Manual Removal Guide for Comet Cursors

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Friday

Active member
Alpha Testers
The following instructions have been created to help you to get rid of "Comet Cursors" 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:
  • tracking
Description:
I couldn't review the privacy statement for 4.0 because I got a 404 (File not found error). According to http://and.doxdesk.com/parasite/CometCursor.html , Comet Systems tracks what websites using Comet Cursors you visit.​
Supposed Functionality:
Cursors add-ons for Internet Explorer​
Links (be careful!):
Website: http://www.cometcursors.com/
Privacy: http://www.cometsystems.com/privacy/introduction.html​
Removal Instructions:

Desktop:

Please remove the following files from your desktop.
To check where they are pointing to, right-click them and choose "Properties" from the context menu appearing.
  • Shortcuts named "Comet Cursor.lnk" and pointing to "<$PROGRAMFILES>\Comet Systems\Platform\Bin\comet.exe".
  • Shortcuts that include "comet\bin\comet.exe" in the target they point to.
Start Menu:

Please remove the following items from your start menu.
To check where they are pointing to, right-click them and choose "Properties" from the context menu appearing.
  • Items named "Comet Cursor.lnk" and pointing to "<$PROGRAMFILES>\Comet Systems\Platform\Bin\comet.exe".
  • Items that include "comet\bin\comet.exe" in the target they point to.
Autorun:

Please use Spybot-S&D, RunAlyzer or msconfig.exe to remove the following autorun entries.
  • Entries pointing to "comet\bin\comet.exe".
  • Entries pointing to "COMETS~1\DM\bin\dmserver.exe /onreboot".
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 or RunAlyzer to locate and get rid of these entries.
  • Products that have a key or property named "CC2K".
Files:

Please use Windows Explorer or another file manager of your choice to locate and delete these files.
  • The file at "<$SYSDIR>\comet.dll".
  • The file at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\COMETS~1\DM\bin\dmserver.exe /onreboot".
Make sure you set your file manager to display hidden and system files. If Comet Cursors 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!

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

Folders:

Please use Windows Explorer or another file manager of your choice to locate and delete these folders.
  • The directory at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\Comet Systems".
  • The directory at "<$SYSDIR>\Comet".
  • The directory at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\Comet".
Make sure you set your file manager to display hidden and system files. If Comet Cursors 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 folders!

Registry:

