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Windows Forum / Windows Me / Networking / May 2004

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system and network problems (windows ME)

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mike - 24 May 2004 16:10 GMT
during start up the following dialogue box appears and
can't be deleted:

"wtoolsa has caused an error in kernel32.dll...."

I can no longer access the internet and the computer will
not shut down other than by turning off the power. other
than that everything else seems to be working. help!!!
Mike M - 24 May 2004 16:26 GMT
wtoolsa.exe is malware and appears to be a new member of the IBIS Toolbar
family
(http://www.pestpatrol.com/PestInfo/i/ibis_toolbar.asp) or even a variant of
the CoolWebSearch parasite.  It certainly doesn't form a part of the Win Me
operating system.  One install mechanism it uses is if you choose to install
the toolbar from xxx.websearch.com

Boot to Safe Mode, open MSConfig (Start, Run, enter MSConfig in the box and
click OK), open the Startup tab and uncheck the entry being used to launch
wstoolsa.exe, possibly labelled something like WinTools as well as any entries
referring to wtoolsb.dll, wsup.exe and tb_setup.exe.

Browse to and delete the contents of your C:\Windows\Temp folder and also
clear you Temporary Internet Files (Internet Options | General | Delete Files
and ensure that you check the box "Delete all offline content", then click OK
and Apply.

Now check Add/Remove Programs and uninstall any entry for WinTools.

You should also delete the entire Wintools folder which is probably
located as a sub-folder in C:\Program Files\Common Files or alternatively in
C:\Windows\System.  Check for and delete all copies of wtoolsa.exe,
wtoolsb.dll, wsup.exe and tb_setup.exe.

Now reboot back into Normal Mode and check your system for commercial
parasites.

This might be a good time to download yourself a  copy
of the free Ad-Aware 6.0 from Lavasoft
(http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/) and also SpyBot
(http://www.safer-networking.org/) and scan your system for and remove all
unwanted parasites, adware and spyware that might be hiding on your PC.

I  would suggest you download and run merijn's CWShredder which targets the
CoolWebSearch parasite. CWShredder can be downloaded from
(http://www.zerosrealm.com/downloads/CWShredder.zip or
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/cwshredder.zip).  Details of the many
forms of the CoolWebSearch hijacker can be found at
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/cwschronicles.html and also
http://www.pestpatrol.com/pestinfo/c/cws.asp.

If you continue to have problems download a copy of HijackThis from
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html).  Create a folder called
hijackthis on C: and copy the file you downloaded to that folder.  Close as
many applications as you can including all instances of Internet Explorer and
then run hijackthis.exe and post back the log, provided that it isn't too
long, to this thread, otherwise to the HijackThis Forum at
http://www.spywareinfo.com/forums/ and hopefully this will enable someone to
identify the cause of your problem.

Entries in the HiJackThis log to remove include:

R3 - URLSearchHook: (no name) - {87766247-311C-43B4-8499-3D5FEC94A183} -
C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\WinTools\WToolsB.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {87766247-311C-43B4-8499-3D5FEC94A183} -
C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\WinTools\WToolsB.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [WinTools] C:\Program Files\Common
files\WinTools\WToolsA.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [WinTools] C:\Program Files\Common
files\WinTools\WToolsA.exe

Finally to prevent reinfection download and use SpywareBlaster
(http://www.wilderssecurity.net/spywareblaster.html) which can inocualte your
PC against infection by many parasites and using Tools | Custom Blocking add
the following:
Item Name - WinTools
CLSID - {87766247-311C-43B4-8499-3D5FEC94A183}
--?
Mike Maltby MS-MVP
mcmaltby@hotmail.com

> during start up the following dialogue box appears and
> can't be deleted:
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> not shut down other than by turning off the power. other
> than that everything else seems to be working. help!!!
Rick T - 24 May 2004 16:26 GMT
> during start up the following dialogue box appears and
> can't be deleted:
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> not shut down other than by turning off the power. other
> than that everything else seems to be working. help!!!

(courtesy of Mike Maltby, MVP)

wtoolsa.exe is malware and appears to be a new member of the IBIS
Toolbar family
(http://www.pestpatrol.com/PestInfo/i/ibis_toolbar.asp) or even a
variant of the CoolWebSearch parasite.  It certainly doesn't form a part
of the Win Me operating system.  One install mechanism it uses is if you
choose to install the toolbar from xxx.websearch.com

Boot to Safe Mode, open MSConfig (Start, Run, enter MSConfig in the box
and click OK), open the Startup tab and uncheck the entry being used to
launch wstoolsa.exe, possibly labelled something like WinTools as well
as any entries referring to wtoolsb.dll, wsup.exe and tb_setup.exe.

Browse to and delete the contents of your C:\Windows\Temp folder and
also clear you Temporary Internet Files (Internet Options | General |
Delete Files and ensure that you check the box "Delete all offline
content", then click OK and Apply.

Now check Add/Remove Programs and uninstall any entry for WinTools.

You should also delete the entire Wintools folder which is probably
located as a sub-folder in C:\Program Files\Common Files or
alternatively in C:\Windows\System.  Check for and delete all copies of
wtoolsa.exe, wtoolsb.dll, wsup.exe and tb_setup.exe.

Now reboot back into Normal Mode and check your system for commercial
parasites.

This might be a good time to download yourself a  copy
of the free Ad-Aware 6.0 from Lavasoft
(http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/) and also SpyBot
(http://www.safer-networking.org/) and scan your system for and remove
all unwanted parasites, adware and spyware that might be hiding on your PC.

I  would suggest you download and run merijn's CWShredder which targets
the CoolWebSearch parasite. CWShredder can be downloaded from
(http://www.zerosrealm.com/downloads/CWShredder.zip or
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/cwshredder.zip).  Details of
the many forms of the CoolWebSearch hijacker can be found at
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/cwschronicles.html and also
http://www.pestpatrol.com/pestinfo/c/cws.asp.

If you continue to have problems download a copy of HijackThis from
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html).  Create a folder
called hijackthis on C: and copy the file you downloaded to that folder.
 Close as many applications as you can including all instances of
Internet Explorer and then run hijackthis.exe and post back the log,
provided that it isn't too long, to this thread, otherwise to the
HijackThis Forum at http://www.spywareinfo.com/forums/ and hopefully
this will enable someone to identify the cause of your problem.

Possible entries in the HiJackThis log to remove include:
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [WinTools] C:\Program Files\Common
files\WinTools\WToolsA.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [WinTools] C:\Program Files\Common
files\WinTools\WToolsA.exe

O16 - DPF: {1D4DB7D2-6EC9-47A3-BD87-1E41684E07BB} (Fun Web Products
Installer
Start) - http://imgfarm.com/images/nocache/funwe....0.0.5.cab
Signature

Mike Maltby MS-MVP
mcmaltby@hotmail.com

 
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