I have a friend whose computer is infected with the Outerinfo pop-up...thing. I don't know whether to call it a virus, or SpyWare, or simply AdWare. It's a program that will cause advertising pop-ups to appear on your screen, regardless of pop-up blockers or other steps you have taken to normally avoid pop-ups.
Pop-ups suck. First of all, they're annoying. Secondly, they consume processor resources that you might have wanted to use for other purposes - like, say, using your computer. Pop-ups may consume 100% of available resources and render your computer useless. Thirdly, they represent an invasion of privacy - it's bad enough having ads on television, but imagine ads suddenly popping up and over the program you're watching. (Oh, that's right - a lot of networks do that now, having cutesy little moving ads for other shows occupying a significant portion of your screen and plopped right on top of your program.)
Finally, they're dangerous. These ads may be providing a gateway for more serious computer invasions.
I haven't been hit with these problems, not yet. I always surf with the Google toolbar with the pop-up blocker activated, and I keep AVG Anti-Virus and AVG Anti-Spyware (from http://www.grisoft.com/) active at all times. But if you do get infected, what can you do?
I've been looking into this problem for a while, and I still don't know the answer. Pretty much every discussion I find of "outerinfo removal" or "outerinfo cleanup" starts with something like, "Here is my HijackThis! log, and it shows that..." I did some digging into HijackThis! and found this page, which started with these words: "Editors Note: Hijack This is for advanced users. If you are not familiar with running processes on your computer as well as anything ever installed that could tie into your web browser, it will not be much help to you." Great.
I'm posting this in the hope that someone, somewhere, knows a simple solution to getting this taken care of - even if that simple solution involves taking the computer to Best Buy or Circuit City and paying them to remove the program. But while I'm waiting, I'll post what links I've found.
First off, Outerinfo offers uninstall instructions, which I have been told do not work: http://www.outerinfo.com/howto.html
Here are various examples of people posting HijackThis! logs to various forums, and the removal instructions they received:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic53234.html
http://help.lockergnome.com/general/Outerinfo-removal-help-ftopict52749.html
http://help.lockergnome.com/general/Hijack-log-problems-outerinfo-ftopict52664.html
http://forums.spywareinfo.com/lofiversion/index.php/t70139.html
http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t99535.html
http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/How-to-remove-Outerinfo-pop-ups-aka-PurityScan-OIN-t134763.html
(And check out this quote: "Outerinfo is now being installed with other nasty malware that this procedure may not fix, so after following it I strongly suggest you post your HiJackThis log as well as the other logs on the forum and we'll clean up the rest of it.")
Finally, the question that's on the mind of anyone who's dealt with Outerinfo, or something similar, from Yahoo! Answers:
"Why hasn't OuterInfo been prosecuted? I keep getting these OuterInfo popup ads. And, I can tell by my web searches that many people are bothered by this problem. So, why is OuterInfo still in business? Can't the Department of Consumer Affairs shut them down? Can' t they be sued? They need to pay a hefty price for all the harm they cause. They are a criminal company and need to be prosecuted. And, the people who run it should be sent to prison."
And the responses:
"Best response", as selected by Yahoo! voters: "The reason this type of activity doesn't result in criminal prosecution is that there are no effective criminal laws covering the activity. They can be sued, but that's expensive, and the probability of recovery is relatively small, especially compared with the cost of the lawsuit."
Another response: "There are specific restrictions in place under the federal CAN-SPAM law and other related laws. But most companies skirt the edges of those provisions. But you can file a complaint with the FTC. "
If anyone has some solution that non-expert users can apply, or has a recommendation for professional assistance, please let me know. Thanks!
The narcissistic primarily autobiographical blog of the pseudonymous d.b. echo
i used to have terrible spyware and all that, to the point where i could hardly use the internet. then, i bought my imac. everyone who didn't have a mac was all 'that's nonsense! they're no better! your computer will still get infected!' while all the people who already had macs were too busy making out with their computers to give me any advice. in the end, i bought my imac so my boyfriend and i would be able to move our work to and from one another's systems without giving ourselves a stroke.
ReplyDeletei'm no computer expert, but i haven't had a single add or pop-up or any other such annoying thing happen yet.
that said, it definitely wasn't a cheap fix. but it did work for this on-expert user.
that's non-expert.
ReplyDeletesorry.
clearly, i'm not a typing expert either.
Heh. I liked the "on-expert" image. Also the part about "my boyfriend and i would be able to move our work to and from one another's systems without giving ourselves a stroke." Heh heh heh.
ReplyDeleteI currently have the virus outerinfo on my computer. I went out and bought a really expensive anti virus anti spyware remover for my computer and still I can not stop the popups. Outerinfo also gave my computer 7 trojan viruses. I had to reinstall windows files because it keeps eating my files and changing my settings. When I try to fix them outerinfo has password protected them. They have also made themselves the new administrator on my computer. Which I cannot change because this is also password protected. And all this is still happening after running my antivirus disc. Plus I have reinstalled windows xp. If anyone has any ideas on how to stop this, please post it. I am at a loss.
ReplyDeleteThe friend who alerted me to this told me that the only real solution is to get your computer to a professional for de-lousing, the quicker the better. Outerinfo is really insidious. I still don't understand how they haven't been sued out of existence yet.
ReplyDeleteI had the same problem. Actually a few times with different variations. A few programs I found that pretty much fixed it (and they're free) were SuperAntiSpyware free edition, and the Dr Web CureIt program. Aside from having to fix a few things in the registry (outerinfo disabled my task manager as well as removed a few tabs on my properties page) these fixed it. On both programs you'll want to do a "complete scan" and for the SASpyware program you'll want to go to 'preferences' then click the 'scanning control' tab. On this screen you'll want to uncheck everything except 'ignore system restore/volume information on ME/XP', 'close browsers before scanning', 'scan for tracking cookies', and 'terminate memory threats before quarantining'. Hopefully this helps. Good luck!
ReplyDelete