Shoutbox

Thanks for responding and being so understanding, Sirby. Hang on for a big ass reply post though

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Originally posted by Sirby
I have followed instructions on how to remove it, and it came back again after reboots.  I know all about the about:config trick, and it worked, until the next reboot, when Plus! Network took over again.

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It is also stated to first uninstall the Plus! Network sponsor (or browser companion), otherwise it will of course overwrite your undoings again, after that you can manually set the browsers settings back to what they were.

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Originally posted by Sirby
...but this whole thing puzzled me.  Some programs come with uninstallers, this one didn't seem to have one.  Not saying it did or did not, but I could not find it easily.

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It does/should have an uninstaller listed in the add/remove programs. But I can understand that you migt miss it if you don't know what to look for (the name I mean) in a long list of programs.

[OFF TOPIC]

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Originally posted by Sirby
Also, the government powered part, I have no idea where that came from (It is government "quality" deletion program.  The program rewrites the data that is deleted 8-12 times to overwrite it completely)

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Ah, ok. Though I don't know of any existing govermental "quality" erase method that uses 8 to 14 passes. The ones I know all use at max 7 passes or something, in a very specific way. But even using only a few passes with simple random bytes is virtually already more than enough on modern HDDs, even according to the infamous Mr. Gutmann. All those other methods were valid decades ago when the HDDs didn't had such a huge data-density per platter. And on SSDs the principal of overwriting with data doesn't work at all - those require a completely different technique. Either way, you don't need any of those to remove something from your HDD to get rid of mal/software. Simply use the uninstaller and/or delete the offending files and they're gone; they wont revive by magic.

Anyways, using such an eraser is like using a hammer to remove a piece of software; it will work (lol), but it is seriously overkill (like buying a new PC, like formatting, and even like reinstalling the browser). But anyways, I'm going seriously off topic here
PS: just fyi, and you probably already use it, but imho the best quality eraser program there is, is eraser; as a bonus it is also completely free. It does contain several (if not all) known official govermental erasing algorithms.

[/OFF TOPIC]

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Originally posted by Sirby
Again my experience:
1>I installed Plus (Unticked Check boxes...I have experience with those, I don't like add-on software like that)
2>Rebooted (Normally do, it's a good practice)
3>MSN Started up, but could not log in for some odd reason (I hear MSN blocks Plus from time to time.  Is this true?)
4>I go to Firefox to look up my problem and homepage was changed and so was search bar.
5>I figure I will deal with it later, and I look up my problem, got fed up, uninstalled it, that was that.
6>After uninstalling it, Plus! was still taking over Firefox and IE
7>about:Config and the world is good after changing a few settings
8>Uninstalled; Rebooted; Plus is back in firefox
9>Uninstall sponsor program as recommended by friend using the control panel Program and Feature menu
10>Change settings, scan computer, Spybot finds PUPS, Reboot, all is well
--Several Weeks Later--
11>Back to Plus Taking over firefox and IE

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Thanks for the very clear list. Though, a few comments to set things in perspective and maybe explain a bit what might have happened:
3: Messenger does not block Plus! in any way. In fact, there is a silent agreement to allow it. What can be blocking Plus! are programs like SweetIM, Smiley Central and such things (which are, believe me, a far bigger annoyance than the current Plus! sponsors). See a couple of those sticky threads on the forums.
5: I presume you mean you uninstalled Messenger Plus!?
6: Messenger Plus! does not hijack your browser in any way. It's the optional sponsors which might change your search preferences. There is a massive big difference there. Messenger Plus! and its sponsors (in the form of the browser companion, and/or search engines) are completely different programs. So, by uninstalling Messenger Plus! you haven't removed/uninstalled anything related to the browser search engines or toolbar.
7: Will not work if you don't uninstall the browser companion first.
8: Again, Messenger Plus! has got nothing to do with the search engine changes; those come from the sponsor and/or toolbar.

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Originally posted by Sirby
If I uninstalled Messenger Plus, and that sponsor toolbar program, and deleted all the folders from Yuna, and the toolbar, then WHY is it still bothering me weeks later?  That is what my problem is, and why I consider this malware!

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There might be other causes too though. I hate to say it, but maybe you did not completely uninstalled the sponsor program properly?... And another possible cause, which a friend of mine got: it's stupid but for some reason 'something' decided to put back old files on his computer, which included his 'old' FireFox profile settings, which of course contained the browser search changes. Maybe it was a backup, Windows own history system thingie (forgot what it is called), even maybe FireFox itself, or whatever. Either way, that was the real reason, not Messenger Plus! taking things over by magic again after everything, including the sponsors, were removed (but of course he claimed it was).

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Originally posted by Sirby
I appreciate your input CookieRevised and I appreciate your criticism towards my knowledge, but this is why I am confused.  This is why I reinstalled my browser, is to get rid of any trace of Plus network because all the other instructions did not work!

That is all!

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I see, well much thanks for the input though!
I assume asking to reinstall Plus! again with its browser companion stuff and redo all the steps would be a bit too much?

Though, may I ask you try my instructions in my previous post: the one which asks to track down the HTTP response headers in order to see which exact setup file it was you have downloaded? You don't need to install anything Plus! related for that, just re-download it.

Thanks