Hello Gkiii,
I can understand why you wish to remove Kazaa Media Desktop (and its
bundled applications) from your computer -- it's spyware. Well
technically it's ad-ware that monitors ads it gives you and what ads
you click on so that you would be more likely to buy something from
Kazaa or its affiliated companies. Although most free applications
like this tell you in the license agreement beforehand about the
'spyware' they are often sneaky and usually misleading.
In answering this question I am going to install Kazaa myself so I can
walk you through step by step to remove this pest. I will also give
you more options for removing spyware and suggestions for other
spyware-free applications that do the same thing as Kazaa (P2P file
sharing programs) but without spyware.
Note: To get rid of it now, you can skip the "What happens when you
install Kazaa" section and go to the "To remove Kazaa Media Desktop
completely" section. I apologize for the length of this answer. I
tried to be brief but when it comes to privacy I believe it is better
to be absolutely thorough.
----WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU INSTALL KAZAA----
Going thought the license agreement I see it serves and tracks ads it
gives you, uses internet resources for sharing the Kazaa setup file
(unless you tell it not to), and offers you 'promotions' (spyware).
http://www.kazaa.com/us/privacy/index.htm
Each of these promotions is a separate entity that will have to be
removed separately.
Spyware that Kazaa 2.0.2 includes:
Kazaa (Cydoor ads)
SaveNow (option to not install)
DelFin (option to not install)
MediaLoads (option to not install)
b3d Projector (option to not install)
New.net (option to not install)
After you agree to install everything (if you do that or did that by
mistake), immediately after the setup closes and SaveNow and DelFin
spyware apps are started and will start trying to download (ads) from
the internet. If you close the internet connection the DelFin app will
close its main program and open PGMONITOR.EXE which will start the
DelFin app when you do have an internet connection. There is also
another app that automatically starts called DW.EXE (C:\Program
Files\DownloadWare This is the MediaLoads Program.). These are all
memory-resident meaning they are wasting your computers resources and
slowing things down.
SaveNow, New.net, b3dupdate, Promulgate (DelFin), and Medialoads are
all set to start when the computer is next restarted/rebooted. This
means that the computer will automatically load these things when it
starts and waste resources.
On to the removal:
First things first, let's REMOVE Kazaa and clean up any mess it made
on your computer.
----TO REMOVE KAZAA MEDIA DESKTOP (AND BUNDELED SPYWARE)
COMPLETELY----
Click Start
Click Settings
Click Control Panel
Click Add/Remove Programs
Scroll down to Kazaa Media Desktop 2.0.2
Click Add/Remove
When it asks to confirm the uninstall click OK
Click Finish
Now for the spyware. If you don't have one of these listed in your
add/remove section just skip it for now.
Go back to the Control Panel's Add/Remove option
Find SaveNow.
Click Add/Remove
Click OK when it asks if you want to uninstall it.
Click OK again.
Go back to the Control Panel's Add/Remove option
Find DelFin Media Viewer.
Click Add/Remove
Click OK when it asks if you want to uninstall it.
Click OK again.
Go back to the Control Panel's Add/Remove option
Find MediaLoads Installer.
Click Add/Remove
Click YES when it asks if you want to uninstall it.
It will connect to the internet and ask you for a survey about it.
Feel free to send a 'nice' message about their spyware products.
(The survey is not necessary to uninstall it however so you can just
close your browser if you want).
Not done yet, hang in there.
Go back to the Control Panel's Add/Remove option
Find b3d Projector.
Click Add/Remove
Click YES when it asks if you want to uninstall it.
Click OK.
Go back to the Control Panel's Add/Remove option
Find New.net Domains 4.80 (or another number)
Click Add/Remove
Click YES when it asks if you want to uninstall it.
Click OK.
Click NO - I WILL RESTART LATER
Even after all this there is still a program running in memory. To get
rid of it do this:
Press and hold the keyboard buttons:
Ctrl (Control) and Alt at the same time and then press Delete ONCE.
This will bring up the Close Program/Taskmanager window. Scroll down
until you find:
DW
Now click on it until it turns blue and then click End Task (or End
Program).
If another box pops up in a second click End Program or End Task in
that window.
The program is now not running.
Go to C:\Program Files\DownloadWare
And Delete that Folder (and everything in it).
