http://www.makemesearch.com/?said=114

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Unregistered [/i]
Guys!! I hate to tell you this, but the reason most of you suffer from these types of adware and spyware attacks and browser hijackings is because you persist in using MicroSoft Internet Explorer. [/QUOTE]

Absolutely true!

When I was on Win*8, I used a removal tool to banish IE and MS mail programs from my machine completely, and I never had any problems with Mozilla.

[QUOTE] There are times where I literally ended up getting spyware and adware that nothing could remove, not SpyBot Search and Destroy, not SpySweeper, not AdAware. My only recource was to reformat my whole hard-drive and perform a clean install of my operating system. [/QUOTE]

That will cure the problem, but you might not have to be that drastic.

When I got my newer XP machine, I had the same problem as you (with IE, needless to say), and none of the freeware programs like AdAware worked satisfactorily for me either. I mean, they did clean out some pests and gave me a clean bill of health after that, but it was quite obvious I still had some intruders in my system.

So I went to an anti-spyware site for a free scan, and it located no fewer than 247 spyware elements on my machine!

The catch is that although the scan is free, the pest removal tools are not, and you have to buy the full version to clean your machine. I did buy it, and it cost around $25.

It seems to be working well for me, and anyone interested can check it out here:

[url]http://www.pctools.com/spyware-doctor/[/url]

thanks

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Unregistered [/i]
[B]Absolutely true!

When I was on Win*8, I used a removal tool to banish IE and MS mail programs from my machine completely, and I never had any problems with Mozilla.



That will cure the problem, but you might not have to be that drastic.

When I got my newer XP machine, I had the same problem as you (with IE, needless to say), and none of the freeware programs like AdAware worked satisfactorily for me either. I mean, they did clean out some pests and gave me a clean bill of health after that, but it was quite obvious I still had some intruders in my system.

So I went to an anti-spyware site for a free scan, and it located no fewer than 247 spyware elements on my machine!

The catch is that although the scan is free, the pest removal tools are not, and you have to buy the full version to clean your machine. I did buy it, and it cost around $25.

It seems to be working well for me, and anyone interested can check it out here:

[url]http://www.pctools.com/spyware-doctor/[/url] [/B][/QUOTE]

I just ran spyware doctor(full scan). Remember, I have not used Internet Explorer in ages and my primary browser is Mozilla FireFox. This just proved my point. Not a single piece of Adware/Spyware. I rest my case. Thanks.

As of today , I WILL be frequenting this forum. You <collectively> have saved me hours of misery trying to delete the "makemesearch" bug. Thank You all !

I localed the "search toolbar" in add/remove page of the Control panel
(Win XP). However, when I try to remove it, it does nothing. Pushing the Change/remove button does nothing. Any ideas?

When something like that happens, the only sure "guaranteed" way to make sure everything is completed removed is to reformat, and do a clean install of all your files and operating system. Once you do that DO NOT USE MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER INSTEAD USE MOZILLA FIREFOX. Sorry, I wish I had a simple fix to s***est, perhaps someone else can.

If you ran virus scans, adaware scans, etc... The answer definately lies in your registry.

I'm sorry i cant be very specific and didnt have time to read previous posts but look in your registry

HKEY_USER/DEFAULT

and

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE

At the end of a defaulted value in explorer a line of code looking something like this %system%/whatever.exe can be located. Only remove this extra text. Do not delete the entire key. This is calling the file on your computer everytime you open your browser. I'm very surprised Ad-aware did not catch this...

What?