Lycos sidesearch!!!!!!!

Dale Bessant · Post by **Dale Bessant** » 27 May 2005 12:02 pm

Turned on my computer the other day and there it was, I cant get rid of it as its not in the add/remove programs and the only way Im told to delete this pest is to get in the registry and kill it there. Getting anywhere near the registry makes me nervous. Im running Windows 98 anyone have any other ideas. The only way it doesnt show is if I change my homepage to Google....then it doesnt show itself.Its a real pain ..... and Im not very happy with Lycos at present..

Bill Bosler · Post by **Bill Bosler** » 27 May 2005 3:16 pm

Dale - I'm not real sure what you're talking about. Is it a program that starts when you boot up your computer or is it something that shows up when you open your web browser?

Dale Bessant · Post by **Dale Bessant** » 27 May 2005 4:09 pm

Bill, it starts up when you do a search on the internet browser,whatever you type in the search window on your browser, ie. the steel guitar forum ,it duplicates the search and splits the screen on your monitor and does its own search as well, giving you two searches , I believe it is a spyware program and they want you to use thier browser so they just invaded my computer and set itself up in the registry not as a program so I cant delete it from the start, programs, as it isnt there, only in the registry.....Im not really up on a lot of the computer talk but I didnt download it or anything it was put on by Lycos,Inc. and Id like to get it off if possible..I have tried contacting them but they do not reply....

Bill Bosler · Post by **Bill Bosler** » 27 May 2005 6:35 pm

Dale - I think what happened is called hijacking. There's nothing in your registry that changed. Lycos added itself as a plug-in to your web browser. There's a great website www.majorgeeks.com that has all sorts of spyware removal programs available to download and most of them are free. I'm not all that up to speed on W98 any more, so I don't know exactly what's available.
You might also check your preferences menu in your browser to see if there's selection to remove plug-ins.[This message was edited by Bill Bosler on 29 May 2005 at 12:12 AM.]

Bob Lawrence · Post by **Bob Lawrence** » 28 May 2005 6:02 am

This will get rid of any spyware:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 28 May 2005 6:55 am

I'm not at a Windows computer right now, but I believe there's a checkbox in Internet Options/Advanced that says something like "Enable third party extensions". If you can find it, turn it off.

Jon Moen · Post by **Jon Moen** » 28 May 2005 7:34 am

Check out information on Browser Helper Object or BHO. In IE have a look at Tools/Internet Options/ then on the General Tab choose Settings then View Objects and research which Helpers you have. Sometimes they are good ones but some are nasty and some hide only in the registry like the LOP.com one did.
Jon[This message was edited by Jon Moen on 28 May 2005 at 08:48 AM.]

Dale Bessant · Post by **Dale Bessant** » 29 May 2005 6:02 pm

Thx guys Ill try all and everything you have to offer,it isnt that this Lycos deal is really doing any damage its just very annoying..thx again

Dale Bessant · Post by **Dale Bessant** » 30 May 2005 10:12 am

b0b,yes sir that did the trick,thx again guys for all your help.......

Curt Langston · Post by **Curt Langston** » 30 May 2005 10:42 am

Dale, go to www.downloads.com and type in the searh browser "ad-aware se" This program is free and very thorough. You are being hijacked, and this anti-spyware program will do the job. It is free and it is highly recommended at CNET. Also down load "spybot search and destroy" also free from the same site. I gaurantee they will work. They will idenify the intruders and remove them into quarantine. You can then delete the quarantine file. Simple as can be.