My Web Search also known as the My Way Speedbar is the Internet
Explorer toolbar part of the Fun Web Products suite of utilities such
as Smiley Central, Cursor Mania, My Mail Stationary, My Mail Signature,
PopSwatter, Popular Screensavers, Webfetti, and the My Way website
portal. The toolbar allows easy access to search engine results and a
404 Error Redirector called My Total Search among other things to your
browser. This is not to be confused with the
IBIS Web Search toolbar.
Although
none of these products claim to be spyware, they do slow your computer
down. All of the products use cookies to track usage, although they
claim not to use cookies or anything else to track personally
identifiable information. That being said, I would still recommend
uninstalling the toolbar and other Fun Web Products if you feel your
computer runs better without them. They are found by most spyware
removal tools such as
Spybot Search and Destroy,
Lavasoft Ad-Aware, etc., although they are deemed spyware safe by other programs
How Do I Know If I Have My Web Search Installed?
You'll notice the following toolbar in your browser if My Web Search is installed on your computer.
If you run
Hijackthis, you'll also notice the following lines that have been added:
R3
- URLSearchHook: (no name) - {00A6FAF6-072E-44cf-8957-5838F569A31D} -
C:\Program Files\MyWebSearch\SrchAstt\1.bin\MWSSRCAS.DLL
O2 -
BHO: MyWebSearch Search Assistant BHO -
{00A6FAF1-072E-44cf-8957-5838F569A31D} - C:\Program
Files\MyWebSearch\SrchAstt\1.bin\MWSSRCAS.DLL
O2 - BHO: mwsBar BHO - {07B18EA1-A523-4961-B6BB-170DE4475CCA} - C:\Program Files\MyWebSearch\bar\1.bin\MWSBAR.DLL
O3 - Toolbar: My &Web Search - {07B18EA9-A523-4961-B6BB-170DE4475CCA} - C:\Program Files\MyWebSearch\bar\1.bin\MWSBAR.DLL
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [MyWebSearch Email Plugin] C:\PROGRA~1\MYWEBS~1\bar\1.bin\mwsoemon.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [MyWebSearch Email Plugin] C:\PROGRA~1\MYWEBS~1\bar\1.bin\mwsoemon.exe
O4 - Startup: MyWebSearch Email Plugin.lnk = C:\Program Files\MyWebSearch\bar\1.bin\MWSOEMON.EXE
O4 - Global Startup: MyWebSearch Email Plugin.lnk = C:\Program Files\MyWebSearch\bar\1.bin\MWSOEMON.EXE
O8 - Extra context menu item: &Search - http://bar.mywebsearch.com/menusearch.html?p=ZWYYYYYYYYUS
O16
- DPF: {1D4DB7D2-6EC9-47A3-BD87-1E41684E07BB} -
http://ak.imgfarm.com/images/nocache/funwebproducts/ei/MyWebSearchInitialSetup1.0.0.8-2.cab
How Do I Remove My Web Search?
First, uninstall the My Web Search option from Add/Remove Programs
1) Click on Start, Settings, Control Panel
2) Double click on Add/Remove Programs
3)
Find "My Web Search" in the list of installed programs and click on
Change/Remove to uninstall it. You may also want to uninstall any of
the following items associated with FunWebProducts.
- My Web Search (Smiley Central or FWP product as applicable)
- My Way Speedbar (Smiley Central or other FWP as applicable)
- My Way Speedbar (AOL and Yahoo Messengers) (beta users only)
- My Way Speedbar (Outlook, Outlook Express, and IncrediMail)
- Search Assistant - My Way
4) Reboot your Computer and run HijackThis
5) With HijackThis, scan for and fix any of the entries shown above that may be remaining.
6) Next, open My Computer, Drive C, and double-click on the Program Files folder
7) Right-click and delete the folders for:
- FunWebProducts
- MyWebSearch
8) MyWebSearch should now be completely uninstalled from your computer.
9)
There will be some minor registry entries left behind by the uninstall,
however these can be cleaned up by running SpyBot Search and Destroy or
Ad-Aware SE or left alone.
Other FunWebProducts
Smiley Central RemovalCursor Mania RemovalFunBuddyIcons RemovalMy Mail Stationery RemovalMy Mail Signature RemovalMy Mail Stamps RemovalPopular Screensavers RemovalWebfetti Removal