Free Community


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



Overview

Alias:

Adware/SearchAid [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.

Similar Pests:

Browser Helper Object

Origins

Date of Origin:

December, 2003

Distribution

Prevalence:

  • Free Community: 0.8%
  • More Info

    Clot Factor:

  • Free Community: 3
  • 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.

    Operation

    Storage Required:

  • Free Community: at least 141 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 Free Community 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:

    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:

  • PestPatrol's Pest Research Center
  • Last Revised:

    April 03, 2005