Cool Web Search Homepage Hijacking
Spyware and Adware programs continue to become more of a problem. SpyBot: Search and Destroy and Ad-Aware are the programs usually recommended for dealing with these programs. In addition, VirusScan 8.0 has introduced an option to detect spyware. Instructions for configuring this feature can be found here. However, there are some spyware/adware applications which are resistant or immune to removal by those programs. One such "resistant" program is the Cool Web Search Homepage Hijacking spyware. This software changes your homepage to something else and then continually changes it back if you attempt to rectify it. The page itself frequently advertises spyware removal. Another symptom of Cool Web is if you leave off the http:// on a typed url, you'll be sent to a local file named searchpage.html and then redirected to a coolsearch.biz website.
There is a utility called CWShredder which can remove this program. Click here to download CWShredder.
Simply download and run the utility, have it check for updates and then click "Fix" and it removes it. Please make sure all other programs are closed when you run it, especially browser windows, as an open browser window may prevent it from finding all of the files properly.
Note: There is a variant of the Cool Web Search trojan which automatically kills some anti-spyware applications (including CWShredder) when they run. If this is happening to you, download PepiMK's CoolWWWSearch.SmartKiller first and run it, then proceed with CWShredder.
Current Record: 1759
Create Date: 05-28-2004
Last Reviewed: 03-17-2009
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