Virus & Spyware Discussions

Re: MYWAY REMOVAL

rwilsonw — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 04:57:11 GMT

Many thanks

Re: MYWAY REMOVAL

joe53 — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 04:56:04 GMT

All you have to do is click on the one entry for MYWAY to hilite it, than on the [remove] button.
Do not use the [select all] button.

Re: MYWAY REMOVAL

rwilsonw — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 04:47:15 GMT

In reading about your the suggestion to install and use WINDOWS INSTALLER CLEAN-UP UTILITY

I see a a warning message that say using this utility may result in my having to reload other programs. I only want to remove MY WAY SEARCH ASSISTANT and not destroy anything else.

Thank You,

Re: MYWAY REMOVAL

Alan 1948 — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 14:22:36 GMT

help-Myway on Dell continually hijacks my searches.Have tried Windows install clean up and it is not listed on Add/Remove progs. Especially active when I try to find info on problem. Won't let me go to Micro downloads.

Alan

Re: MYWAY REMOVAL

Pletch — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 05:47:10 GMT

I think it is Dell MyWay because the page that opens as my home page contains the words "dell4me/myway" and it has links directly to the Dell site. I will try these instructions

with the hijackthis program.

Re: MYWAY REMOVAL

ChrisRLG — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 01:32:05 GMT

'Dell Myway' and 'Myway' are two seperate things.

==============

It would be best to follow the Hijackthis instructions from :-

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=si_hijack&message.id=4987

then post a HJT log in :-

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board?board.id=si_hijack

the experts in that room will then give you detailed advice.

Re: MYWAY REMOVAL

Pletch — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 01:26:03 GMT

Chris, I don't know about the controversy. All I know is that MyWay has taken over my home page and anything that I have tried to change it has not worked. It is keeping my email software from functioning. Everytime I get online through my email program and its homepage tries to come up, it can't, apparently because MyWay is fighting for the page. When I minimize the software and open IE directly, the MyWay page comes up. I have tried to change the home page, but it always reverts back to MyWay. Could you please tell me how to completely get it out of the system? I followed some directions from you regarding the add/remove programs feature and Windows Installer but that did not work. I haven't been able to use my email program for two weeks now.

Re: MYWAY REMOVAL

resident — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 00:44:24 GMT

I tried the myway removal instructions posted by ChrisM on 9/26/05. It removed myway but now internet explorer will not open. I have switched to firefox to use the internet. I hate to ask but is there any way to get IE back to where it was? This computer is only a week old.

Thank you

Dimension 9150

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name STATIONXP5
System Manufacturer Dell Inc.
System Model Dell DXP051
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 4 Stepping 4 GenuineIntel ~2992 Mhz
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 4 Stepping 4 GenuineIntel ~2992 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Dell Inc. A02, 10/28/2005
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.2562 (xpsp.040919-1030)"
User Name STATIONXP5\CKN
Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Total Physical Memory 1,024.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 564.14 MB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
Page File Space 2.40 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

Re: MYWAY REMOVAL

Freon22 — Sun, 22 Jan 2006 03:31:45 GMT

Well I am true to my word. I said in an earyer post on this thread that the first of the year we would be replacing our office computers. Since Dell has done anything about this problem, we didn't replace our computers with Dell. I will not say the brand that we did buy, unless asked. I don't think its fair to post other brand name on a thread about Dell. But I can tell you we are very happy with our new computers. I want to thank Dells sell staff for helping us to decide not to buy Dell computers for our replacements.

Re: MYWAY REMOVAL

ChrisRLG — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 16:43:48 GMT

Oncve in IE, go to your required home page.

Then in IE, menu, Tools, Internet Options, Use Current, OK.

Re: MYWAY REMOVAL

donmyrn — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 07:01:46 GMT

If MyWay is removed from Start Page or Home Page what takes its place?

I think I did it correctly following Chris' instructions but then i could not start IE because it had no Start Page URL. Please advise.

Re: MYWAY REMOVAL

laniep — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 12:00:45 GMT

Looks like this situation has not improved in two months since this particular thread started. I've actually removed the My Way Search Assistant but the dellmyway page continues to come back as my default home page in IE!!! I've gone through all these hints and instructions with the regedit and installer cleanup. Nothing sees my way search assistant any more but yet this darn home page keeps coming back to my absolute frustration. this is more than annoying and dell should do something about this!

Re: MYWAY REMOVAL

DELL-Chris M — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 18:14:30 GMT

ChrisRLG,

Thx. FAQ updated.

Re: MYWAY REMOVAL

ChrisRLG — Sat, 24 Sep 2005 05:51:30 GMT

Update in todays spywareinfo newsletter.

available from here - http://www.spywareinfo.net/sept23,2005

========quote======

Misconfigured Installer Fuels Rumors of Shady Dell Tactics

A misconfigured installer for the Myway Search Assistant, which is preinstalled into most new Dell PCs and laptops, is fueling some disturbing rumors about Dell.

