Manual Removal Guide for Network Essentials.Search-Exe

The following instructions have been created to help you to get rid of "Network Essentials.Search-Exe" 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

Description:

executeable and dll register various Registrykeys similar to other "Network Essentials" products.
for the time being the executeable does nothing else, the described "function" could not be confirmed yet.

executeable runs without anything shown onscreen and shut itself down.
the legal notice is not shown
there are no references to company name or website.

similar product: Network Essentials.WindowEnhancer

hijacks brower search pages

Supposed Functionality:

Browser "Enhancement" : redirection of internet browser to Search-Exe website for search-button.
adds additional links to favorites or bookmarks.
provides links and ads based on the information of the visited websites.
redirection of certain urls , including 404-error page to Search-Exe website.

Privacy Statement:

"You acknowledge that by accepting the terms and conditions documented herein you are also accepting the Privacy Policy, which is incorporated herein by this reference.[...] In the event of a merger, acquisition, asset or stock sale, bankruptcy, or other asset transfer (regardless of legal formality), any of our assets may be transfered to An assignee, including personal informatioin collected from visitors tou our Web site. Licensed Software incorporated into this product collects personal information. To learn more about how this information is collected and used please read our Privacy Policy Statement. Our Privacy Policy Statement can be accessed via the World" <End of text!>

Removal Instructions:

Files:

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

• The file at "<$LOCALSETTINGS>\Temp\se.dll".
• A file with an unknown location named "gpo.dll".

Make sure you set your file manager to display hidden and system files. If Network Essentials.Search-Exe uses rootkit technologies, use our RootAlyzer 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 "{3C0F5D5B-21EF-kf4359-992C-55DF25C396F6}" at "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\".
• Delete the registry key "{5BA91B25-7FC3-4B9B-907B-8BB164167D89}" at "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\".
• Delete the registry key "{3C0F5D5B-21EF-4359-992C-55DF25C396F6}" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\".

If Network Essentials.Search-Exe uses rootkit technologies, use our RegAlyzer, RootAlyzer or our Total Commander anti-rootkit plugins.

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.