[HELP!!] Firefox homepage hijacked by jZIP

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hyedward
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[HELP!!] Firefox homepage hijacked by jZIP

Post by hyedward »

I just encountered a nightmare by installing a software jZIP intending to be my WinZIP alternative.
However, the software includes a bunch of trash spywares which changed my preset browsers' homepage and prefered search engines, including IE and Firefox.
After tedious process of manually deleting the software, and associated addons, and changes the homepage setting to google.com,
I still cannot restore the homepage in Firefox, (but I can restore in IE)
Now whenever I open firefox, and open a new tab, it still loads search.jzip.com as homepage.

I have used numerous spyware detecting software to check and try to solve the problem, including spypoy, Ad-aware, CCcleaner, but all cannot rectify the problem.

Pls tell me how can I restore my original setting in Firefox as I think this problem is due to some malware controlled remotely and I think there is huge potential harm to the security of my computer.

THanks in advance.

Ed
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DanRaisch
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Re: [HELP!!] Firefox homepage hijacked by jZIP

Post by DanRaisch »

It's not clear from your post what you did to try to restore your chosen home page in Firefox. Did you change that value under Tools->Options->General->Homepage?

If you did that and it was unsuccessful, you might try creating a new profile -- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_Manager
and
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Creating_a_ne ... on_Windows
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squeaky
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Re: [HELP!!] Firefox homepage hijacked by jZIP

Post by squeaky »

Find Revo Uninstaller and once installed use option 4 to clear out jzip.


http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uni ... nload.html
Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." Calvin & Hobbes
artish
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Re: [HELP!!] Firefox homepage hijacked by jZIP

Post by artish »

The same thing just happened to me. I uninstalled jzip, and reselected my home page. Home page is fine when browser opens, it's only when I open a new tab that it keeps getting directed to http://search.jzip.com/
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squeaky
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Re: [HELP!!] Firefox homepage hijacked by jZIP

Post by squeaky »

Hi, the revo uninstaller I linked to in the post directly before yours works well. Honest :)
Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." Calvin & Hobbes
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Gingerbread Man
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Re: [HELP!!] Firefox homepage hijacked by jZIP

Post by Gingerbread Man »

  1. Uninstall jZip from Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs.
  2. Open Windows Explorer, then the C:\Program Files\ folder, then the Windows jZip Toolbar folder.
  3. Double-click the uninstall icon.
  4. Delete the Windows jZip Toolbar folder.
  5. In Firefox, open the Tools menu and choose Add-ons, then Extensions.
  6. Select the jZip Toolbar entry if it's there and click the Uninstall button.
  7. Type about:config in the address bar and press Enter.
  8. Press the big button to bypass the warning.
  9. In the Filter bar, type jzip
  10. In the search results, right-click each entry and choose Reset.
  11. Restart Firefox.

As a WinZip alternative, I recommend either
  • WinRAR, which has a user-friendly interface and supports themes, but is shareware requiring a one-time fee to register.
  • 7-Zip, which has an ugly interface but is completely free.

As an additional bit of trivia, the offending toolbar is provided by Discordia Limited, the company most known for hijacking the domain name of the file-sharing application Shareaza and using it to distribute a fake version loaded with malware. I recall that when it was initially launched, jZip was indeed a clean application as its front page still claims. I wonder if it suffered the same fate :-k
jogil
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Re: [HELP!!] Firefox homepage hijacked by jZIP

Post by jogil »

Gingerbread Man wrote:
  1. Uninstall jZip from Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs.
  2. Open Windows Explorer, then the C:\Program Files\ folder, then the Windows jZip Toolbar folder.
  3. Double-click the uninstall icon.
  4. Delete the Windows jZip Toolbar folder.
  5. In Firefox, open the Tools menu and choose Add-ons, then Extensions.
  6. Select the jZip Toolbar entry if it's there and click the Uninstall button.
  7. Type about:config in the address bar and press Enter.
  8. Press the big button to bypass the warning.
  9. In the Filter bar, type jzip
  10. In the search results, right-click each entry and choose Reset.
  11. Restart Firefox.

As a WinZip alternative, I recommend either
  • WinRAR, which has a user-friendly interface and supports themes, but is shareware requiring a one-time fee to register.
  • 7-Zip, which has an ugly interface but is completely free.

As an additional bit of trivia, the offending toolbar is provided by Discordia Limited, the company most known for hijacking the domain name of the file-sharing application Shareaza and using it to distribute a fake version loaded with malware. I recall that when it was initially launched, jZip was indeed a clean application as its front page still claims. I wonder if it suffered the same fate :-k


EXCELLENT: i applied all four steps and got rid of jzip. steps #2 & 7 proved particularly effective, whereas i applied #1 earlier on and probably #5 is not necessary if preceded by the other measures.
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Gingerbread Man
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Re: [HELP!!] Firefox homepage hijacked by jZIP

Post by Gingerbread Man »

To be perfectly fair, the actions taken by the installer are listed on the first screen, and it's possible to opt-out.
Image

Not that it's any less irritating and deceptive that
  • Uninstalling jZip doesn't remove the toolbar.
  • It's listed in Control Panel as Windows jZip Toolbar, so if you're looking under the letter J you'll miss it.
  • It affects Firefox but can't be uninstalled from inside Firefox.
  • Even if you do manage to uninstall it you're left with modified Firefox settings.
Frankly Frankie
Posts: 2
Joined: March 31st, 2011, 6:03 pm

Re: [HELP!!] Firefox homepage hijacked by jZIP

Post by Frankly Frankie »

I solved this same problem today using some persistence. Jzip was very stubborn and would not uninstall so I took the unconventional road. I found and deleted every instance of jzip that I could find in my computer with the search tools provided with Vista. After deleting all of the references to jzip that I could find, jzip continued to hijack my Mozilla start page by forcing it's web address into my address bar even though I reset the start page in "TOOLS">"OPTIONS". Then, looking closer, I found a file in "CONTROL PANEL">"PROGRAMS" called "WINDOWS JZIP". This file uninstalled very quickly, and all of my problems went away with it.
This is very a sneaky little file because it does not show up in search functions, In your list of programs thru "CONTROL PANEL" it MASKS itself with the word "WINDOWS" as the first word in the program name making it easy for you to scan over it and not notice it's there.
When you uninstall this file, click the button for more information and watch the amazing number of files getting deleted as it uninstalls and you will see why it is so hard to get rid of.

