GameGuy369
join:2004-07-09
Olathe, KS
clubs:
| "The Best Offers" Spyware Removal
Hi there. I work for the Geek Squad and we have a computer that has the "The Best Offers" spyware which is not detected by spybot, adaware, housecall, ewido, and many other scanners, but it exists and does cause pop-ups. When you go into control panel and use the uninstall method to remove it, it says you need to use a tool of theirs, which unfortunately because it is a spyware website, our network blocks access to that page. Has anyone else worked with this spyware before and know how to remove it? Thanks! |
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B
Premium,MVM
join:2000-10-28
1 edit | said by GameGuy369  :Hi there. I work for the Geek Squad and we have a computer that has the "The Best Offers" spyware which is not detected by spybot, adaware, housecall, ewido, and many other scanners, but it exists and does cause pop-ups. When you go into control panel and use the uninstall method to remove it, it says you need to use a tool of theirs, which unfortunately because it is a spyware website, our network blocks access to that page. Has anyone else worked with this spyware before and know how to remove it? Thanks! Now this is funny. Although I do enjoy your commercials.
Have you considered simply downloading the uninstaller from a machine outside your network? (Put it on CD or USB RAM disk, etc.) Or moving the machine outside your network? Or taking the hard drive home? Or changing your network's proxy temporarily? Or just asking your manager? I mean, you guys get paid for this, right?
-- B
--
In a realm outside causality and function |
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GameGuy369
join:2004-07-09
Olathe, KS
clubs:
| Yes. That is something I considered. Problem is our precinct is running a 48 hour turnaround and this system is done completely once we get that removed. I was hoping there was an another way. The link it gives is www.bestoffersnetworks.com/uninstall. Can you tell me if it works for you so I know if it really is just blocked? Thanks for any assistance. |
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B
Premium,MVM
join:2000-10-28
| Well, I can get to that page and find the link for the file, but no way would I run such a thing myself.
Perhaps your proxy is stupid and you can use the IP address directly; never mind I can't get that to work either. Anyway, the direct link is »uninstall.bestoffersnetworks.com···inst.exe and there don't seem to be any mirrors anywhere.
Sorry -- you could run out to a web cafe or something. But again, isn't there some kind of escalation procedure at your place for this sort of thing?
-- B
--
In a realm outside causality and function |
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GameGuy369
join:2004-07-09
Olathe, KS
clubs: | reply to GameGuy369
Still doesn't work. Stupid proxy. Thanks for the help though. I wouldnt ask for anyone to download it for me. Thanks! |
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jack b
Gone Fishing
Premium,MVM
join:2000-09-08
Cape Cod
clubs:
 ·Comcast
·Optimum Online
 ·Verizon FIOS
| Here is the uninstall exe file linked from B's post above.
YMMV. |
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TeMerc
join:2004-01-22
Phoenix, AZ
| reply to GameGuy369
'TheBestOffers' is a Direct-Revenue variant combo Aurora\Nail infection.
If your unlucky, you also have Epolvy as well. Need to fix Epolvy first, then Aurora.
I removed TBO manually in regedit to get it off the Add\Remove panel, and it stayed gone.
Also see the following page from Webhelper about the uninstaller:
»www.webhelper4u.com/
Good luck. |
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Mo-ness
@cox.net
| reply to GameGuy369
»uninstall.bestoffersnetworks.com···inst.exe
you have to download the uninstaller file and save to your desktop. "Close all 3rd-party firewalls, such as Norton Antivirus or McAfee Firewall. These might interfere with Best Offers Uninstall connecting to the Internet. You can always turn these programs back on later."
Follow the Uninstall Wizard instructions.
When you see the 'Uninstall Complete' message, before doing anything else, re-start your computer. |
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ooox9
@comcast.net
| reply to GameGuy369
had the same problum -- to get rid of the crazy pop up from the best offers you have to scroll to the bottom of their page an click contact , than you will be led to a page that you have to download their uninstaller which I did but still was there --- I did it again but before i ran the uninstaller I did a control/alt/delete and made sure it wasn't in the processes tab also I ran msconfig and checked to remove it. than I ran their uninstaller and rebooted after that I ran a register clean program and finally the dam thing was gone and hasn't been back yet this has been 3 weeks so far hope it helps |
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TeMerc
join:2004-01-22
Phoenix, AZ
1 edit | reply to Mo-ness
said by Mo-ness :
"Close all 3rd-party firewalls, such as Norton Antivirus or McAfee Firewall. These might interfere with Best Offers Uninstall connecting to the Internet. You can always turn these programs back on later." Yeah, that's what we don't want, anything from them to connect to the internet. They can't be trusted, especially since they allow their product to be third party installed, without consent, via exploits as is usually the case with ABI.
Go to a forum and have the items removed by an experienced malware remover, stay away from anything these types of companies make. |
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Dr Tweak
join:2004-09-23
Chesapeake, VA
| reply to GameGuy369
Stop using Norton AV for your clients and use Kaspersky and it will fix these kinds of things.
I'm not being a smartass, I'm being serious. I have my own computer business and come behind you guys and Geeks on Call all the time and you have setup and sold Norton, I remove it and install Kaspersky and it almost always finds many pieces of malware.
