UniversalSearchToolbar Spyware Profile
Title: UniversalSearchToolbar
Also Known as: Adware. UniversalSearchToolbar, UniversalTB
Severity scale:
UniversalSearchToolbar is an adware program disguised as a toolbar add-on for your browser. It was first discovered on April 15 of 2005. It is distributed by the website, http://simplenter.com. This website is currently shut down, but it is not indicative of the company going out of business or the removal of the UniversalSearchToolbar threat.
UniversalSearchToolbar is installed on your computer manually or as part of a freeware bundle supported by advertisements. It resets your browser’s home page to http://simplenter.com and redirects all searches to that website.
Any time the browser is opened, it uploads user data to its server. It does this supposedly in order to deliver contextual advertising. There is, however, much potential for abuse.
The activity of UniversalSearchToolbar can seriously slow down your computer’s performance. It can also potentially cause your Internet browser to freeze or crash. Any supposed benefits it offers are not worth compromising the functionality of your computer, or your privacy.
If you are infected with this program, you should remove it immediately with SpyZooka. It comes with an uninstall program that may not remove all the spyware elements of this program. While there are other means to remove UniversalSearchToolbar, SpyZooka has proven to consistently and completely remove this threat from your computer.
Also Known As:
Adware. UniversalSearchToolbar
Adware.Win32. UniversalSearchToolbar
Trojan. Universal_Search_Toolbar
Adware.UniversalTB
UniversalTB
Spyware Type:
Toolbar
Browser Hijacker
Data Miner
Associated Files:
C:\Program Files\Utility\ftoolbar.xml
C:\Program Files\Utility\utility.dll
C:\Program Files\Utility\public.xml
C:\Program Files\Utility\nav_hot.bmp
C:\Program Files\Utility\nav.bmp
C:\Program Files\Utility\ini
C:\Program Files\Utility\logo.bmp
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{5F7AB1DB-A899-46c1-8345-B72B4567EE86}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{FC2499DE-A673-49FD-A2DE-EFE03E9572A3}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\TypeLib\{6D335DE7-E980-4400-AADE-9AC771AB77E3}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Dadu.DaduObj
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Dadu.DaduObj.1
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\UniversalSearch Toolbar
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar\{5F7AB1DB-A899-46c1-8345-B72B4567EE86}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\GoSrch.ContextItem
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\GoSrch.ContextItem.1
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Interface\{7B9A715E-9D87-4C21-BF9E-F914F2FA953F}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Interface\{EAF23CEF-21AF-4707-9FF3-4959FD505553}
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Universal
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main “Search Bar” = “http:/ /simplenter.com/srchasst.php?id=1″
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main “Start Page” = “http:/ /simplenter.com/web/1.01.0/”
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search “SearchAssistant” = “http:/ /simplenter.com/srchasst.php?id=1″
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\URLSearchHooks {5F7AB1DB-A899-46c1-8345-B72B4567EE86}
While I was surfing on the internet, I picked up a UniversalSearchToolbar. My firewall came up with a few things asking if I wanted to grant them internet access so I thought maybe it was related to my av.
However, this morning my laptop has been running incredibly slowly and I figured that the virus was probably still lurking there somewhere. And sure enough my av did detect it about an hour ago and moved it to the chest…but my laptop still isn’t running quite right.
Is there anything I can do that doesn’t involve rebooting the whole system?