Gator question - problem

[Ghosthunter]

weird thing happend.

Somehow my wife downloaded gator by acccident...dont worry I already yelled at her.


Once that happened I could not get out using IE 6.0, it kept giving me dns errors, even thogh my cable modem was working and I was able to ping in a dos window using dns name like www.speedguide.net

I tried repairing IE 6.0 now ork after I cleaned out my pc of gator using ad-aware. Thank god for Ad-Aware!

I had to unisntall and use a previous versions so I am back at IE 5.01, and everything is working.

What do you think did Gator kill my IE? Or did IE 6 just have its own problems?

[Norm]

Not sure about Gator specifically, but some of the spyware out there replaces dll files used by IE, and screws with winsock.

Adaware will usually fix it all up again though.

[Ghosthunter]

I am stil having problems...agh I think I might just reformat it is driving me nuts.

I tell you it should be illegal for these types of programs spyware to be installed on a machine without you knowing.


Or at least I wish my virus detector would stop it before it happens.

Speaking of which does anyone know of a good program that can run in the background and stop spyware before it gets on your machine?

I have ad-aware but that si good for after it happens

[Croc]

How to I Remove Gator? from the pages of PCHell

1) Right click on the Gator icon in the System Tray and click on Exit.

2) From the Windows Start button select Settings and then Control Panel.

3) When the Control Panel window opens, double-click on the Add/Remove Programs icon.

4) When the Add/Remove Programs Properties window opens, locate Gator in the list of installed programs. Click on it one time and then click on the Add/Remove button.

5) Follow the on screen instructions.
Place a check in the box for "Delete User Information" if you want user information removed from the Registry. DO NOT place a check in this box if you want the user data retained for a new install of Gator.

This will remove the Gator program from your computer.

end of PCHell info

AdAware says it will get it out of the system and you have done that.
The PCHell guide is straight forward.
I am wondering if it is not something else that is causing the problem.
Maybe to check the removal you could install it again and then go through the removal.
It would be easier than formatting and losing all you have stored.

Croc.

[Easto]

Try these 2 things.

1. Google search for BHOCop and download it.

2. Check you downloaded programs folder. There may be a stubborn ActiveX control that was placed there and does not want to leave. Right click on the file and check the properties and see if its something you are familiar with. If not, lose it.

[Ghosthunter]

Thanks for the advice when I get home I will try it.

Even though I am very afraid to install Gator again, but will have to if it will work.

Let me be a little more specific on wha tis oging on now:

My setup is win98se, and I use 2 different profiles. One is myself, and one for my wife. Reason is she likes her icons here and does not like same resolution as me, and I got tired of changing it everytime one of us would logon. I have been using this setup for 2 years with no problems.

So my wife somehow installs gator. I had IE 6.0. First thing I did was uninstall gator. Then used ad-aware and get rid of the rest of it. IE still did not work in either profile. I then tried repair IE in control panel. That did not work. So I then went to restore previous Internet Explorer which is IE 5.01sp2 (I think I am going to stick with that one anyway since seems less prone to security issues then IE 6).

I did all of this in my profile. I rebooted, and now everything was working great in my profile. I then logged onto my wife's profile, and she was one IE 5.01sp2 as well, but her IE still did not work. Ok so now I know it is the profile, but I cant figure out which file in the profile is causing the issue. I know I can recreate a new profile and that will fix it, but then it will be a real pain to move everything over...(had to do that once, and I ran into issues with outlook and her mail, long story for another thread). So I am thinking just formatting and reinstalling from scratch to be safe, but you are right I dont want to have to go through all of that.

Also, I did run a full virusscan with Innoulcate PE, and ran A full scan with The Cleaner, my anti-trojan, everything came up clean to make sure nothing else is going on.

It is possible the IE issue is not related to gator, but I find that odd since they both happened the same day.

Thanks for any advice.

