and easy to use.

No problems what so ever here.



snowbound

 

Just for clarification on SpywareGuard's BHO and Spybot S&D's BHO - in a Hijackthis log, in the O2's line, you will see SpywareGuard's dll (dlprotect.dll) and Spybot's S&D's dll (SDHelper.dll) if you have both those protection options enabled within SpywareGuard, or Spybot S&D.

SpywareGuard:
O2 - BHO: SpywareGuard Download Protection - {4A368E80-174F-4872-96B5-0B27DDD11DB2} - C:\Program Files\SpywareGuard\dlprotect.dll

Spybot S&D:
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {53707962-6F74-2D53-2644-206D7942484F} - C:\PROGRA~1\SPYBOT~1\SDHelper.dll

They are legitimate BHO's.

BHODeamon is an excellent program, and many use it. I have myself for several years now.

Regards,

snap

(Edit - somehow I gave Spybot's S&D dll to SpywareGuard..lol - Thanks Jan for catching my mistake, now fixed - thank goodness for the edit button)

 

Thanks, Again.
Yes both Spyware Doctor and Spyware Guard show as BHOs. The BHO Demon shows Spyware Doctor as somthing they are not sure about.

I recall when I downloaded each programs I got a question about BHO.
If they are related to helping IE, then do they do anything with other browsers such as Firefox?

I have 5 entries from Demon. Two are shown as Benign, and 1 is
tfswshx.dll - Hewlett-Packard/Veritas DLA software. The other two are related to Spyware Doctor. Of the two shown as benign, one is adobe, and the other is Spyware Guard.

Jerry

 

Yep. That's what I was referring to.

 

The file tfswshx.dll, is a BHO belonging to Hewlett-Packard/Veritas DLA software and is listed with an "O" (Open for debate) in the CLSID/BHO List/Toolbar Master List at CastleCops, so it is the user's preference if they want to enable and use the BHO.

The other two that BHODeamon is showing as Benign (Adobe's and SpywareGuard's BHO) are legitimate BHO's so that is why they are showing 'benign' in BHODeamon. So you have nothing to worry about there ether.

As for Spyware Doctor's two BHO's (iesdpb.dll & iesdsg.dll) showing up in BHODeamon as something BHODeamon isn't sure about - it may be that they are not yet in BHODeamon's database for classification. However, they are both showing an "L" (legitimate item) beside them in the CLSID/BHO List/Toolbar Master List at CastleCops; so they are legitimate BHO's that belong to the PC Tools' Spyware Doctor program.

---

TrBot, if I understand your concerns correctly, you are referring to PC Tools' Spyware Doctor program, right? Spyware Doctor is a legitimate anti-spyware app and not listed on the Rogue/Suspect Anti-Spyware Applications List. Though we do still advise people to use an anti-spyware program from the Trustworthy Anti-Spyware Products List that have proven track records; the anti-spyware program a person chooses to use in the end, is their choice of course. If Jerry does want to do further research on Spyware Doctor, there are several threads here on the forum he can look into using the forum's search feature.

Regards,

snap

Since this discussion is related to privacy software, rather than software & services, I've move this thread over into the appropriate forum.

 

Snap,
Thanks, that is very helpful.
I had checked the HP entry with Win Patrol. Here is the information from that progr


[HP Veritas DLA – TFSWSHX.DLL

Tfswshx.dll is the browser helper object that installs with Hewlett Packard's Veritas software that comes on many HP or Compaq systems equipped with a CDRW or DVD burner. This is needed for Drive Letter Access (DLA) functions. DLA lets you format a CD or DVD and then use it as if it was another hard drive. This is similar to Adaptec's/Roxio's DirectCD.]

It is evidently OK, but I don't know if it is necessary for normal recording and using CDs and running DVDs. I don't know what Drive Letter Access (DLA) functions are unless it is just showing the drive letter on My Computer.

Thanks again,
Jerry