Addedsuccess.com

Malware removal
By Kristopher on April 10, 2012

screenshotIf your browser keeps taking you to this weird website called Addedsuccess.com, it’s not because you’ve been sucked into some sort of higher-education portal. No, you just have a browser hijacker that is stubbornly sending you to this junky website every time you try to use Google or another search engine. The reason is to get you to get you to click on ads.

Addedsuccess makes a cursory effort at providing information about financial aid, but its articles on this topic are the sort of thing you find buried deep in Google’s blog search. It’s not information you would actually want to use. And anyway, even if the articles were helpful, the fact that they’re on a site that is promoted by a browser-hijacking trojan counts against them in a serious way.

Want your normal browser back? Follow these steps to completely remove that Addedsuccess.com trojan for free.

Delete Addedsuccess.com files:

%AppData%[trojan name]toolbarcouponscategories.xml
%AppData%[trojan name]toolbarcouponsmerchants.xml
%AppData%[trojan name]toolbarcouponsmerchants2.xml
%AppData%[trojan name]toolbardtx.ini
%AppData%[trojan name]toolbarguid.dat
%AppData%[trojan name]toolbarlog.txt
%AppData%[trojan name]toolbarpreferences.dat
%AppData%[trojan name]toolbarstat.log
%AppData%[trojan name]toolbarstats.dat
%AppData%[trojan name]toolbaruninstallIE.dat
%AppData%[trojan name]toolbaruninstallStatIE.dat
%AppData%[trojan name]toolbarversion.xml
%Temp%[trojan name]toolbar-manifest.xml

Delete folders:

%AppData%[trojan name]toolbar

Delete Registry entries:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesCLSID{99079a25-328f-4bd4-be04-00955acaa0a7}InprocServer32 “C:PROGRA~1WINDOW~4ToolBar[trojan name]dtx.dll”
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesCLSID{99079a25-328f-4bd4-be04-00955acaa0a7} “[trojan name] Toolbar”
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesCLSID{A40DC6C5-79D0-4ca8-A185-8FF989AF1115}VersionIndependentProgID “[trojan name]IEHelper.UrlHelper”
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesCLSID{A40DC6C5-79D0-4ca8-A185-8FF989AF1115}ProgID “[trojan name]IEHelper.UrlHelper.1″
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesCLSID{A40DC6C5-79D0-4ca8-A185-8FF989AF1115} “UrlHelper Class”
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClasses[trojan name]IEHelper.DNSGuardCurVer
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClasses[trojan name]IEHelper.DNSGuardCLSID
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClasses[trojan name]IEHelper.DNSGuard
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClasses[trojan name]IEHelper.DNSGuard.1
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftInternet ExplorerToolbar “[trojan name] Toolbar”
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerBrowser Helper Objects{99079a25-328f-4bd4-be04-00955acaa0a7} “[trojan name] Toolbar”

DIY Addedsuccess.com Removal Instructions

Start by removing the above files. If you're not sure how to do this, refer to the instructions below.

Note: In any files I mention above, “%UserProfile%” is a variable referring to your current user’s profile folder. (Not an iEuphemism for muth@fugg@#*!@.) So if you’re using Windows NT/2000/XP/7, by default this is “C:\Documents and Settings\[CURRENT USER]” (e.g., “C:\Documents and Settings\NoahFence”).

How to Manually Delete Badware Files

Need some removing badware files help? No biggie. While you should only manually delete badware files if you're comfy editing your system, you'll find it's pretty easy. And probably really satisfying.

How to delete badware files in Windows XP/Vista/7:

  1. Click your Windows Start menu, then click "Search."
  2. A pop up will ask, "What do you want to search for?" Click "All files and folders."
  3. Type a badware file in the search box, and select "Local Hard Drives."
  4. Click "Search." Once the badware file is found, delete it.

How to stop badware processes:

  1. Click the Start menu, select Run.
  2. Type taskmgr.exe into the the Run command box, and click "OK." You can also launch the Task Manager by pressing keys CTRL + Shift + ESC.
  3. Click Processes tab, and find badware processes.
  4. Once you've found the badware processes, right-click them and select "End Process" to kill badware.

badware processes

How to remove badware registry keys:

Backup your registry before you edit it. Then...

  1. Click the Start menu, and click "Run." An "Open" field will appear. Type "regedit" and click "OK " to open up your Registry Editor. In Windows 7, just type "regedit" into the "Search programs and files" box in the Start menu.
  2. Registry Editor opens as a two-paned window: the left side lets you select registry keys,the right side shows the values of any selected registry key.
  3. To find a badware registry key, select "Edit," then select "Find," and in the search bar type any of badware 's registry keys.
  4. When the badware registry key appears, to delete the badware registry key, right-click it, and select "Modify," then select "Delete."

Deleting badware Registry Keys

How to delete badware DLLs:

  1. Open the Start menu, and click "Run." Type "cmd" in Run, and click "OK." (In Windows 7, just type "regedit" into the "Search programs and files" box in the Start menu.)
  2. To change your current directory, type "cd" in the command box, press "Space," and enter the full directory where the badware DLL is located. If you're not sure where the badware DLL is located, enter "dir" in the command box to display a directory's contents. To go one directory back, type "cd .." in the command box and press "Enter."
  3. When you've found a badware DLL, type "regsvr32 /u SampleDLLName.dll" (e.g., "regsvr32 /u jl27script.dll") and press "Enter."

That's it. If you want to restore any badware DLL you removed, type "regsvr32 DLLJustDeleted.dll" (e.g., "regsvr32 jl27script.dll") into your command box, and press "Enter."

Did badware change your homepage?

  1. Select Start menu > Control Panel > Internet Options > General.
  2. Type your preferred home page's URL.
  3. Click "Use Default," "Apply," and "OK."