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Sooz
21st January 2015, 10:05
Hi All,

Sorry to bother everyone with this, but I need some help. I've been Googling for hours, removing programmes, etc.

Long story short, I downloaded some crap, I thought it was to update flash player. Turns out it dumped a whole lot of programmes and pop up ads. I've got rid of most of it. Now it's running a lot more smoothly.

But now my home page is Tikotin, I did not ask for this. Turns out that Tikotin is not very nice. I can't figure out how to get rid of it. It doesn't show as a programme in my control panel, so can't remove it.

I'm worried that it's looking at my bank details, log ins. Just a hunch. I am no computer hi-tech wiz.

Has anyone had any experience with this.

Again, sorry to ask. I just don't know what to do and I feel my personal details are in danger. I hope I'm just being a worry-wart.

Sooz

The One
21st January 2015, 10:11
Hello

Have a look in installed programme's and if its there uninstall it

Also type this in search %temp% you can delete everything in there as well

If all else fails you could try this http://www.techsupportall.com/how-to-remove-tikotin-com-search-page-removal-help/

What browser are you using

The One
21st January 2015, 10:18
If you use internet explorer

go to tools then click internet options

You will see that is probably says www.TikoTin.com, replace it to www.google.com, then click on apply and close.

Then go back tools internet options and then click manage add ons you can disable in there

Highland1
21st January 2015, 10:18
I would recommend you download a free version of malwarebytes Sooz and it will do a full root scan and remove any crap as it goes.
Imo, worth buying after the free trial ends.

https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/

Good luck!

Russ

Sooz
21st January 2015, 10:21
Thanks Malc,

I have looked at installed programmes, it's not listed, that's what makes me worried. It's hidden somewhere.

Will try the %temp%. Thanks!

Will also try the techsupport link you supplied - thanks again.

I use Internet Explorer mostly. Some other sites I have to use Chrome.

Thanks heaps Malc. Really appreciate your help.:)

Sooz
x

The One
21st January 2015, 10:23
Thanks Malc,

I have looked at installed programmes, it's not listed, that's what makes me worried. It's hidden somewhere.

Will try the %temp%. Thanks!

Will also try the techsupport link you supplied - thanks again.

I use Internet Explorer mostly. Some other sites I have to use Chrome.

Thanks heaps Malc. Really appreciate your help.:)

Sooz
x

If you use internet explorer you should be able to do it manually.Just do what i said here http://jandeane81.com/threads/5280-Help-Needed-with-Crap-on-my-computer?p=841896158&viewfull=1#post841896158

cheers

Sooz
21st January 2015, 10:36
OK, did what you said Malc and it's changed my home page to google. I don't use google normally. I use start page. But it's better than Tikotin as a home page!

I was trying to do some bill paying today and very strange things were happening, could not connect to pay bills, hence I thought my bank details may have been in compromised.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your help.:)

I think I may get my IT guy in tomorrow to check things out, just to be sure. My IT guy is very suspicious of anything and everything! He's not a member of TOT, but he's one of us.

Sooz

Sooz
21st January 2015, 10:44
Well, I hope this may help others. Got to be very mindful of stuff which is going on with the net.

You can't be too careful.

And be VERY careful what you download! Think twice.

The One
21st January 2015, 10:55
OK, did what you said Malc and it's changed my home page to google. I don't use google normally. I use start page. But it's better than Tikotin as a home page!

I was trying to do some bill paying today and very strange things were happening, could not connect to pay bills, hence I thought my bank details may have been in compromised.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your help.:)

I think I may get my IT guy in tomorrow to check things out, just to be sure. My IT guy is very suspicious of anything and everything! He's not a member of TOT, but he's one of us.