On computer tech support message boards all over the web, people have been posting stories of trying unsuccessfully to remove the Myway Search Assistant from Dell computers. When they attempt removal, the uninstaller link in Windows' Add/Remove applet suddenly becomes disabled. This has led many people to suspect that Dell is trying to prevent people from removing the software.

Some time ago, Dell began to bundle the Myway Search Assistant into consumer PCs and latptops. They also set the Internet Explorer home page to a customized Dell web portal hosted on myway.com.

This was controversial, as many people dislike software from Myway. The software is a very close cousin to certain adware programs, which are written by the same company that owns Myway. The Myway Search Assistant is not itself adware or spyware. It is bundled with some other products, non-optionally in many cases, so it qualifies as foistware. It is this latter practice that led eventually to Myway software becoming targeted by antispyware programs.

To make matters worse, when many people see the Myway Search Assistant in the Windows Add/Remove list, they begin to remove the software. In most cases, they are told that, after a reboot, the software will be gone. After they reboot, the entry still is listed in Add/Remove. The entry no longer has any option to remove the software.

This has led to many angry postings on several message boards. Upon seeing that the software still is listed and that there seems to be no way to remove it, people begin to suspect Dell of trying deliberately to prevent users from removing the software. Understandably, people were pretty ticked off about this.

After exchanging hundreds of emails with readers who own, sell, manage or repair Dell computers, I believe I know what is going on now.

The problem is that either Dell or Myway misconfigured the installer program. The installer for the Myway Search Assistant, as used by Dell, was compiled with the Microsoft Software Installer. When the Myway software is removed by way of Add/Remove, the installer suddenly begins to use the ARNOREMOVE option. What that does, in Windows 2000 and XP, is to disable the "remove" button in an Add/Remove listing. The purpose of the ARNOREMOVE option suddenly becoming activated is something known only to Dell and/or Myway.

This appears to be the cause of all the confusion. The software is removed, or at least disabled. Since it remains listed in Add/Remove, people believe that the software still is installed. The fact that suddenly the "Remove" function is disabled makes the whole thing look nefarious. It is very easy to see why people would think that Dell is trying to prevent removal of the Myway software.

In fact, the Myway Search Assistant is uninstalled when the Add/Remove uninstaller is used. That can be verified afterward by clicking the "Search" button in Internet Explorer. Before removal, the "Search" button will show a Dell/Myway Search Assistant. After removal, the "Search" button uses the default Windows Search Companion. That means that the software no longer is active.

To remove the Myway listing from Add/Remove, download a tool called Windows Installer CleanUp Utility from Microsoft. Install the program, then start it. Look for the Myway Search Assistant entry, highlight it and click the "Remove" button. That should remove the entry. Make certain you do this only after you have used the entry to remove the Search Assistant.

This all may be a moot point soon. I've heard a number of reports, all concerning Dell computers only a few days old, that the add/remove listing uninstalls the Myway software cleanly. Maybe Dell heard the same rumors I did, drew the same conclusions and decided to fix the problem.

Many thanks to the numerous readers who helped me research this story. Special thanks to Steve Wechsler of MVPS.org for explaining about the ARNOREMOVE flag in the Windows Installer.

=======end quote ======

Many thanks to Mike for his indepth work on this, which does settles this in my mind.

Users have the right to remove the MyWay installed software, which when Dell/Myway have installed correctly it is possible to do, so in this light any 'recommended' removal should show it as optional (EG Users choice) and not show it as Malware of one type or another.

Re: MYWAY REMOVAL

ChrisRLG — Fri, 16 Sep 2005 13:39:07 GMT

Freon22 (and any others).

It has not been proved to me that the version of myway installed with Dell computers is the same as the version roundly condemed as Malware.

Some software do things that can be classed as Malware, yet can be 'helpful' in what they are doing.

=====

One of those would be the google toolbar, which is used by most anti-malware fighters because of its ability to do searches for the things we are looking for quickly.

It does how ever have an update feature that you cannot turn off. That is one of the NO NO's that helps software get classified as Malware.

It also has a 'rating' system that 'phones home' giving google the knowledge of where you have been, with the aim of using such data to rate the websites visited. That too is a major NO NO for getting software classified as Malware. That feature can be turned off, and it is a shame it is on by default.

BTW for those who might post to support Google, I actually have it installed on all my machines. But that does not change the issues about it.

=====

I don't like the fact it that Myway cannot easily be removed. That in itself is a major NO NO for being classified as Malware

Because of the closeness of the Dell Myway and the known Myway that we (anti-malware fighters) regularly target, I would not be happy with it on my systems. But then I would always wipe any new machine I receive and reinstall just what I wish to have, and not what the manufacturer thinks I need.