That was a program that was running that didn't uninstall correctly
(for me).
It is MediaLoads Installer.
Now we have to clean up the mess that the uninstallers left.
Go to C:\Program Files\Kazaa (Or wherever you originally installed
Kazaa) and delete that folder and everything in it.
Go to C:\Windows\Temp and Delete everything in it (but DON'T Delete
the folder).
(You can go to the folder and choose Edit, Select All. File, Delete.
Then OK, YES TO ALL to delete them all).
Go to C:\Program Files\DelFin
And Delete that Folder (and everything in it).
Go to C:\Program Files\NewDotNet
And Delete that Folder (and everything in it).
Click Start
Click Find
Click Files or Folders
Type kmd.exe and hit enter (or click Find Now)
Wait until it is done searching
If it finds the file delete kmd.exe (Kazaa Media Desktop downloader
and installer setup program).
If it says '0 Files Found' then close the find window. (Means you
don't still have the Kazaa setup program anymore).
What there's still more?! Yup. Sorry but these sneaky spyware programs
don't do a good job of cleaning up after themselves.
Now we have to go into the registry and delete any leftover start up
keys (entries that tell the programs to start at startup.
Click Start
Click Run
Type regedit
Click OK (or hit Enter)
Click the arrow next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Scroll down to find Software.
Click the arrow next to that.
Scroll down to find Microsoft.
Click the arrow next to that.
Scroll down to find Windows.
Click the arrow next to that.
Scroll down to find Current Version.
Click the arrow next to that.
Scroll down to run and click on that folder.
In the right side of that window you'll see a couple entries for
programs that run at startup.
You will need some of these. We just want to get rid of the spyware
one(s).
After uninstalling all of the programs the only spyware program that
is still there is the MediaLoads Installer one. Click on that and then
press Delete and Click Yes when it asks if you want to delete this
key.
Now the spyware programs are gone and they won't start up anymore but
there are still more bits of junk that the programs left in the
registry. We'll use Ad-aware, and SpyBot Search and Destroy to get rid
of these entries.
Download Adaware 6.0 Standard Edition here:
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/
if you don't already have it and also
Download SpyBot Search & Destroy 1.1 here:
http://security.kolla.de/index.php?lang=en&page=download
if you don't already have it (you mentioned you had it in your
question).
Install both of those anti-spyware applications and then in Adaware
choose "Check for updates" to update it. In Spybot SD choose "Online"
then "Search for updates" to update it.
Once you have updated those applications to look for the most current
spyware run each twice and remove all spyware components/files/and
registry entries. (They are usually marked in red to let you know they
are spyware).
The registry entries left behind from the Kazaa spyware are mostly
harmless if they don't have a program to run and use that information
but it is best to get rid of them completely anyway. AdAware and
SpybotSD will do that for you which is much easier than manually
searching the registry for each instance of the keys (entries).
If you have other spyware these programs will find that for you was
well and let you remove it after they have searched through the
registry and the computer.
With no spyware on my computer after the check AdAware found 20
entries (including registry entries from NewDotNet, BDE (Brilliant
Digital), SaveNow, NetworkEssentials, Cydoor, and DownloadWare
(MediaLoads)). Spybot found 47 entries (mostly cookies but there was
a NewDotNet dll file I missed in C:\Windows\System). All entries were
deleted.
After you have run each twice (just to be sure) and have removed the
spyware, then restart your computer.
Now empty your recycling bin to get rid of the spyware files for good.
You should now be Kazaa spyware free (and free of Kazaa as well :)
----NON SPYWARE ALTERNATIVES TO KAZAA----
If you want a program that is similar to Kazaa that does not have
spyware. I would suggest WinMX.
http://www.winmx.com/
If you still want Kazaa but without the spyware you can get Kazaalite
from:
http://www.kazaalite.com/
Both do not have spyware and both do what Kazaa does (just without the
spyware).
----CONCLUSION----
I hope this helps you remove those pesky spyware apps from your
computer and rids you of Kazaa once and for good. If anything is
unclear or need clarification, just "Request Answer Clarification"
before you "Rate this Answer" and I would be happy to assist you in
whatever way I can.
arcadesdude-ga
Google Answers Researcher
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