How to Remove the Ist Bar


What this program does:

Adware.Istbar is an adware component, which does one or more of the following:
  • Installs an Internet Explorer toolbar
  • Acts as a Home page and search hijacker
Tools needed for this fix: Related Tutorials:Symptoms in a HijackThis Log

O3 - Toolbar: ISTbar - {5F1ABCDB-A875-46c1-8345-B72A4567E486} - C:\PROGRA~1\ISTbar\istbar.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [IST Service] C:\Program Files\ISTsvc\istsvc.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [}ïÁzî[8C:\Program Files\ISTsvc\istsvc.exe] C:\WINDOWS\pwkctgec.exe

Note: Any 04 entry that leads to "C:\Program Files\ISTsvc\istsvc.exe" with random characters before hand (e.g. [¢‰¸u0ÔÁß])
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Please do both of the following before we start if possible!:

1) Please print off these instructions - they will be needed later when internet access is not available.
2) Save these instructions in word/notepad to the desktop where they can be easily found for the same reasons as above.
At the moment you may feel like you battling with your computer to keep it running smoothly, but doing the following things should most certainly help getting it back to how it was
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:step1:Download the Norton Removal Tool for fixing Istbar. When you have done that please run the tool and exit when it has finished!
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step2.gif Click here to download hijackthis_sfx.exe
Save hijackthis_sfx.exe to your desktop.
  • Double click on the hijackthis_sfx.exe icon on your desktop then click the Unzip button. Then close the Self-Extractor window.
  • Using My Computer/Windows Explorer, navigate to C:\Program Files\Hijack This and double click on HijackThis.exe to run it.
  • If you would like to make a shortcut for your Desktop so it's more easily accessable, right click HijackThis.exe and choose Send To > Desktop (create shortcut).
  • Click "Do a system scan only". HijackThis will make a quick scan and show you a list of entries.
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step3.gif Fix the following entries if they are still there:

O3 - Toolbar: ISTbar - {5F1ABCDB-A875-46c1-8345-B72A4567E486} - C:\PROGRA~1\ISTbar\istbar.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [IST Service] C:\Program Files\ISTsvc\istsvc.exe
04 - HKLM\..\Run: [}ïÁzî[8C:\Program Files\ISTsvc\istsvc.exe] C:\WINDOWS\pwkctgec.exe

(note - the characters for the third line will be random and not exactly as shown above)

:step4:Find and manually delete these folders if present:

C:\Program Files\ISTsvc
C:\Program Files\ISTbar

step5.gif Run HijackThis again and see if the IST entries are now gone from the HijackThis log.

IstBar is typically installed with other malware. If you have concerns that some other malware may still be present, please go here:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum22.html
........and post a topic with your problem, and HijackThis log.
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This is a self-help guide. Use at your own risk.


BleepingComputer.com can not be held responsible for problems that may occur by using this information. If you would like help with any of these fixes, you can post a HijackThis log in our HijackThis Logs and Analysis forum.

If you have any questions about this self-help guide then please post those questions in our AntiVirus, Firewall and Privacy Products and Protection Methods forum and someone will help you.