Page 1 of 1

Getting rid of Patin Couffin

PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2003 8:34 pm
by glock20rocks
OK, I installed some CD software that used P.C. (Blindwrite, I think), and uninstalled it. However, I still have Vso Patin Couffin entries in my registry (and they reappear if I delete them), plus I still have the PC icon in Control Panel. I can get rid of the control panel icon w/no problems, but who the heck is it able to keep putting junk in my registry? It's annonying, because I try to keep my registry somewhat "clean" and compacted.

Edit:
To clearify, I *have* read the "How to uninstall PC" on the VSO site. However, this is NOT an entry in Device Manager for it.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2003 10:37 pm
by cfitz
(Read this the whole way through before you dismiss it as someone telling you to RTFM - I know you said you already did)

Blindwrite FAQ wrote:Q: How to uninstall the "patin-couffin" drivers?

A1: You can uninstall the drivers in Blindread or Blindwrite, the same way you activate it. It is in the dialog where you set up the ASPI layer.

A2: If you have trouble with Blindwrite/Blindread Suite, follow these steps like for any hardware in your computer.
My Computer -> Manage -> Device Manager -> Other devices , select Patin-couffin, and click the 'remove' button (the red cross) to remove the driver, click the uninstall button in the action bar

( from http://www.blindwrite.com/faq.htm )

You might want to try reinstalling Blindwrite and seeing if its removal dialog helps. It might also be necessary to reinstall the PC ASPI layer after you reinstall Blindwrite (using the same installation procedure you used the first time you installed it) to resinstall whatever might be missing and preventing you from uninstalling it. Sometimes it helps to reinstall to fix a broken uninstall. At any rate, try to get back to the point where you can uninstall in the reverse order you installed.

cfitz

PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2003 11:34 pm
by glock20rocks
I tried that (yes I actually read the whole thing :), but part of it is still hanging around. It looks like PC *is* uninstalled, the control panel applet only shows ASPI, but something somewhere did not get uninstalled properly.

I think I'll just reformat the drive and reinstall Win2K. I've been needing to do that for awhile anyway. Faster than defragging :)

Besides, I've got a pesky little program called WinStart001.exe that won't go away either. If I delete it it just keeps reappearing in my Winnt\system folder (like a protected OS file) and in my autorun programs. Don't know what it is/where it came from, but w/o my boot drive being FAT32, I can't just boot to dos and zap it like I did Outlook.
It doesn't look like it's in WinXP, but maybe my XP install is screwy (it's on an emulator and running in a window right now).

I'm gonna break out Sourcer and see what the #&@! it really does.

Stupid, stupid windows! Time for Linux!

PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2003 11:55 pm
by glock20rocks
Whatever it is, it's writing to the registry. Gonna try a secure erase program. I *HATE* it when programs (and windows) installs and does stuff behind your back.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2003 11:59 pm
by cfitz
Could this be it?

IgetFile -> Winstart001.exe

IGetNet is a plug-in search addition to your IE Browser that will redirect your searching to customers of IGetNet. May disable other browser plug-ins.

(from http://www.winpatrol.com/stats.html )

cfitz

PostPosted: Sat Jan 25, 2003 12:03 am
by glock20rocks
Maybe...if it is AdAware isn't picking it up :(

I don't even *use* IE, I use Opera....but I'll dig for it.

PostPosted: Sat Jan 25, 2003 12:06 am
by cfitz

PostPosted: Sat Jan 25, 2003 12:26 am
by glock20rocks
Oh, this was a fun little program to get rid of: <-Notice lack of typos now!
Edit registry to block it from starting
Hit the reset butting on computer after saving registry (w/o shuttting down, thus preventing the little f***** from planting itself back into the registry)
Secure erase the POS

I HATE SPYWARE. I want to know where it came from; I am very careful about spy-ware programs.

After doing all that, that link is a bit easier :)

Why do hackers just go after the RIAA? They need to do DOS attacks on the spyware people.

PostPosted: Sat Jan 25, 2003 12:35 am
by glock20rocks
Thanks for that link cfitz! Neat site...lots of cool stuff.
Down with spyware!

PostPosted: Mon Jan 27, 2003 8:06 pm
by glock20rocks
He he...Now I don't ever have to deal with Spyware again! No more crashing, no more stupid stuff from Windows. Ha! Eat Penguin turds Microsoft!