As you may have read in the description i have Surf Sidekick 3 installed on my computer, yes i have read the tut on getting rid of it, but i cant open hijack this, i downloaded it, extracted it etc then as soon as i go to run it i click on do a system scan and i get this msg:
"An Unexpected error has occured at procedure: modMain_CheckOther1Item()Error #75 - Path/File access error"

The message then goes on to say email merijn@spywareinfo.com which i have done and yet to receive a reply . SO I was wondering if any 1 here could help me out so i can use hijack this to get rid of Surf Sidekick 3!

Thanks in advance
Nuko

Try uninstalling HJT by going to Start > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs

Reboot your computer.

Download a new copy of HJT by clicking on THIS.

Install and see if works now.

Make sure you place and run HijackThis in its own folder (i.e. C:\HJT). DO NOT run it from within a zip manager, a temporary folder or the from the Desktop.

Was this the complete error message? If so, look at the last line.

Albert Frankenstein: I tryed this still no luck, i managed to remove it but now whenever i type in hijackthis in google or wateva and go to the page it shutsdown my browser maybe my computer doesn't like any references to hjt.

Quietman7: Yes HJT was in its own folder in C: Drive and that was the full message that was displayed, but the message was only displayed for a split second before the program shut itself down, i had to try several times to read the message through and then a few more times to printscreen it.

I'm at a total loss at what to do, can any1 help me?

Here are links to three direct downloads so you should not have to use google

Hijackthis 1.99.1 autoinstall
Alternate download site.
Alternate download site.

Tryed them all, still same thing HJT shutsdown as soon as i open in it... Dammit this is really making me angry, because i need HJT to get rid of Surf Sidekick 3

Try downloading and using an earlier version of Hijackthis (v.1.982) from here or here. Unzip the file into its own folder C:\HJT. If that works it will at least get you started. Make sure you post your log with a note explaining why you used this older version.

DAMMIT, it still didn't work, i am wondering will a windows system restore work for getting rid of this, or formatting c drive??

System Restore may work if you can find a good restore point prior to the infection.

Symantec has removal instructions without using HJT here but it requires backing up and working with the registry after uninstalling SurfSideKick using Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel.

However, another thing to keep in mind is that sometimes malware can keep Hijackthis from working properly and you may have other malware on your system besides SurfSidekick that is interfering with it. Here are a few safe things to try first.

Download and scan with CWShredder. - zipped version.
Stand-alone Exe
Stand-alone Exe
1. Double-click on cwshredder.exe to start the program.
2. Click the "Check for Update" button to ensure you have the latest version.
3. Click the "Fix" button (not "Scan Only").
4. Let it run completely and fix whatever if finds.
5. When the scan is completed and all files are removed, close the program.

If CWShredder does not run, a variant of CWS could be preventing it from running. In that case, download CoolWebSearch.Smartkiller Miniremoval Tool [delcwssk.zip].
Save/unzip it to a new folder named C:\CWS.
Open the folder and double-click miniremoval_coolwebsearch_smartkiller.exe to run and remove the variant of CoolWebSearch that is stopping CWShredder from running. Then try running CWShredder again.

Download Hoster
1. Extract the zip file to your desktop or a permanent folder on your hard drive.
2. Open the folder and double-click on the Hoster.exe
3. Press "Restore Original Hosts"
4. Press "OK" and exit the program

Note: if you were using a custom Hosts file you will need to replace any of those entries yourself.

Then try running Hijackthis again using the newest version in the links we originally gave you.

If no success continue as follows (you should be using Ad-aware and Spybot anyway):

If your running Win XP/2000, download and scan with Ewido Anti-Malware v3.5
Ewido Install and Scan Instructions

Download and scan with Ad-Aware SE Personal. Setup & Configure as shown here.
Download and scan with Spybot S&D 1.4. Setup & Configure as shown here.
[DO NOT choose the option to install TeaTimer]

Perform these online Virus scans:
[Watch the Address bar in IE. You may receive alerts that "This site might require the following ActiveX control...Click here to install...". Click on that alert and then Click Install ActiveX component.]
Trend Micro Housecall Scan
Panda ActiveScan [ActiveScan Panda does not remove adware/spyware but will autoclean for viruses & worms.]

Then try running Hijackthis again. If you do get Hijackthis to run properly, I suggest you read and follow all instructions in the pinned topic titled Preparation Guide For Use Before Posting A Hijackthis Log. When you have done that, post a log in the HijackThis Logs and Analysis Forum, not here, for assistance by the HJT Team Experts.

Thankyou for all your help, i'm trying those things u suggested now

Ok, i'm up the Hoster bit, now when i open up Hoster i get this message "ERROR: Cannot open file C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\ETC\Hosts" I click ok and it exits out of the program, whats that about?

One other thing, i'm using Firefox, would that effect the online scanners by any chance?

ZoneAlarm and other programs block access to the HOSTS file rather than just set the read-only attribute on the file as added protection. If your using ZA or a security program that blocks access, you need to temporarily disable it.

Trend Micro Housecall Scan for Firefox

If you cannot use IE to run your online scans and have Firefox, then install the IE Tab add-on extension. This should allow you to perform the scans through Firefox.

Install the Add-on from here.

After install, close & restart Firefox. Then you right click on the page (tab) you want to use in IE tab. This allows you to switch rendering engine.

If you go to View > Toolbars > make sure Bookmark Toolbar is checked. Then click "Customize" and look for the little IE logo. Click on that icon and drag it to your toolbar under the menu. This makes it much easier to use.

Ok, ive run the scans, few things picked up but surf sidekick is still on my computer, and i still can't open hijackthis, anything else come to mind?

Are you still getting the same error message or is hijackthis just opening & closing immediately afterwards?

You can try theself-help tutorial How to remove Surf Sidekick 2/2 . You will just have to skip the step for using hijackthis until you can get it working.