AdBlaster

· Overview ·
· Origins ·
· Distribution ·
· Operation ·
· Detection and Removal ·
· Research ·

Overview

Category:

Adware: Software that displays popup/popunder ads when the primary user interface is not visible or which do not appear to be assocaited with the product.

Browser Helper Object: (BHO). A component that Internet Explorer will load whenever it starts, shares IE's memory context, can perform any action on the available windows and modules. A BHO can detect events, create windows to display additional information on a viewed page, monitor messages and actions. Microsoft calls it "a spy we send to infiltrate the browser's land." BHOs are not stopped by personal firewalls, because they are seen by the firewall as your browser itself. Some exploits of this technology search all pages you view in IE and replace banner advertisements with other ads. Some monitor and report on your actions. Some change your home page.

Search Hijacker: Any software that resets your browser's settings to point to other sites when you perform a search. Hijacks may reroute your info and address requests through an unseen site, capturing that info. In such hijacks, your browser may behave normally, but be slower. Search results when such a hijacker is running will sometimes differ from non-hijacked results.

Similar Pests:

 Adware · Browser Helper Object · Search Hijacker

Origins

Group:

 ESD Technologies

Date of Origin:

 May, 2003

Distribution

Prevalence:
  • AdBlaster: 0.0%
    • More Info

    Clot Factor:
  • AdBlaster: 7

    • The "Clot Factor" is a measure of how much a pest "gums up" a machine by adding registry entries, files, and directories. As more objects are placed in a machine, manual removal becomes more difficult and more error-prone.

    Growth:
  • AdBlaster: Insufficient data to report growth
    		•

    Operation

    Platform:

    		 Windows: 98/NT/2000/ME/XP

    Storage Required:
  • AdBlaster: at least 49 KB
    		•

    Browser Performance:

    		 Likely to slow performance of Internet Explorer.

    Detection and Removal

    Automatic Removal:

    PestPatrol detects this.

    PestPatrol removes this.

    Manual Removal:

    		 Follow these steps to remove AdBlaster from your machine. Begin by backing up your registry and your system, and/or setting a Restore Point, to prevent trouble if you make a mistake.
    Stop Running Processes:

    Kill these running processes with Task Manager:

    Unregister DLLs:

    Unregister these DLLs with Regsvr32, then reboot:

    Clean Registry:

    Remove these registry items (if present) with RegEdit:

    Remove Files:

    Remove these files (if present) with Windows Explorer:

    Restore Settings:

    After following the instructions above, you will still need to restore your original settings and prevent this from happening again. Here''s how.

    Research

    File Analyses:

    More Info:
  • AdBlaster submits your Ad to more than 2,500,000 Advertising Websites and to 1,000 Advertising Networks across the net. Automatically and instantly have your ads posted using the autopost feature which posts your ads whenever you want to have to them posted automatically.
  • AllTheWeb, AltaVista, AOL Search, Ask Jeeves, Google, HotBot, Lycos, LookSmart, MSN, Yahoo!
    		•

    Research By:
  • PestPatrol's Pest Research Center
    		•

    Last Revised:

    		 April 14, 2005