How do I remove feed.helperbar showing as yahoo or websearch
I installed it as part of a package but its obviously malware, tried everything from manual file deletes to the options in firefox, including the about config and re-setting the highlighted options with any similar names it wouldnt let me reset the rest that were not in bold. Man this is a nightmare to get rid of!
Please help
All Replies (3)
Thanks for the reply, I tried it last night and no luck after a re-start today.
The first link though not very specific did have some good ideas I thought so I follwed them through as best I could and removed all traces I could find with those methods and still no luck, the 2nd link seemed less in depth and was what I had found on a lot of my google results, although I am dubious about the need to download three seperate malware removal programs? I did not do that part.
This is a toughone, my avg dealt with a really malicous part when it first came up but I am left with this damn yahoo toolbar which will not quit!
Am I safe to use my paypal etc?
I've just finished clearing up (I hope) the last of this mess.
Clear your settings (Tools | Options) to give a blank homepage. Check your extensions (Tools | Add-ons) to disable or remove anything unwanted.
Enter Firefox safe mode (under Help on the menu) and on the url bar, type about:config
Search for the string that is bothering you - in my case, the url I briefly saw appearing was feed.helperbar so I just used "helperbar".
That showed two entries on my system.
Right-click on each entry and select 'reset'.
Note: if you have other browsers installed (such as a default Internet Exploder) those have also probably been infected. If you ever run them up, the presence of the infection there could re-infect Firefox.
This video helped me in clearing both Firefox and IE out. http://youtu.be/pOXBu4m6h6s Though I didn't find anything under my Program Files folder.
In addition, I found it necessary to do a search for 'helperbar' throughout the Windows registry file, manually amending or deleting entries, to completely clear IE. (I'm sure I amended some entries more than once!)
I also found a folder under with 'helperbar' in the name, which I deleted. C:\Users\{myname}\AppData\Local\Smartbar\Application
I also edited my hosts file to block Yahoo.com, helperbar.com and babylon.com. To find out how to do this, do a search on "Windows hosts file". Anyone associated with this kind of behaviour will never get my custom.
I have searched my entire hard disk for 'helperbar' and searched the entire Windows registry. Everything seems to have gone and I have Firefox back up (though I lost a few custom search definitions and my personal dictionary additions).
It is a pernicious beast that I never had an option on installing. If I find I can sue the people who put this on my machine against my will, I certainly will.