Manual Removal Guide for DoSearches

The following instructions have been created to help you to get rid of "DoSearches" manually.
Use this guide at your own risk; software should usually be better suited to remove malware, since it is able to look deeper.

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Threat Details:

Categories:

• hijacker
• adware

Description:

DoSearches is an adware based search assistant that changes your browsers start page.

Removal Instructions:

Files:

Please use Windows Explorer or another file manager of your choice to locate and delete these files.

• The file at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\Mozilla Firefox\searchplugins\do-search.xml".
• The file at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\Mozilla Firefox\searchplugins\dosearches.xml".

Make sure you set your file manager to display hidden and system files. If DoSearches uses rootkit technologies, use the rootkit scanner integrated into Spybot-S&D 2.x or our Total Commander anti-rootkit plugins.
You will have to use a global search for files without a name specified. Be extra careful, because just the name might not be enough to identify files!

Registry:

You can use regedit.exe (included in Windows) to locate and delete these registry entries.

• Delete the registry key "{33BB0A4E-99AF-4226-BDF6-49120163DE86}" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\".
• Delete the registry key "do-searchSoftware" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\".
• Delete the registry value "DefaultScope={33BB0A4E-99AF-4226-BDF6-49120163DE86}" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\".
• Remove "<regexpr>http\://do-search.com. " from registry value "CustomizeSearch" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search\".
• Remove "<regexpr>http\://do-search.com. " from registry value "Default_Page_URL" at "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\".
• Remove "<regexpr>http\://do-search.com. " from registry value "Default_Page_URL" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\".
• Remove "<regexpr>http\://do-search.com. " from registry value "SearchAssistant" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search\".
• Remove "<regexpr>http\://do-search.com. " from registry value "Start Page" at "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\".
• Remove "<regexpr>http\://do-search.com. " from registry value "Start Page" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\".
• Remove "<regexpr>http\://search.dosearches.com. " from registry value "CustomizeSearch" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search\".
• Remove "<regexpr>http\://search.dosearches.com. " from registry value "SearchAssistant" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search\".

If DoSearches uses rootkit technologies, use our RegAlyzer, RootAlyzer or our Total Commander anti-rootkit plugins.

There are more registry entries that cannot be safely described in simple words. Please use Spybot-S&D to remove them.

Browser:

The following browser plugins or items can either be removed directly in your browser, or through the help of e.g. Spybot-S&D or RunAlyzer.

• Please check your bookmarks for links to "http://do-search.com*".

Final Words:

If neither Spybot-S&D nor self help did resolve the issue or you would prefer one on one help,

1. Please read these instructions before requesting assistance,
2. Then start your own thread in the Malware Removal Forum where a volunteer analyst will advise you as soon as available.