Manual Spy Bot Removal > SearchSquire
SearchSquire is an Internet Explorer sidebar containing paid links that opens when you use search engines.
Variants
There are two major versions of SearchSquire, v1 and v2 .
Distribution
Through ActiveX drive-by-download on off-screen (hidden) pop-up adverts.
Advertising
Yes. When using a search engine known to the software, the search terms are forwarded to SearchSquire's own search feature, returning advertisers' links in a sidebar.
SearchSquire/v2 seems also to be capable of opening pop-up adverts on targeted sites.
Privacy violation
Not currently. The software does not pass an ID for tracking searches and cookies are not being used at the time of writing.
Security issues
None known.
Stability problems
Can cause Internet Explorer to crash when opening a new window, and Windows Explorer to crash when moving between folders.
Removal
Go to the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs option and remove the 'SearchSquire' entry.
Ad-Aware reflist 08.02.2003 and later can also remove SearchSquire.
Manual removal
Open the registry (Start->Run->regedit) and find the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. Delete the 'SearchSquire' value.
Next, open a DOS command prompt window (Start->Programs->Accessories) and enter the following commands. For v1:
cd "%WinDir%\System"
regsvr32 /u SearchSquire.dll
del "..\Downloaded Program Files\SearchSquire.inf"
Or for v2:
cd "%WinDir%\System"
regsvr32 /u SearchSquire2.dll
You can then reboot and delete the following files from the System folder ('Windows\System' under Windows 95/98/Me, 'Windows\System32' under Windows NT/2000/XP). For v1:
engines.txt partner.txt SearchSquire.dll SearchSquire.exe SquireUninst.exe
For v2:
engines.txt partner.txt SearchSquire2.dll SearchSquire2.inf SearchUpdate.exe unsearch.exe
|