You can use regedit.exe (included in Windows) to locate and delete these registry entries.
  • Delete the registry key "COMETKEY" at "HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Cryptography\UserKeys\".
  • Delete the registry key "Comet Systems" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\".
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "BHO.CSBHO", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "CometIEToolbar.CometToolbar", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "Core.BrowserAppProxy", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "Core.CometCursor", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "Core.BHO1", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "Core.BinXml", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "Core.CS15Cursor", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "Core.FileInfo", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "Core.CometFrame", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "Core.HttpComm", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "Core.MyBrowser1", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "Core.System", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "Core.CometUIEvents", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "Core.SelfUpdater", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "Core.CometWindow", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "Core.WindowProxy", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "CSBand.VerticalIEBand", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "CSBand.HorizontalIEBand", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "CSEng.EvHandler", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "CSEng.CSEngine", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "CSEng.CSHost", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "CSCtb.CTB", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "CSIP.CSCollection", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "CSIP.CSIPDispatch", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "CSIP.CSIPPacket", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "SkinUI.ActiveWindow", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "SkinUI.CometBar", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "SkinUI.FrameSink", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "SkinUI.CSkinUI", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "SkinUI.WebBrowserSink", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "SkinUI.WindowsHelper", plus associated values.
  • References to the file "comet.dll" at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ModuleUsage\.
  • References to the file "comet.dll" at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SharedDlls\.
  • Delete the registry key "{D14D6793-9B65-11D3-80B6-00500487BDBA}" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Code Store Database\Distribution Units\".
  • Delete the registry key "{1678F7E1-C422-11D0-AD7D-00400515CAAA}" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Browser Helper Objects\".
  • Delete the registry key "{96DA5BEE-4ACC-476C-B3EC-54C6730C4293}" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Browser Helper Objects\".
  • Delete the registry key "{D14D6793-9B65-11D3-80B6-00500487BDBA}" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Browser Helper Objects\".
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "IActiveWindow" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "IBHO1" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "IBrowserAppProxy" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "ICometBar" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "ICometCursor" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "ICometFrame" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "ICometUIEvents" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "ICometWindow" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "ICS15Cursor" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "ICSBHO" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "ICSCollection" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "ICSHost" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "ICSEngine" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "ICSIPDispatch" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "ICSIPPacket" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "IEvHandler" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "IFrameSink" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "IHttpComm" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "IMyBrowser1" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "ISkinUI" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "IWebBrowserSink" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "IWindowProxy" as its default value data.
  • Delete the registry key "{1348E05A-21C7-4134-B4A4-3C12234FCA3F}" at "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\".
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "_IActiveWindowEvents" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "_IBHOEvents" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "_ICSHostEvents" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "_ICSEngineEvents" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "_ICometBarEvents" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "_ICometFrameEvents" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "_ICometUIEvents" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "_IHttpCommEvents" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "_ISkinUIEvents" as its default value data.
  • Delete the registry key "{D14D6793-9B65-11D3-80B6-00500487BDBA}" at "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\".
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "CometAppUtil.CometUIEvents", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "ComUtil.FCParam", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "ComUtil.FctCall", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "ContextParser.ContextProxy", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "ContextParser.ContextProxyMgr", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "ContextParser.CSRegExp", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "ContextParser.URLContextParser", plus associated values.
  • A key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ named "CSBRange.ByteRange", plus associated values.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\ that has "URLContextParser Class" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\ that has "ByteRange Class" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\ that has "ContextProxyMgr Class" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\ that has "CSRegExp Class" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\ that has "Comet Cursor" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\ that has "CometUIEvents Class" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\ that has "ContextProxy Class" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\ that has "FCParam Class" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\ that has "FctCall Class" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "IFCParam" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "ICometToolbar" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "IURLContextParserEventTrigger" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "_IIEBandEvents" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "IURLContextParser" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "IHorizontalIEBand" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "_IByteRangeEvents" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "_IURLContextParserEvents" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "IByteRange" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "IFctCall" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "IContextProxy" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "_IHorizontalIEBandEvents" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "IVerticalIEBand" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "_IContextProxyEvents" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "ICSRegExp" as its default value data.
  • A key with a likely random name in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interfaces\ that has "IContextProxyMgr" as its default value data.
  • Delete the registry key "{D14D6786-9B65-11D3-80B6-00500487BDBA}" at "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\".
  • Delete the registry key "{C09FB84D-B9ED-43EB-AFED-F145C26CB839}" at "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\".
  • Delete the registry key "{BFA2C963-FC24-4770-8C19-0D5A1CD58DF9}" at "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\".
  • Delete the registry key "{BF986691-7F7B-4F94-85E0-20E75350701F}" at "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\".
  • Delete the registry key "{878ACE1B-8DB0-4D75-9034-504756AD4215}" at "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\".
  • Delete the registry key "{7F0F5D9A-84CB-11D4-8137-00500487B1C5}" at "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\".
  • Delete the registry key "{74232635-A013-49F2-B869-1B1AB932D944}" at "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\".
  • Delete the registry key "{3F4386E5-2FBE-44A8-81CF-4B792490605F}" at "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\".
  • Delete the registry key "{07FA131E-2EB2-446F-93D2-9F877320010B}" at "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\".
  • Delete the registry key "{062EFA78-8BBB-11D3-80D0-00500487B1C5}" at "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\".
If Comet Cursors uses rootkit technologies, use our RegAlyzer, RootAlyzer or our Total Commander anti-rootkit plugins.

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 remove Browser Helpers named "CSBHO".
  • Look for ActiveX software installed from "files.cc.cometsystems.com".
  • Look for ActiveX software installed from "files.cometsystems.com".
  • Please check your bookmarks for links to "cometsystems".
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.
 
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