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Topic: How do i remove a add that keeps showing up |
Dan Dowd
From:
Paducah, KY, R.I.P.
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Posted 10 Mar 2000 5:00 pm |
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| I have win 98 with IE 5.01. I have a screen that keeps showing up even though I delete it in properties -connection- home page. The screen that keeps showing up is gohip.com. It also has put a line for free videos and a email address on the bottom of my email. |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 11 Mar 2000 4:07 am
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What service are you using for E-Mail?? Some of the "free" E-Mail services add stuff like that to all your E-Mails. Some ISP's also do it, especially the ones with low monthly rates (the advertising is how they can provide free E-Mail or recuced rate internet connections).
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Dan Dowd
From:
Paducah, KY, R.I.P.
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Posted 11 Mar 2000 8:31 am
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| I am using a local ISP not a cheapie. I think either my wife or I went to some site or opened some E-Mail and started this thing. It keeps coming back even when I change the Home page in the IE properties. It must be somewhere in the registry settings. |
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Kurt Kowalski
From:
Kendall, NY USA
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Posted 11 Mar 2000 10:27 am
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Hey Cousin Dan...
Clear the cache and also go to the temporary internet files directory and clear out any cookies and temp files. Send 'em all to the recycle bin.
Hope this helps.
PS: Will I see you and Rob Parker at the Michigan show. I will be playing there.
See ya,
Cousin Kurt |
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Doug Frank
From:
Columbus, OH
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Posted 11 Mar 2000 4:57 pm
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I wondered if this was going to show up again. I got hit with the "GoHip virus" a day or so after it was "introduced". Go to the following URL to read about it. Although it is not a virus, it acts as one and is pretty !%&#@*@ annoying.
http://vil.nai.com/vil/ve98495.asp
I found the following fix posted on the web when I was trying to debug my system. It worked well for me. If you use this manual fix, follow the directions scrupulously.
The GoHip Web Virus
I recently got an e-mail from someone and it included the following message and link (I changed gohip.com to gohip.cm, so that you would not be able to activate it):
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Click here for Free Video!! http://www.gohip.cm/freevideo
Anyway, my curiosity got the better of me and I went there. While I was at the page, I was prompted to allow the installation of an ActiveX control (usually a small program to enhance the particular page you are on). This is common on web sites and I thought nothing of it. When I accepted it, it did not seem to do anything until later, when I created a new mail message. That's when I saw the new signature with the link to GoHip.
It not only created a new default signature file it made itself the default start page and default search engine in both Internet Explorer and Netscape browsers.
This is one of the worst forms of Internet marketing I have ever seen.
You have been infected by the GoHip virus if links to that site are now appearing in your new e-mail messages and if it is the new start page in your browser.
How to get rid of the GoHip Web Virus
The following directions are suggestions only. I cannot guarantee that this will solve the problem. It is always a good idea to make a complete backup of your system before making changes.
What was actually causing this was a new signature in Outlook and Outlook Express (not sure about other e-mail programs) called "sig" that was specified as the default. Now changing the signature setting would rectify this, but my suspicion is that there were other things that would have restored it, so I will give you all I did. It is possible that not all this is necessary, you will have to decide.
First go to Control Panel|Add/Remove Programs and uninstall a program called ClickFree.
Then go to your Windows Startup folder (C:\WINDOWS\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp) and delete a program called "Windows Startup."
Next go to your windows folder (c:\windows) and delete the following two files:
- winstartup.exe
- Microsoft Outlook Internet Settings.rtf
Next, in Outlook and/or Outlook Express go to Tools|Options|Mail Format. In the Signature section at the bottom, click on the Signature Picker button. Find the Signature called "sig" and confirm that it is the culprit. Click Remove to delete it. Click OK. Make sure your desired Signature is active and click OK.
You will also have to fix the Word template that is used when Word is used as your e-mail editor. Go to where your Word templates are stored (on my system, it is in: C:\Program Files\MSOffice\Office). Find the filed called "sig.dot." Right click it and select "Open". Do not select "New" since that will not edit the actual template. Erase all the contents of the template and save it.
You can change your default start page in your browser by going into its Options or Preferences.
This thing also forces Netscape and Internet Explorer's Autosearch and Search buttons to default to its own search portal. This is rectified through the Window's registry and replacing references to "GoHip" with preferred URLs (only someone experienced with the Registry should do this).
[This message was edited by Doug Frank on 11 March 2000 at 04:58 PM.] [This message was edited by Doug Frank on 11 March 2000 at 04:59 PM.] |
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Dan Dowd
From:
Paducah, KY, R.I.P.
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Posted 12 Mar 2000 5:40 am
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Kurt, I deleted the Cache and the temp files and it was still there. Normally this would clean up some not so stuborn problems. But this thing is located all over.
Doug, I found the winstartup.exe, but couldnt find the MS outlook Internet Setting rtf. This got rid of the Go Hip window on IE. I did find the Outlook Express Tools/Options/Mail Format and found the sig that was adding the free video to my e-mail and deleted it. These actions cleaned up my IE and got rid of the problems. There is probably some stuff still lurking from this but for now the problem is gone. Im glad I didnt have to reformat my hard drive again to get rid of these kinds of problems. Thanks again Kurt and Doug for your help. |
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Dan Dowd
From:
Paducah, KY, R.I.P.
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Posted 13 Mar 2000 8:40 am
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| I was looking in the registry , MY COMPUTER/H KEY_CURRENT USER/SOFTWARE, and found a folder called GOHIP. It has 2 sub folders called BROWSER ENH and PERFS. My question is can I safely delete this GOHIP folder now that the original problem has been solved. |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 13 Mar 2000 9:42 am
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That registry key can probably be safely deleted.
I just cleaned out a friends PC that had the gohip garbage. All I did was delete the signature in Outlook Express. Delete the Windows startup (go to msconfig and then select startup and uncheck the windows startup fuction), and then change the homepage back to what he wanted.
This seems to have "fixed" the problem. I restarted windows several times and checked everything and it seems to be gone.
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