ExactSearchBar

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

Overview

Summary:

 eXactSearchBar is an IE toolbar with the usual search features.

Vendor Notes:

 The eXact Search Bar is FREE and includes the following features: eXact Search: Access search results from the web's leading search engines including Google, Lycos, AltaVista and more More Results: Use this button to search the same keyword at a different search engine Popular Searches:Access a list of some of the most frequently searched terms and the most relevant answers for each of them Yellow Pages: Look up businesses anywhere in the United States Shopping: Search the web's best bargains from hundreds of merchants Highlight: Highlight your search terms wherever they appear on the page Weather: Get current conditions and forecasts just by entering a city name or zip code Dictionary: Look up word definitions with the click of a button

Alias:

 Adware/Etoolbar [Panda], Adware/ExactSearch [Panda], eXact, eXact Search bar, Exact Searchbar, Spyware/BargainBuddy [Panda]

Category:

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.

Toolbar: A group of buttons which perform common tasks. A toolbar for Internet Explorer is nomally located below the menu bar at the top of the form. Toolbars may be created by Browser Helper Objects.

Similar Pests:

 Browser Helper Object · Toolbar

Origins

Group:

 eXactSearchBar.com

EMail:

 search_bar@exactadvertising.com

URL:

 http://exactsearchbar.com/

Date of Origin:

 February, 2003

Distribution

Distribution:

 Advertised by e-mail to mail.com users as a mail.com toolbar.

Prevalence:
  • ExactSearchBar: 182.2%
    • More Info

    Clot Factor:
  • ExactSearchBar: 4

    • 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:
  • ExactSearchBar: Insufficient data to report growth
    		•

    Operation

    Platform:

    		 Windows 95/98/NT/2000/ME/XP and Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher

    Advertising:

    		 Yes. Opens pop-up advertising when targeted words appear in the URL or search engine terms. 'y downloading the eXact Search Bar, you accept the eXact Search Bar License Agreement, which also gives eXact Advertising LLC permission to display relevant contextual information to you in the form of advertisements should they decide to do so.' -- from the EULA, at the time of install.

    Storage Required:
  • ExactSearchBar: at least 2209 KB
    		•

    Browser Performance:

    		 Likely to slow performance of Internet Explorer.

    ScreenShot:

    Risks

    Privacy Issues:

    		 No.

    Privacy Policy:

    		 "The eXact Search Bar does not collect personally identifiable information regarding your Internet searches or any personal information about individual users. We do collect aggregate search terms that are searched, but that information is not associated with individual users." - http://exactsearchbar.com/faq.html No privacy policy could be located.

    Security Issues:

    		 Yes. Can download and execute arbitrary code from its controlling servers as an update feature.

    Stability Issues:

    		 None known.

    Detection and Removal

    Automatic Removal:

    PestPatrol detects this.

    PestPatrol removes this.

    Manual Removal:

    		 Open the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs option. Select 'eXact Search Bar' and click 'Remove'.
    Stop Running Processes:

    Kill these running processes with Task Manager:

    Remove AutoRun Reference:

    Go To the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run.
    If you find the value HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\run\cashback, delete it and reboot the machine immediately.
    If you find the value HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\run\navisearch, delete it and reboot the machine immediately.



    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:

    Remove Directories:

    Remove these directories (if present) with Windows Explorer:

    Research

    File Analyses:

    More Info:
  • AllTheWeb, AltaVista, AOL Search, Ask Jeeves, Google, HotBot, Lycos, LookSmart, MSN, Yahoo!
    		•

    Research By:
  • Andrew Clover
  • PestPatrol's Pest Research Center
    		•

    Last Revised:

    		 April 02, 2005