Babylon Search: Help me!!(Problem Has Been Resolved!)

[karrie]

So, my kids clicked the wrong thing at the wrong time trying to watch pirated tv on my comp, and ended up installing 'Babylon Search' on my computer.

I've managed to strip the software off the comp itself, the toolbar and the homepage settings have been scrubbed off my Firefox

But, what I'm left with is a redirect that makes any new tab I open in Mozilla, take me to the Babylon search page. I can't find any way to stop this that I can reach on my comp, and now I'm down to trying to repair it via the 'about:config' command in Firefox. The problem is, I have no clue what I'm doing messing around in there.

Does anyone have the technical knowhow as to what I do now that I've found the only evidence left of it there is on my comp?

 

[shadowshiv]

Karrie, I would either send Durka a PM asking for help, or place his name in the title of the thread. He knows quite a bit about computer programs and problems and how to deal with them. I'll bet that he'd be able to give you a hand with this.

 

[karrie]

I'll paste it to his wall if I see him on. Otherwise I'll wait and see if anyone else has any know how.

 

[shadowshiv]

I'll paste it to his wall if I see him on. Otherwise I'll wait and see if anyone else has any know how.

I think there are a couple of other computer-savvy people here, but I can't recall their names at the moment.

 

[lone wolf]

I like System Restore....

...but then, this thing's out-smarted me a few times...;-)

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

I don't suppose you can just go to Add/Remove programs and uninstall it?

ETA: I reread and see you have already done this. You could try uninstalling and installing Mozzilla. It may also just be a setting in that browser. I am not familiar with Mozzilla unfortunatly.

 

[karrie]

I don't suppose you can just go to Add/Remove programs and uninstall it?

Done that.

 

[Dexter Sinister]

Type about:config in the URL bar, press enter, ignore the warning, press enter again, and you'll have a list of FF's configuration details. Then Edit-Find and search for babylon, right click on the entries and choose reset, should clear everything out.

 

[karrie]

Type about:config in the URL bar, press enter, ignore the warning, press enter again, and you'll have a list of FF's configuration details. Then Edit-Find and search for babylon, right click on the entries and choose reset, should clear everything out.

Thank you Dex, that's exactly what I needed!

I'd gotten into the about:config section, but just don't really want to take the word of a stranger on a tech forum as to what editing those will do to my search engine. lol.

Thanks again, the prob is solved as far as I can see now.

 

[TenPenny]

Some of those viruses are nasty.

One of the guys at work got one, I did some research, and decided that instead of ME messing around editing his registry (I have no problem with my own, just figured I should leave someone else's to the 'pros'), we called out IT guy...who managed to delete most of his saved emails and basically just reinstalled everything.

Confirming to me that I'd rather just do my own work, and take my own chances. We often need to refer to work we did 2, 3, or 10 years ago, so I keep ALL of my old emails, filed by customer. Most IT guys can't even comprehend this idea.

 

[Sparrow]

So, my kids clicked the wrong thing at the wrong time trying to watch pirated tv on my comp, and ended up installing 'Babylon Search' on my computer.

I've managed to strip the software off the comp itself, the toolbar and the homepage settings have been scrubbed off my Firefox

But, what I'm left with is a redirect that makes any new tab I open in Mozilla, take me to the Babylon search page. I can't find any way to stop this that I can reach on my comp, and now I'm down to trying to repair it via the 'about:config' command in Firefox. The problem is, I have no clue what I'm doing messing around in there.

Does anyone have the technical knowhow as to what I do now that I've found the only evidence left of it there is on my comp?

Google "uninstall babylon search firefox", usually I get good info every time I asked for an unstall.......have use it several times.

GOOD LUCK!

 

[karrie]

Google "uninstall babylon search firefox", usually I get good info every time I asked for an unstall.......have use it several times.

GOOD LUCK!

Yeah, it led me to the point that Dexter jumped in.... but.... my faith in the advice of strangers hits its limits when you hit a certain point. lol. I wanted someone I trust to verify that it was leading me down the right path.

 

[Dexter Sinister]

We often need to refer to work we did 2, 3, or 10 years ago, so I keep ALL of my old emails, filed by customer. Most IT guys can't even comprehend this idea.

That's certainly something you should do alright, but not with the email software. That's probably what your IT guys can't comprehend, but like many IT guys, their communication skills may not be good enough to explain in plain language what they're really concerned about. Email systems are not designed for document and content management and aren't very good at it. The two that I've been involved with as an IT guy--GroupWise and Outlook--in fact are so terrible at it that it's dangerous to use them that way. It's not clear from your post whether or not that's what you do, but if it is, you really should rethink that. If the information is that crucial, the messages should be saved as documents separate from the email system in a properly backed up database structure with software that can back up and restore individual documents. You can't do that in any email system I've ever seen. I've never seen an email system with a decent search function either.

 

[Bar Sinister]

Try PC Decrapifier. It is a program someone wrote to get rid of all the advertising garbage that came with Hewlett-Packard computers. However, it also works for other programs as well. If you are using Firefox you might find Babylon installed as a Firefox add-on. All ytou have to do to get rid of it in that case is go to add-ons and then delete it. Just check in Tools - Add-ons.

 

[Nuggler]

Get rid of those kids.

 

[shadowshiv]

I placed 'Problem Has Been Resolved') in the thread title as some people may not know that the issue has been resolved. Of course, if anyone else has any similar problems, this could always be a good thread to place it in while it's still got so much activity in it.

 

[TenPenny]

That's certainly something you should do alright, but not with the email software. That's probably what your IT guys can't comprehend, but like many IT guys, their communication skills may not be good enough to explain in plain language what they're really concerned about. Email systems are not designed for document and content management and aren't very good at it. The two that I've been involved with as an IT guy--GroupWise and Outlook--in fact are so terrible at it that it's dangerous to use them that way. It's not clear from your post whether or not that's what you do, but if it is, you really should rethink that. If the information is that crucial, the messages should be saved as documents separate from the email system in a properly backed up database structure with software that can back up and restore individual documents. You can't do that in any email system I've ever seen. I've never seen an email system with a decent search function either.

I would never use outlook period.

I simply use Eudora, and we sort emails into folders by customer and project, and as long as you save the folders somewhere, such as an external hard drive, Eudora can open them up. The attachments are saved as separate files. It's. Simple and reliable, if I need to review the email string for a job we did for ExxonMobil in 2005, it's. Two mouse clicks away.