[Serra]

I was running Gator for a few months without any problems. It's password monitoring feature is actually really good. I wish I could find another product that wasn't spy ware that I could get to do the same them.

I never uninstalled it because I just formatted my drive and started over, so I don't know how easy it is to get rid of.

Anyway, I just told ZAPro to NEVER let it talk to the Internet and that seemed to take care of it. It can't really spy on me if it can't talk to the Internet.

Edit: Just as a note, I got Gator from my credit card company disguised as a password handler and I didn't know it was Gator until after I installed it and it started wanting to communicate with the Internet. In ZAPro it was calling itself Gator!!!

[blebs]

Originally posted by Serra
I was running Gator for a few months without any problems. It's password monitoring feature is actually really good. I wish I could find another product that wasn't spy ware that I could get to do the same them.

I never uninstalled it because I just formatted my drive and started over, so I don't know how easy it is to get rid of.

Anyway, I just told ZAPro to NEVER let it talk to the Internet and that seemed to take care of it. It can't really spy on me if it can't talk to the Internet.

Edit: Just as a note, I got Gator from my credit card company disguised as a password handler and I didn't know it was Gator until after I installed it and it started wanting to communicate with the Internet. In ZAPro it was calling itself Gator!!!
Software Name: Gator
Version: all versions
Software Website: http://www.gator.com
Offending Party: OfferCompanion
Remarks: The installed ServWareApps/OfferCompanion delivers information about your surfing habits in order to display related pop-up advertisments. Worth noting from their Privacy Policy:
"Please be aware that we sometimes use third party contractors who are given access to your profile to perform tasks that might otherwise be done by Gator.com employees."

Gator also dynamically inserts ads on top of existing ads when you visit a Web site. They look and feel like the site's real banners, but they are only hijacking the place holder in order to display ads which the Web site never intended - including ads for competitors' products.

Gator is available as a stand-alone application as well as bundled with other software.
Status: Confirmed
EULA: The link shown is for the version 2.9 EULA which does not differ much from EULAs for previous versions. You can find all EULAs on the gator.com Web site:
http://www.gator.com/help/eula-2.9.html

[Serra]

All of that is true, yes, but Gator is still a great product with a flawed design. I can tell you that Gator didn't send my surfing habits back to gator central. ZAPro wouldn't let it.

[Storm90]

Also run a good regcleaner. Gater will add alot to the reg. You must clean out the reg to get rid of it. I found this out on my son's when he downloaded it. GoodLuck!:)

[rmrucker]

Originally posted by Serra
I can tell you that Gator didn't send my surfing habits back to gator central. ZAPro wouldn't let it. I would like to know how this works. ZAPro may be a firewall, but that does not prevent it from allowing gator phone home. You might want to investigate that a little further...

[Croc]

Isn't that explained in that Gator is an application and ZoneAlarm is an application based firewall. ZA is doing the job it was told to do which was block this application called Gator.

Correct me if I am wrong here for I too want to understand more.

Croc.

[Ken]

If I am thinking correctly, gator is a type of browser add-on as it alters .dll's for IE and your winsock, therefore if you have given IE carte blanche to the internet, so goes gator as a part of IE... ;)

To be truly positive, we need someone with gator & ZA, to use a packet sniffer to monitor outgoing packets.

rmrucker, what are your feelings on this theory?

[rmrucker]

I believe that Gator is a browser helper object -- therefore it may utilize the IE machinery to 'phone-home'. If you have given iexplore.exe (an application) permission to access the Internet, then an application-based firewall (ZAPro) will not be protecting you. Packet sniffing would be the only way to know for sure.

I can look into this further...

[Ken]

Hey rm, then we agree... :)

You guys might want to take a close look at the image in this thread....

http://forums.speedguide.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=71015

Tiny caught Gator silent set up trying to access gator.com.
See what port it was using? 80...Can anyone tell what prog uses port 80? ;) 2 guesses and the first one doesn't count... ;)