I wrote to cust_serv@broderbund.com about finding the dssagent program and asked if there removal utility worked on Windows XP. This was their response: "I understand that the dssagent is present on your Windows XP computer. As there is not a version of any program that included dssagent that was made to be compatible with Windows XP, there is not currently a Windows XP version of the removal utility available. Having Macafee remove the dssagent is acceptable. Otherwise, you can disable it from starting using these steps: Click Start > Run Enter MSCONFIG and press OK. Click the Startup tab. Uncheck the listing for dssagent. Click Apply and click OK."
As you can see, the removal utility does not work with XP. DSSAGENT is not in the startup folder, so the second part of their suggestion will not work. (besides, stopping it in the startup folder would not remove the program). I am afraid to play with the registry because I am not a guru on windows. I don't know if McAfee would remove it correctly or not. This is really a problem for me. Don't know where to go from here. Charles Ranheim
It contains links to Spybot and Ad-aware, two of the best programs for getting rid of these parasites. Download these programs, update the definitions, then run them and let them get rid of any spyware/parsites that they find. Hopefully they will also get rid of dssagent, as it is an older spyware program.
Do these removal programs take care of any changes or deletions in the Registry along with removing the problem programs? I am a little afraid that if the program is removed without the registry entries, it may try to activate the removed program and hang the entire system. Perhaps I am being overly careful, but I do need my PC to work very much. Charles Ranheim
Thanks to all that responded to my questions about getting rid of the Brodcast background agent DSSAGENT program. After downloading Spybot & AD-Aware, I did some research on user satisfaction and found while some said they worked great, others said it took down their system to the point of no return and suggested not to try it. I really need my system every day, so I have not installed these yet. Mcafee said their VirusScan would remove it, but it didn't. I have no reason to think this program is hurting me at the moment. I don't even know if it is active. What do you think of this idea? What if I just rename the program file to something else so that if tries to execute it will not be able to do so?
What bothers me is that it appears to be from Broderbund Software, and they have no procedure to remove it from a Windows XP machine.
I have Spybot S&D and Ad-aware on my computer, and have had no problem with it at all. If you decide to install them, make sure you click on check for updates first, immunize (spybot), and run them.
I can not advise you on renaming the program as I don't know for sure. Hopefully Volcano will be along shortly and advise you as he has been doing.
If I find out anything more I will post. Good luck.
Charlie65, If you don't trust spybot and/or ad-aware to do the job :- try the hijackthis part of my regular post here (hijackthis is a manual removal tool):- ----------- Use these to remove Malware (Spyware and Adware). Spybot S&D Ad-Aware Cwshredder With all of these download them, install (after unzip if required), download the latest signature/update file, run, delete all that they find.
I am in all those sites as ChrisRLG. You might get me, but any of the more problematic ones are handled by the experts. If you get a 'advanced member' like me, we have other ways of asking for advice from the experts, to pass on to you.
You could post your log here in this thread (if in the Virus Information and Removal Board - if not post in that board not in this thread), and I will have a go at giving advice, but if you go to one of the more specalist forums more experts will be able to help. ---------------
I would suggest going to TomCoyote's site posting your log and getting persional support from one of the experts.
A new wrinkle showed up during another McAfee VirusScan run. It used to just show that there was a "Potentially unwanted program" by the name of DSSAGENT located at: C:\WINDOWS/BBSTORE\DSS\DSSAGENT. Now it also shows another entry saying it found the same thing at: C:\System Volume Information\_restor..... I cannot find a file name of "System Volume Information". If I do a search of the C-drive for the file name of dssagent, it only finds the one in Windows. What is this telling me? Can the System Volume Information be displayed? Everything works fine on my system as far as I know. My McAfee dat files are always being updated, so perhaps it is picking more things up than it did earlier. Charles Ranheim
System restore has keeps a copy in its system which all other pregrams (including AV) can't get into. Turn off System Restore will delete all its files, then reboot and turn it back on.
I finally figured out how to display the system information area and realized it was probably a restore point. At first I thought another DSSAGENT program came into my system, but now think it is the same one that became part of a restore point. I guess I have no way of keeping this from occuring again even if I clear all the restore points as you suggested. I had to do this once before (clear restore points) when I ran the Stinger program to look for hidden viruses. I still have to think more about installing Spybot. I really need this PC to be available every day. It would be difficult to start from scratch if I had to format and reload the entire system along with all the updates. If I did install any of these programs, can they be removed completely using simple procedures? As I said before, I am not a Windows guru, therefore do not feel at ease playing with the registry. Charles Ranheim
Look at the info on my website regarding malware (Link below). Some things you can do to stop getting infected again:-
Sypbot s&d, Ad-aware Run weekly - or after a heavy internet session.