Sooz

If you dont want to use google just change it to this https://startpage.com/ then click on apply and close

walla done

Tonz
21st January 2015, 10:55
:Seffect: At times you are not alone.
I had a crazy thing happen the other week ,there was malwear and all sorts of pop ups everywhere ,even all over tot pages (heaven forbid!:shocked:) but i hadn't downloaded anything!:cracky:
After running anti virus and malware removers anti everybloodything still the problem prevailed:ok: so i wiped google and any and all search engines,all history,and downloads, and re installed google . problem solved.:eyebrows:
but i lost a whole lot of stuff that i had in in my bookmarks folders, years of links and things of interest that i had placed there that i would refer to from time to time. so if you need to do this save the valuables first on your desktop at least or in a sub folder somewhere or on an external hardrive.

norman
21st January 2015, 11:06
Sooz, you may well find that when you reboot the computer, the home page is back to the nasty one again. These crap-ware things are quite persistent.


Here's a sequence of procedures for you.

As Russ said, download the free version of malwarebytes and install it. Don't choose the option to trail the full paid version.

Let it have a good dig through and see what it dislikes. It's give you a list of what it's found. With very few exceptions, it's usually wise to let it wipe-out all that it's found, so best do that, if it finds anything.


Another good second line of attack is to download Spybot Search and Destroy. Same routine.

Oh, make sure you update the malware databases of both ( not program updates )


Even after all that, you may still have crapware in the system that still causes crazy things to happen, but once you've hammered the active malware, it's going to be easier to fix the glitches and they stay fixed.

Sooz
21st January 2015, 11:22
Sooz, you may well find that when you reboot the computer, the home page is back to the nasty one again. These crap-ware things are quite persistent.


Here's a sequence of procedures for you.

As Russ said, download the free version of malwarebytes and install it. Don't choose the option to trail the full paid version.

Let it have a good dig through and see what it dislikes. It's give you a list of what it's found. With very few exceptions, it's usually wise to let it wipe-out all that it's found, so best do that, if it finds anything.


Another good second line of attack is to download Spybot Search and Destroy. Same routine.

Oh, make sure you update the malware databases of both ( not program updates )


Even after all that, you may still have crapware in the system that still causes crazy things to happen, but once you've hammered the active malware, it's going to be easier to fix the glitches and they stay fixed.

Thanks Norman, really appreciate that. I hope this thread is not a nuisance and that everyone learns something to keep their comps clean and running well, so we can all be part of TOT without interference from malware.

Spiral
21st January 2015, 11:22
It sounds like a "root kit" this a type of malware that hides in many other folders & can reconstitute itself

http://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/free-tools/sophos-anti-rootkit.aspx

norman
21st January 2015, 11:28
Yea, root-kit or not, it's a good idea to NOT ! switch your computer off before you've run an anti malware application or two.

It's very common for these nasties to dig even deeper into the system if you give them the luxury of a reboot while they are still undetected and active.

Sooz
21st January 2015, 11:34
:shocked::ok::frantic::yawn::cry::cracky:

I'm going to bed now before I get even more confused, lol...see you on the other side.:)

lift the veil
21st January 2015, 11:43
Can you do a restore to last update so it will wipe away any changes between then and now? That is what I always do if I accidentally download something that I did not want and cant get rid of it.

But hey I am just a regular non-tech person....

KosmicKat
21st January 2015, 12:27
I hope by the time you read this, you will have everything back to normal Sooz. I have learned the hard way to take updates and installations very carefully. With new software it is quite frequently "bundled" with other things which you may or may not have the option to refuse. So as soon as I have installed anything new and even slightly questionable, I check my installed programs and remove anything which was installed on the same day and which I don't recognize.

I also make use of anti-malware and antivirus scanners, and an intelligent registry editor capable of sniffing out relics which get left behind even when a program uninstalls itself honestly.

Calabash
21st January 2015, 12:36
I would recommend you download a free version of malwarebytes Sooz and it will do a full root scan and remove any crap as it goes.
Imo, worth buying after the free trial ends.

https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/

Good luck!

Russ

Hi Sooz - I was going to post a link to Malawarebytes and noticed that Highland had beaten me to it. This is a really good and thorough program - we use it at work too.

