Friday
2008-11-29, 22:07
The following instructions have been created to help you to get rid of "Z-Quest" 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:
Starts with every windows startup and makes the system instable while pretending to be harmless.
Removal Instructions:
Autorun:
Please use Spybot-S&D (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=spybotsd), RunAlyzer (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=runalyzer) or msconfig.exe to remove the following autorun entries.
Entries named "Contextual Tool" and pointing to "<$WINDIR>\*.exe".
Entries named "Contextual Tool" and pointing to "*z00???.exe".
Entries named "Contextual Tool" and pointing to "*\ZQInContextactx1.exe".
Installed Software List:
You can try to uninstall products with the names listed below; for items identified by other properties or to avoid malware getting active again on uninstallation, use Spybot-S&D (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=spybotsd) or RunAlyzer (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=runalyzer) to locate and get rid of these entries.
Products that have a key or property named "{22131A58-5F9A-3EAA-28A7-C3059A3D0632}".
Files:
Please use Windows Explorer or another file manager of your choice to locate and delete these files.
The file at "<$LOCALSETTINGS>\Temp\{22131A58-5F9A-3EAA-28A7-C3059A3D0632}".
A file with an unknown location named "ZQInContextactx1.exe".
Make sure you set your file manager to display hidden and system files. If Z-Quest 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.
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.
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:
Starts with every windows startup and makes the system instable while pretending to be harmless.
Removal Instructions:
Autorun:
Please use Spybot-S&D (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=spybotsd), RunAlyzer (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=runalyzer) or msconfig.exe to remove the following autorun entries.
Entries named "Contextual Tool" and pointing to "<$WINDIR>\*.exe".
Entries named "Contextual Tool" and pointing to "*z00???.exe".
Entries named "Contextual Tool" and pointing to "*\ZQInContextactx1.exe".
Installed Software List:
You can try to uninstall products with the names listed below; for items identified by other properties or to avoid malware getting active again on uninstallation, use Spybot-S&D (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=spybotsd) or RunAlyzer (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=runalyzer) to locate and get rid of these entries.
Products that have a key or property named "{22131A58-5F9A-3EAA-28A7-C3059A3D0632}".
Files:
Please use Windows Explorer or another file manager of your choice to locate and delete these files.
The file at "<$LOCALSETTINGS>\Temp\{22131A58-5F9A-3EAA-28A7-C3059A3D0632}".
A file with an unknown location named "ZQInContextactx1.exe".
Make sure you set your file manager to display hidden and system files. If Z-Quest 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.
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.