Sypwareblaster & Sypwareguard, first sets kill bits to stop known bad activeX controls installing, second acts like your AV to stop browser hijacks and installing of known badies.
All those with links from my site. Do remember just like AV they need to be updated regularly, I do mine weekly, AV daily.
Also ie-spyad (no link on my site yet - find from google), puts 5000 bad sites in your restricted (banned) sites list, to stop you accidentaly getting sent to a bad site, it has optional list of "bad" adult sites to install as well.
With these and a firewall in place I have to try various bad sites when checking peoples hijackthis logs looking to sort bad from good, and I have not yet been infected. Still time for it to happen LOL.
Can Saybot and Ad-ware be easily removed if it is causing me a problem from Windows add/remove functions on the control panel, or do they have their own removal routines? I am trying to better understand why some people reported a problem trying to remove it after having a problem with it. Charles
I have Spybot and Ad-aware, like I have previously told you. There is an option in control panel, add/remove where you can remove it.
I had to remove Spybot at one time many months ago, while scanning it stopped at "c2 loop" and would not move. I completely uninstalled Spybot. I then went to their website to find out fix for it, and did. I re-installed Spybot, performed fix as instructed, and have not had a bit of trouble with it since. This might be the problem that some people had and did not know what to do. It has been updated since that time, and I have heard of no problems with it at the present time. I run Spybot and Ad-aware every other day, depending on how much I do. It runs without a hitch.
This is just my experience with it, Wait for ChrisRLG. He is much more experienced on this subject than I am. He can advise you a lot better, in case their is any additional information you should know.
volcano11
2 Intern
•
28K Posts
0
November 24th, 2003 23:00
See the following:
http://www.cexx.org/dssagent.htm
Steve
bar5
2 Intern
•
170 Posts
0
November 25th, 2003 00:00
See also here, same info, different site:
pestpatrol
Barb
Charlie65
41 Posts
0
November 25th, 2003 01:00
I wrote to cust_serv@broderbund.com about finding the dssagent program and asked if there removal utility worked on Windows XP. This was their response: "I understand that the dssagent is present on your Windows XP computer. As there is not a version of any program that included dssagent that was made to be compatible with Windows XP, there is not currently a Windows XP version of the removal utility available. Having Macafee remove the dssagent is acceptable. Otherwise, you can disable it from starting using
these steps:
Click Start > Run
Enter MSCONFIG and press OK.
Click the Startup tab.
Uncheck the listing for dssagent.
Click Apply and click OK."
As you can see, the removal utility does not work with XP. DSSAGENT is not in the startup folder, so the second part of their suggestion will not work. (besides, stopping it in the startup folder would not remove the program). I am afraid to play with the registry because I am not a guru on windows. I don't know if McAfee would remove it correctly or not. This is really a problem for me. Don't know where to go from here. Charles Ranheim
volcano11
2 Intern
•
28K Posts
0
November 25th, 2003 01:00
At the top of this forum (in the yellow area) is a message from ChrisRLG on spyware and malware removal:
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=si_virus&message.id=572
It contains links to Spybot and Ad-aware, two of the best programs for getting rid of these parasites. Download these programs, update the definitions, then run them and let them get rid of any spyware/parsites that they find. Hopefully they will also get rid of dssagent, as it is an older spyware program.
Steve
Charlie65
41 Posts
0
November 25th, 2003 23:00
Steve,
Do these removal programs take care of any changes or deletions in the Registry along with removing the problem programs? I am a little afraid that if the program is removed without the registry entries, it may try to activate the removed program and hang the entire system. Perhaps I am being overly careful, but I do need my PC to work very much. Charles Ranheim
volcano11
2 Intern
•
28K Posts
0
November 26th, 2003 00:00
The antispyware programs removes all traces of any spyware that is in their database of spyware.
Steve
Charlie65
41 Posts
0
November 28th, 2003 23:00
Thanks to all that responded to my questions about getting rid of the Brodcast background agent DSSAGENT program. After downloading Spybot & AD-Aware, I did some research on user satisfaction and found while some said they worked great, others said it took down their system to the point of no return and suggested not to try it. I really need my system every day, so I have not installed these yet. Mcafee said their VirusScan would remove it, but it didn't. I have no reason to think this program is hurting me at the moment. I don't even know if it is active. What do you think of this idea? What if I just rename the program file to something else so that if tries to execute it will not be able to do so?
What bothers me is that it appears to be from Broderbund Software, and they have no procedure to remove it from a Windows XP machine.
bar5
2 Intern
•
170 Posts
0
November 29th, 2003 02:00
I have Spybot S&D and Ad-aware on my computer, and have had no problem with it at all. If you decide to install them, make sure you click on check for updates first, immunize (spybot), and run them.