Lin

Tribe
21st January 2015, 12:40
yes i also recommend malawarebytes xx

Bob
21st January 2015, 16:55
http://www.safer-networking.org/

another trojan killer and root-kit remover..

their easy to use free version (the earlier version I have seen is easier than the newer...) is located HERE for download (http://files.spybot.info/spybotsd162.exe). http://www.safer-networking.org/mirrors16/


It can be setup to run at boot-up time to get in there and dig for nasties.. It's removed what you mentioned from computers which accidentally clicked on that UPDATE flash player, etc.. (social engineering used to get people to get infected)..

what some of these trojans do is to infect the JAVA engine.. they will reside in the hidden zip file where the last java update is stored.. so doing restores will not deal with an infected java-zip.. interesting infection strategy.. i've seen such bugs keep coming back until I used the spybot search and destroy and it dug deep..

It is always good to change your passwords or notify your bank or other accounts, by phone about a difficulty on your computer so that they can watch for any unusual activity if these incursions have happened to one.

For folks using malwarebytes AND spybot search and destroy simultaneously, have you seen any conflicts running both? I've used malwarebytes and switched to spybot search and destroy for more user control of what to do with "oddities found"...

For newbies dealing with trojans and viruses.. sometimes having a choice to choose what to do can be disheartening.. requiring some assistance from one who has been diving deeper.. so a comparison of "ease of use" may be in order..

--Bob

Sooz
23rd January 2015, 09:56
An update.

Been battling this thing the last few days. Thought I had it sussed (googled/startpaged it). But I knew remnants of it had to be burrowed in somewhere.

Long story short, I downloaded the malware programme. Thanks! But it only prevents the site from coming up. Doesn't get rid of it.

Did a bit more digging - here was my answer:

http://www.techsupportall.com/how-to-remove-tikotin-com-search-page-removal-help/

I would suggest doing a combination of manual fixing and also the auto fix. I did the manual fix which 'seemed' to do the trick. Downloaded the above link to do the auto fix and sure as ****, it found 62 other bits of the blighter embedded in my computer system.

Tikotin is not nice, it collects your passwords, your key numbers for bank accounts etc.

Do not download updates (like I did) from sources you are not sure of. They caught me in a weak moment when I wanted to get to something quickly.

Be careful everyone. Hope this helps.:)

KosmicKat
23rd January 2015, 11:07
And after everything I said yesterday, I was prompted to scan the removable drive that I had been having problems with, which defied even reinstalling some of the problem software. Turned out it was infected. Work will continue today to ensure that it is now clean. :(

Sooz
23rd January 2015, 11:21
Hello

Have a look in installed programme's and if its there uninstall it

Also type this in search %temp% you can delete everything in there as well

If all else fails you could try this http://www.techsupportall.com/how-to-remove-tikotin-com-search-page-removal-help/

What browser are you using

Apologies Malc, I see you had the answer all along. I was in too much of a 'tizz' to see it.

Thanks Matey.

Dumpster Diver
4th December 2015, 04:28
I'm late on this but:

I swapped over to Macs 4 years ago as we could see the malware tsunami getting larger by the month. The GF can't cope as she is a simple, trusting person (why can't I puck on a tab at a site? Why can't I hit a Flash site and....etc, etc), so all the house computers AND smart phones are IOS and MAC OS, heavy crunch computers are PCs but are air-gapped to the net.

My partners say I'm now "bi-lingual"

Aragorn
4th December 2015, 05:23
I'm late on this but:

I swapped over to Macs 4 years ago as we could see the malware tsunami getting larger by the month. The GF can't cope as she is a simple, trusting person (why can't I puck on a tab at a site? Why can't I hit a Flash site and....etc, etc), so all the house computers AND smart phones are IOS and MAC OS, heavy crunch computers are PCs but are air-gapped to the net.

My partners say I'm now "bi-lingual"

Mac OS is better than Microsoft Windows, but it's still proprietary software — which means that the software on your computer still does not belong to you and that you are not allowed to do with it as you please — and Mac OS also contains built-in backdoors, just like Microsoft Windows does.

I can understand that one's work needs would require proprietary software which exists for Mac OS or Windows only, but the only real solution, if you value your freedom and system security, is to go with Free/Libre & Open Source Software. Granted, it's not for everyone — the advantage of both Windows and OS X toward the inexperienced user is that it comes pre-installed on the machine, so that the user doesn't need to install it themselves — but even people who aren't tech-savvy can work very comfortably with GNU/Linux or one of the BSD-based systems. ;)