Expert: Keith Davis - 8/19/2008

Question
QUESTION: Hi Keith,

I use Windows XP Pro on a Dell 8300. I have the latest editions of Spybot Search and Destroy, and Norton Anti-virus programs installed.

Recently, I have downloaded several free video conversion programs, and added a Sierra Air-Card. About this time, I began getting a pop-up from the task-bar on start-up which says; "Search Settings Notification" and "Search Settings Warning", telling me that a program is trying to change my settings. When I click on the little magnifying glass icon, it asks me if I want to allow the change.

This is very annoying and the little pop-ups come on at every start up. They appear to be interfering with the air-card function. My Spybot and Norton do not help.

What can I do? Thanks and Regards, Ken.

ANSWER: Have you checked for problems with Spybot S and D? Spybot should remove most spyware and trojans.

I really don't know much about Norton's because I don't use it. Norton's is not as effective as lots of free programs.
AVG anti-virus and AntiVir free

If I were guessing I would say that one of the free conversion programs you downloaded is or contains spyware and maybe trying to hijack you homepage.

There are only 3 sites where I download free files from. You cannot trust every free download site.
www.majorgeeks.com
www.snapfiles.com
www.filehippo.com

To be on the safe side I would uninstall all of the free programs you downloaded and see if you still get the pop-up. The "Search Settings Notification" and "Search Settings Warning" pop-ups are red flags to me.

You can always download them again if you still get the pop-up.

You can also Google the warnings you are getting and see what comes up. Also go to the support page of the Sierra Air-Card and see what they say.

Let me know if I can help you further
Keith


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Keith,

Thank you very much for your quick response. I did a Search and Destroy and Norton scan, and this did not solve the problem. I also uninstalled these two programs and the notification was still there. It could have been with one of these programs originally and maybe stayed with my computer even after uninstalling.

A Google search showed one question with the exact same problem, but I was unable to understand the remedy. I am not skilled with computers, I am a senior citizen, and this is my first one. The answer seems too complicated for me to try.

Keith, do you have any other suggestions? Thank you again for your kind help, Regards, Ken.

ANSWER: If you can send me the link to where you found the exact problem on google as yours. You can do this by finding the site, highlighting the address in the address bar at the top, right-click on it and click "copy". When you come back here, right-click in the box where you put your question and click "paste".
I'll look at the problem on the link and see what I can make of it.

Keith

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Keith, Thanks again for your help. Here is the information from Google. There are others, but this one seems to hit it spot-on. If you Google " Search Settings Notification", you will find them..............

"Dealio toolbar MALWARE causing incessant Search Settings ...Not long after, I began getting search settings notification pop ups stating that "a program was blocked from changing your default search settings" and " a ...
forums.techguy.org/malware-removal-hijackthis-logs/718950-dealio-toolbar-malware-causing-incessant.html - 180k - Cached - Similar pages"

Thanks Keith, I hope you can help me, Regards, Ken.  

Answer
Did you install Dealio Toolbar?

If you did not you should check this thread out http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?p=1156971

It says almost the same thing except for the Dealio toolbar part. It says to:
Uninstall the below old versions of software:
J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 10
J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 11
J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 6
J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 9
Java 2 Runtime Environment, SE v1.4.2_03
Java(TM) 6 Update 2
Java(TM) 6 Update 3
Java(TM) 6 Update 5
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment 6 Update 1
Search Settings

To do this go to start> control panel> add/remove programs> then scroll down and see if you see any of the above listed programs and uninstall them.
Reboot your PC and install this http://www.majorgeeks.com/Sun_Java_Runtime_Environment_d4648.html

If you actually did install Dealio toolbar let me know and we'll try another fix.

Keith