I can not advise you on renaming the program as I don't know for sure. Hopefully Volcano will be along shortly and advise you as he has been doing.
If I find out anything more I will post. Good luck.
Barb
ChrisRLG
3.9K Posts
0
November 29th, 2003 09:00
Charlie65, If you don't trust spybot and/or ad-aware to do the job :- try the hijackthis part of my regular post here (hijackthis is a manual removal tool):-
-----------
Use these to remove Malware (Spyware and Adware).
Spybot S&D
Ad-Aware
Cwshredder
With all of these download them, install (after unzip if required), download the latest signature/update file, run, delete all that they find.
Failing those solving your problems a post of a hijackthis log for the experts to advise.
HijackThis From Here
Download, run, scan, save log, then in notepad copy the FULL log by copy and paste to a post in one of these specialist spyware removal forums:-
http://tomcoyote.org/forums/index.php
http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php
http://www.net-integration.net/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi
http://boards.cexx.org/index.php
DO NOT FIX ANYTHING WITH HIJACKTHIS WITHOUT EXPERT ADVICE, most of what it finds you need for normal MS Windows tasks.
Do read the sites FAQ before posting, and advise your problem and what steps you have already done to try to cure your problem.
I am in all those sites as ChrisRLG. You might get me, but any of the more problematic ones are handled by the experts. If you get a 'advanced member' like me, we have other ways of asking for advice from the experts, to pass on to you.
You could post your log here in this thread (if in the Virus Information and Removal Board - if not post in that board not in this thread), and I will have a go at giving advice, but if you go to one of the more specalist forums more experts will be able to help.
---------------
I would suggest going to TomCoyote's site posting your log and getting persional support from one of the experts.
Message Edited by ChrisRLG on 11-29-2003 11:44 AM
Charlie65
41 Posts
0
November 29th, 2003 22:00
ChrisRLG
3.9K Posts
0
November 30th, 2003 07:00
You will need to turn off system restore. Here is a link for winXP - http://www.bay-wolf.com/dk.htm#4a from bay-wolfs site.
System restore has keeps a copy in its system which all other pregrams (including AV) can't get into. Turn off System Restore will delete all its files, then reboot and turn it back on.
Your scan should then be clean.
Charlie65
41 Posts
0
November 30th, 2003 13:00
Thanks CrisRLG,
I finally figured out how to display the system information area and realized it was probably a restore point. At first I thought another DSSAGENT program came into my system, but now think it is the same one that became part of a restore point. I guess I have no way of keeping this from occuring again even if I clear all the restore points as you suggested. I had to do this once before (clear restore points) when I ran the Stinger program to look for hidden viruses. I still have to think more about installing Spybot. I really need this PC to be available every day. It would be difficult to start from scratch if I had to format and reload the entire system along with all the updates. If I did install any of these programs, can they be removed completely using simple procedures? As I said before, I am not a Windows guru, therefore do not feel at ease playing with the registry. Charles Ranheim
ChrisRLG
3.9K Posts
0
November 30th, 2003 13:00
Charles,
Look at the info on my website regarding malware (Link below). Some things you can do to stop getting infected again:-
Sypbot s&d, Ad-aware Run weekly - or after a heavy internet session.
Sypwareblaster & Sypwareguard, first sets kill bits to stop known bad activeX controls installing, second acts like your AV to stop browser hijacks and installing of known badies.
All those with links from my site. Do remember just like AV they need to be updated regularly, I do mine weekly, AV daily.
Also ie-spyad (no link on my site yet - find from google), puts 5000 bad sites in your restricted (banned) sites list, to stop you accidentaly getting sent to a bad site, it has optional list of "bad" adult sites to install as well.
With these and a firewall in place I have to try various bad sites when checking peoples hijackthis logs looking to sort bad from good, and I have not yet been infected. Still time for it to happen LOL.
Charlie65
41 Posts
0
November 30th, 2003 23:00
bar5
2 Intern
•
170 Posts
0
December 1st, 2003 01:00
Charlie:
I have Spybot and Ad-aware, like I have previously told you. There is an option in control panel, add/remove where you can remove it.
I had to remove Spybot at one time many months ago, while scanning it stopped at "c2 loop" and would not move. I completely uninstalled Spybot. I then went to their website to find out fix for it, and did. I re-installed Spybot, performed fix as instructed, and have not had a bit of trouble with it since. This might be the problem that some people had and did not know what to do. It has been updated since that time, and I have heard of no problems with it at the present time. I run Spybot and Ad-aware every other day, depending on how much I do. It runs without a hitch.
This is just my experience with it, Wait for ChrisRLG. He is much more experienced on this subject than I am. He can advise you a lot better, in case their is any additional information you should know.
Hope you get this fixed soon.
Barb