Friday
2008-11-30, 14:31
The following instructions have been created to help you to get rid of "Pointfree" 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:
adware
Description:
This application installs into its own directory. It creates the autorun entry "pointfree" in order to run on every system startup.
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 "pointfree" and pointing to "<$PROGRAMFILES>\pointfree\PFUpdate.exe".
Files:
Please use Windows Explorer or another file manager of your choice to locate and delete these files.
A file with an unknown location named "PFD.exe".
Make sure you set your file manager to display hidden and system files. If Pointfree 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.
Registry:
You can use regedit.exe (included in Windows) to locate and delete these registry entries.
Delete the registry key "{BFFA5836-E2C0-410A-83ED-BA490DA6337A}" at "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\".
A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "PFAX.PFX", plus associated values.
Delete the registry key "pointfree" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\".
If Pointfree 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.
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:
adware
Description:
This application installs into its own directory. It creates the autorun entry "pointfree" in order to run on every system startup.
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 "pointfree" and pointing to "<$PROGRAMFILES>\pointfree\PFUpdate.exe".
Files:
Please use Windows Explorer or another file manager of your choice to locate and delete these files.
A file with an unknown location named "PFD.exe".
Make sure you set your file manager to display hidden and system files. If Pointfree 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.
Registry:
You can use regedit.exe (included in Windows) to locate and delete these registry entries.
Delete the registry key "{BFFA5836-E2C0-410A-83ED-BA490DA6337A}" at "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\".
A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "PFAX.PFX", plus associated values.
Delete the registry key "pointfree" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\".
If Pointfree 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.