Uninstalling Conduit Searchprotect Toolbar makes Win XP unbootable

[ranchhand]

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/522327/uninstalling-conduit-searchprotect-del...xp-unbootable/

[Constant Gardener]

NEVER trust uninstallers provided by malware.

[nic2k4]

Yeah, conduit is one of the sneakiest/crappiest "legal" malware provider, which is why it doesn't get caught by security software. I don't know if I'd trust the 2 uninstallers they suggest either. Stuff like that gets side-installed by those kinds of free adware. I haven't had to deal with conduit in ages, but I seem to recall Spybot would nuke it.

[Hoser Rob]

Funny, I just searched "conduit searchprotect" out of curiosity and got to the company page. But when I went up one level to the home page I got to something looking quite different, touting mobile solutions or something like that. And there was bo apparent way to get back down from there to where I had been.

Very shaky looking.

(sigh) ... this is one of the reasons I use linux mostly now. It won't let an install make anything remotely close to those kinds of changes to the OS without sending up red flags. Windows permission levels suck.

[ranchhand]

Update: Yup. My sister-in-law had conduit on her XP Pro computer (that I built for her). I used Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel to remove it, and it not only nuked several critical system files, but also corrupted the C:\ Partition itself! I had already made sure I had a good image backup from Macrium Reflect, so I picked a dated image just previous to the current one and restored. It still wouldn't boot until I manually removed the existing partition and created a new one, then the restore worked perfectly and she is back up & running.
Sheeeeze, I don't know what the heck that Conduit outfit is doing but they must be using trained monkeys for coding.

[TBoneit]

Yeah, They really don't want you removing it. If You do they probably feel that the unbootable part is a bonus.

[Dv8ted2]

I use regedit to get rid of it on computers I have to fix.

[Nelson37]

WARNING - The link given in post #4, by a brand-new user, contains instructions to remove using Control Panel, and also links to a "scanning program" that is not named or identified. This link does NOT look legit.

[Baldrick]

WARNING - The link given in post #4, by a brand-new user, contains instructions to remove using Control Panel, and also links to a "scanning program" that is not named or identified. This link does NOT look legit.

Banned and deleted. Thanks.