Sorry, I was checking nothing new and detectable had been installed via the uninstaller by running those programs. Adw Cleaner had been recommended somewhere. None of them detected the original toparcadehits stuff beforehand, hence no guarantees. It was only detectable via a file search based on the date of infection matching folders and files to those reported on forums. All gone. But I wouldn't get any software from cnet.com - that's where I got the infestation from in the first place. Never again will I download anything from that site.

Some of this sort of software may have a use and be intentionally installed. As such it may not be classified as malware and not detected by malware scans.

Also note there is a high bar on what Mozilla will consider banning, and this unless obviously harmful may not qualify for being barred. Look at the problems with babylon.

I'm somewhat sure it has no use but to annoy you, why should you have to dig the registry etc. to remove a program.

Just do a search on "toparcadehits" and see what happens, most results talk about how to remove it

And it is even a program download on cnet. download.cnet.com/TopArcadeHits/3000-2121_4-75912245.html

If like me you rushed in and deleted the files before realising you can actually unistall it from add and remove programs and so you couldnt unistall it. Then the company has provided an unistall program to remove it from your system. http://toparcadehits.com/deactivate/

Now it is removed from firefox and my system as far as I know. Some of you were talking about it being in registrys. I want to remove it from completely from my system how do i remove any registrys of it?

I had the same issue thanks to download.com. Thanks for wasting my time download.com!!! Idiots. Anyway. I could not uninstall the Top Arcade Hits Add-on no matter what I did...the choice to delete was not even an option. Tried the safe mode for firefox and it did not work. I have Avast AntiVirus Pro that contains a browser clean up but I was not able to delete it there either...only disable it. Deleted firefox using the control panel but when I reinstalled, it popped up again.

Read the helpful reply on where to find the add on at: C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Extensions

Seems like a way to make this thing go away. I figured out another way if you like I think.

I deleted Mozilla and the Mozilla Maintenance Service using a program called Final Uninstaller Pro. There is a free version as well. I think I got it from download.com but maybe look elsewhere or on final uninstaller website. I then hit the clean button after uninstalling each.

I went to C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Extensions to do what the other post said to do but this file was now nonexistent.

Next, I reinstalled Mozilla. Not only is the Top Arcade Hits add on gone but the rest of the add-ons were as well. Have a fresh copy. Make sure to remember what other add-ons you were using that you wanted so you can get them again.

Checked with my Avast Pro Antivirus browser cleanup and the add-on Top Arcade Hits is gone. So are the rest of the add-ons. Believe this has finally fixed this issue for me.

if you want a app download center without bundeled abware i use snapfiles.com and it tells you if it has adware bundled unlike cnet.

The problem here is not with uninstalling Firefox, it is the problem with uninstalling adware/malware. This sort of thing may well install also on other browsers, and reinstall on any browser that you uninstall and reinstall.

The problem is tracking down the files in use, and the registry entries. It is not really within the scope of this forum to discuss direct editing of the Registry, or complex malware removal actions. If anyone does find filenames, or tried and tested links to free removal information please post it.

If you do need to edit the Registry take extreme care and ensure registry backups are made.

Hi PandaChef,

I wish I had written down all the entries as I went through the registry, but I didn't. But, I basically did a Find on the entire registry for a few things, if I remember correctly:

• toparcadehits
• arcade
• sweetpacks

I just nuked anything I found for these. As John99 said, be *very* careful editing your registry, and always take a backup before-hand. If you end up finding any results in your registry, then in my book the company's removal tool is also suspect (though many legit programs do leave debris lying around the registry).

Also want to thank everyone else for chipping in here, it's been helpful.

3n+1,

Took your suggestion to go to C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Extensions and look for it - sure enough, it was buried a couple of folders beneath that. Deleted that whole sub-tree, and voila - no more TopArcadeHits extension in Firefox!

Thanks!

Thought I would also add that

1. Mozilla Firefox people apparently decided against attempting to block this software. (Unless --my interpretation--> it is conclusively shown to be downright dis-honest malware)
2. I have quoted the T&C I found which could lead you to expect it to be globally installed
3. It seems at least some users have success using the Company's uninstaller

John99, I think the problem here is that no one intentionally installs this software - it's piggybacked onto other things people are trying to install. And it does not alert you to this during the installation process. In my opinion, unannounced software that secretly installs itself unbeknownst to the user, alters browser behavior, and then makes it nearly impossible to uninstall is absolutely unethical, if perhaps falling just short of malware. Nobody wants TopArcadeHits or Sweetpacks, let's be real here.

Firefox doesnt encourage any of these addons, and sweetpacks was just blocked this morning.

I think there was the possibility of reopening your bug, but that would needs someone to document very carefully what if anything the software does wrong, and precisely what notifications are provided whilst installing.

Unfortunately it is possibly a case of users not dismissing offers of additional software, then failing to use an uninstaller that is provided.

Yeah, its not gonna work, every bug i write is denied anyways.

@MrBungle

In my extensions there is only the weirdly name folder and nothing else. What are these hidden sub folders you are talking about? How can I find if there are some for Toparcadehits in my extensions folders?

Thanks

@PandaChef

For me, there were 2 such folders in my Extensions folder - they both had long names of random characters. I simply opened up each folder and dug maybe another 1 or 2 folders into each one, and there I found some files referencing "arcade" something or other. I knew that was the folder I needed to get rid of then, so I deleted the entire tree, starting with the top long-named folder.

If you're not seeing anything mentioning the words "top", "arcade", or "hits" in your Extensions folder, then I wouldn't delete any of those folders / files. Oh, make sure you have your folder options set to see hidden system files - not sure, it may be disguising itself that way.

Lots of replies. Totally new here, will try to be brief. I just managed this one with a convert from ods to xls program. Finally got rid of it. Looks like I did most of what is here. I got to the point where it was all off my computer, except kept showing up as add-on, lots of work. (Ended up using a System Restore Point for the day before, don't know if this mattered, but was easier). Uninstalled and reinstalled Firefox and there it was in addons. My brother and John99, in his reply, suggested a clean install. Backed up Bookmarks and such. Uninstalled Firefox and deleted all Mozilla folders (they had a remnant in one of the folders). Reinstalled Firefox and TopArcadeHits is gone from addons. I hope this will help, can't guarantee. At one point in my attempts I found a hidden TopArcadeHits.dll; very ugly program.

Go to the help section of Mozilla Firefox. Click on troubleshooting information. Look under the extensions part of the page for troubleshooting information. It will give you the name of the extension and its corresponding registry number. Next run CCleaner. It's free. Click on the tools option. Next click on the startup box. Next click on the firefox tab. Next click on the toparcadehits item. Right click on it. Click on the open folder option. The registry number corresponding to the registry number of the toparcadehits item in the troubleshooting page in the extension section will appear. Delete it and toparcadehits will vanish from firefox and not appear in the extensions list given after clicking on the addons tab of firefox.

Thank you for the help.

I can tell you exactly where I got it (ie, TopArcadeHits by itself): from the #2 icon converter on download.com, "Ico Converter" by TomatoSoft. There was an author name included in the file, as well, but I'm not about to run the installer again.

Link:

http://download.cnet.com/Ico-Converter/3000-2195_4-75617429.html

Waka_Flocka's instructions on finding the extension were accurate, but it should be noted that neither the rogue extension folder nor its contents have a recognizable name. I recognized it by the icon, which looks like a top hat (not unlike the "canned response" button here, which freaked me out a bit!). It was the only item in there, so I deleted the entire extension folder.

Since the thing advertises itself as an antivirus program, and comes from download.com, I would not trust another antivirus program from the same source to get rid of it.