I hope this will work for you too!
Frankly Frank
Frankly Frankie
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Joined: March 31st, 2011, 6:03 pm

Re: [HELP!!] Firefox homepage hijacked by jZIP

Post by Frankly Frankie »

By the way, ED Please let me know if this help you. And if you find a download that will extract sub-files without pulling a "jzip" on me I'd be glad to know of it.

FF
wi11ow
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Re: [HELP!!] Firefox homepage hijacked by jZIP

Post by wi11ow »

Gingerbread Man wrote:To be perfectly fair, the actions taken by the installer are listed on the first screen, and it's possible to opt-out.
Image

Not that it's any less irritating and deceptive that
  • Uninstalling jZip doesn't remove the toolbar.
  • It's listed in Control Panel as Windows jZip Toolbar, so if you're looking under the letter J you'll miss it.
  • It affects Firefox but can't be uninstalled from inside Firefox.
  • Even if you do manage to uninstall it you're left with modified Firefox settings.





THANK YOU....that did the trick. We were looking at the "j"s
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Gingerbread Man
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Joined: January 30th, 2007, 10:55 am

Re: [HELP!!] Firefox homepage hijacked by jZIP

Post by Gingerbread Man »

Frankly Frankie wrote:I found a file in "CONTROL PANEL">"PROGRAMS" called "WINDOWS JZIP".

The name is Windows jZip Toolbar and I pointed that out in the post above yours.
Frankly Frankie wrote:And if you find a download that will extract sub-files without pulling a "jzip" on me I'd be glad to know of it.

Again, previously posted:
Gingerbread Man wrote:As a WinZip alternative, I recommend either
  • WinRAR, which has a user-friendly interface and supports themes, but is shareware requiring a one-time fee to register.
  • 7-Zip, which has an ugly interface but is completely free.

wi11ow wrote:THANK YOU....that did the trick. We were looking at the "j"s

You're welcome :)
Don't forget to reset your modified Firefox settings as explained in steps 7 through 11 above and to double-check that there's no jZip Toolbar left in Firefox's Extensions.
classymomma
Guest

Re: [HELP!!] Firefox homepage hijacked by jZIP

Post by classymomma »

I love you!!!! This worked!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!! :)

Gingerbread Man wrote:
  1. Uninstall jZip from Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs.
  2. Open Windows Explorer, then the C:\Program Files\ folder, then the Windows jZip Toolbar folder.
  3. Double-click the uninstall icon.
  4. Delete the Windows jZip Toolbar folder.
  5. In Firefox, open the Tools menu and choose Add-ons, then Extensions.
  6. Select the jZip Toolbar entry if it's there and click the Uninstall button.
  7. Type about:config in the address bar and press Enter.
  8. Press the big button to bypass the warning.
  9. In the Filter bar, type jzip
  10. In the search results, right-click each entry and choose Reset.
  11. Restart Firefox.

As a WinZip alternative, I recommend either
  • WinRAR, which has a user-friendly interface and supports themes, but is shareware requiring a one-time fee to register.
  • 7-Zip, which has an ugly interface but is completely free.

As an additional bit of trivia, the offending toolbar is provided by Discordia Limited, the company most known for hijacking the domain name of the file-sharing application Shareaza and using it to distribute a fake version loaded with malware. I recall that when it was initially launched, jZip was indeed a clean application as its front page still claims. I wonder if it suffered the same fate :-k
guestb
Guest

Re: [HELP!!] Firefox homepage hijacked by jZIP

Post by guestb »

Frankly Frankie wrote:I solved this same problem today using some persistence. Jzip was very stubborn and would not uninstall so I took the unconventional road. I found and deleted every instance of jzip that I could find in my computer with the search tools provided with Vista. After deleting all of the references to jzip that I could find, jzip continued to hijack my Mozilla start page by forcing it's web address into my address bar even though I reset the start page in "TOOLS">"OPTIONS". Then, looking closer, I found a file in "CONTROL PANEL">"PROGRAMS" called "WINDOWS JZIP". This file uninstalled very quickly, and all of my problems went away with it.
This is very a sneaky little file because it does not show up in search functions, In your list of programs thru "CONTROL PANEL" it MASKS itself with the word "WINDOWS" as the first word in the program name making it easy for you to scan over it and not notice it's there.
When you uninstall this file, click the button for more information and watch the amazing number of files getting deleted as it uninstalls and you will see why it is so hard to get rid of.

I hope this will work for you too!
Frankly Frank


:D I had first done an uninstall of Jzip and had the same problem with my Mozilla start page. It was very frustrating, until I found this post. I went back and sure enough there was this little "Windows Jzip" exactly where you said it would be. I did an uninstall then a restart of my computer. The start page still seemed to be hijacked until I went into the Options Tab in the Tools Menu and re-set the start page to the default. Back to Mozilla and Lo and Behold the new Start Page for Firefox 4 was back!! Thanks a bunch
B.
Guest
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Re: [HELP!!] Firefox homepage hijacked by jZIP

Post by Guest »

If all fails, start Firefox in Safe mode, check all options except bookmarks, make changes and restart. Brutal but effective.
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