For instance, last night a client brought me a pc that Geeks on Call worked on just a few months ago, they sold them Norton 2005 and set it up for them. Kaspersky removed 378 pieces of malware from this pc that Norton never caught.
 |
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B
Premium,MVM
join:2000-10-28
|
Nah, don't blame the geek wannabes for that. People buy their HP or Dell and see NAV bundled on their desktop. Six months later the trial has expired, but they don't know/don't care until the machine slows down to a turgid mess of malware.
Finally they drag it in to these poor saps and demand that everything get fixed in an hour. Not a fun job, particularly if you're new at it.
Blame KAV, if you want, for not being as aggressive enough in its marketing so as to make itself present on the default Dell and HP et al. shipments. I bet if they undercut NAV by a few dollars and included a full year or two of updates they could make some headway.
Then again, for all I know McAfee and Norton pay Dell for the privilege of installing that trial software and lassoing in new suckers.
-- B
--
In a realm outside causality and function |
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GameGuy369
join:2004-07-09
Olathe, KS
clubs: | Exactly. I run a Kaspersky on my home machine and so do most of the Geek Squad guys. None of our personal computers ever have problems. However, we are forced to push this type of software anyway. |
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Dr Tweak
join:2004-09-23
Chesapeake, VA
| reply to B
said by B :Nah, don't blame the geek wannabes for that. People buy their HP or Dell and see NAV bundled on their desktop. Six months later the trial has expired, but they don't know/don't care until the machine slows down to a turgid mess of malware. Finally they drag it in to these poor saps and demand that everything get fixed in an hour. Not a fun job, particularly if you're new at it. Blame KAV, if you want, for not being as aggressive enough in its marketing so as to make itself present on the default Dell and HP et al. shipments. I bet if they undercut NAV by a few dollars and included a full year or two of updates they could make some headway. Then again, for all I know McAfee and Norton pay Dell for the privilege of installing that trial software and lassoing in new suckers. -- B I'm not blaming the end user, I'm blaming the guy people pay a lot of money to. The guy that is supposed to be the expert and fix their computer..... the guy that sells them Norton. I see it all the time, a new client I acquired about 4 months ago had a franchise company like Geeks on Call work on their computers in the past (within the past year) and sell them Norton 2004. They have 4 workstations, one had 187 viruses, another 67, another 3 and the last had 8. All of these workstations had Norton 2004 up to date and setup by a "professional". I sold them KAV and it found what I said, this company receives hundreds of emails daily and KAV on average catches 10-20 viruses daily, many of which are from their own people at other locations with their own company..... all of which use SAV 10.
The same company set their wireless up with only 64bit encryption, they now have WPA2 that I set up.
These so called "computer experts" for these companies like Geeks on Call, The Geek Squad etc. have never impressed me with anything I have seen...... but I guess it's actually a good thing because they ultimately make me money.
 :D |
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aquias0
join:2005-09-05
Niagara Falls, NY
| Well...I guess that answers one of the questions I get from time to time...and I now know a company not to recommend (I refuse to work on co-workers systems, hence they ask for recommendations).
No offense meant to you Game. But B is correct, there should be an escalation procedure to get you around the proxy for this file. Additionally, you should be able to recommend the "best" tools. But, money talks and you guys are forced to tow the corporate line...understandable...just...sad. |
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garys_2k
join:2004-05-07
Farmington, MI
 ·Future Nine Corpor..
·Vonage
1 edit | reply to GameGuy369
I don't know, it just seems to me that there ought to be a better way to remove this than running more of the spyware company's stuff on your machine. Would it REALLY uninstall it, would it leave some active component, or new component, behind?
Rather than try to get around the firewall to reach that site there should be a way of cleaning it off using safe mode, regedit or booting Knoppix (or some combination). I hate to see anyone running known-malware providers' software for any reason.
Edit because I couldn't spell "component" a little while ago. |
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B
Premium,MVM
join:2000-10-28 |
Agreed on principle, but (a) he or she was in a hurry, and (b) the ones that bother supplying an uninstaller usually seem to work.
-- B
--
In a realm outside causality and function |
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garys_2k
join:2004-05-07
Farmington, MI | reply to GameGuy369
Excellent points. We are talking about a contractor that has a delivery deadline, and it's likely this problem will need some R&D to figure out. |
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King Edward
join:2002-07-20
Hubbard, TX
| reply to GameGuy369
I used the uninstaller jack b uploaded several weeks ago on a friend's computer after several days messing with it. I'll have to say it works.
I think "Bestoftheinternet" was bundled with PC Tuneup or some similarly-named software. |
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GameGuy369
join:2004-07-09
Olathe, KS
clubs:
| reply to GameGuy369
Thanks for the attacks. But besides all that, we are actually usually very good at removing everything to perfection and keeping our customers happy. I dont know about other places, but we do very weel in customer satisfaction. This was the only time we had this problem and the guy who has the disk needed for bypassing the proxy is on vacation and we wanted her system done before then. We hoped someone had some manual instructions for removal. Thanks though. |
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