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View Full Version : Manual Removal Guide for AstaKiller



Friday
2008-11-29, 15:52
The following instructions have been created to help you to get rid of "AstaKiller" manually.
Use this guide at your own risk; software should usually be better suited to remove malware, since it is able to look deeper.

If this guide was helpful to you, please consider donating towards this site (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=donate).

Threat Details:

Categories:
trojan

Description:
This startup entry is started automatically and copies more files to the windows system folder. It installs a Toolbar in IE-Explorer. Also it always connects to the internet without giving the user a possibility to cancel that process. It downloads Avenue A, Command Service, Network Monitor, Smitfraud-C, Smitfraud-C.Toolbar888, Targettsaver,Downloader.Tsupdate.L, Zlob-Familie, Look2Me_RG etc.
Removal Instructions:

Installed Software List:

You can try to uninstall products with the names listed below; for items identified by other properties or to avoid malware getting active again on uninstallation, use Spybot-S&D (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=spybotsd) or RunAlyzer (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=runalyzer) to locate and get rid of these entries.

Products that have a key or property named "Cowabanga".

Files:

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

The file at "<$PROGRAMS>\Games\Cowabanga.lnk".
The file at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\Cowabanga\Cowabanga.exe".
A file with an unknown location named "page.htm".
The file at "<$PROGRAMS>\Games\Cowabanga.lnk".
The file at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\Cowabanga\Cowabanga.exe".
The file at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\Cowabanga\License.txt".
The file at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\Cowabanga\uninstaller.exe".
The file at "<$PROGRAMS>\Games\Cowabanga.lnk".
The file at "<$SYSDIR>\ssqonol.dll".
The file at "<$SYSDIR>\winghy32.dll".
Make sure you set your file manager to display hidden and system files. If AstaKiller uses rootkit technologies, use our RootAlyzer (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=8) or our Total Commander anti-rootkit plugins (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=3).
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!

Important: There are more files that cannot be safely described in simple words. Please use Spybot-S&D (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=spybotsd) to remove them.

Folders:

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

The directory at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\Cowabanga".
The directory at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\Cowabanga".
The directory at "<$COMMONPROGRAMFILES>\{44D228D9-0969-1031-0729-050031}".
Make sure you set your file manager to display hidden and system files. If AstaKiller uses rootkit technologies, use our RootAlyzer (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=8) or our Total Commander anti-rootkit plugins (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=3).
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 folders!

Registry:

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

Delete the registry key "{14D228D9-0969-1031-0729-050729050031}" at "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\".
Delete the registry key "{14D228D9-0969-1031-0729-050729050031}" at "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\".
Delete the registry key "MezziaCodec.Chl" at "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\".
Delete the registry key "Cowabanga" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\".
Delete the registry key "{00000000-0000-0000-0000-100005000004}" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Code Store Database\Distribution Units\".
Delete the registry key "{CBCC61FA-0221-4ccc-B409-CEE865CACA3A}" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\".
Delete the registry value "{CBCC61FA-0221-4ccc-B409-CEE865CACA3A}" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar\".
If AstaKiller uses rootkit technologies, use our RegAlyzer (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=regalyzer), RootAlyzer (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=8) or our Total Commander anti-rootkit plugins (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=3).

Final Words:

If neither Spybot-S&D nor self help did resolve the issue or you would prefer one on one help,
Please read these instructions (http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=288) before requesting assistance,
Then start your own thread in the Malware Removal Forum (http://forums.spybot.info/forumdisplay.php?f=22) where a volunteer analyst will advise you as soon as available.