AllCyberSearch is a member of the TinyBar family. It is an adware parasite that is installed through a security hole in Internet Explorer when the AllCyberSearch site is visited or through pop-up advertising that is rerouted to the site.

How To Tell If AllCyberSearch Is On Your PC

When you start up Internet Explorer, you'll see a small toolbar which offers a search window pointing to allcybersearch.com. You might also begin to see a large number of pop-up ads.

How To Get Rid Of AllCyberSearch

Lavasoft's Ad-Aware SE (www.lavasoft.de/software/adaware/) is free for home use and can take care of this pest with no problem.

1. Download Ad-Aware SE Personal here: www.lavasoft.de/default.shtml.en.

2. Double-click on the setup program to install the program onto your hard drive.

3. Double-click on the Ad-Aware icon to run the program. This will bring you to the main screen.

4. Click the Scan Now button. You will be asked to select a scan mode. Select Perform Full System Scan and then click the Next button.

5. The program will begin scanning your system. This could take from a few minutes to an hour, depending on how many files it has to scan on your system.

6. Once the scan is completed, the screen will show you if any New Critical Objects have been found. If they have, click Next.

7. You'll see a list of any questionable files the program identified. Click in the box next to those associated with AllCyberSearch and then click Next. A screen will pop up asking you to verify that you want to remove those objects. Click OK.

8. Reboot your system and launch Internet Explorer to verify that the toolbar is gone.

WARNING: The following section includes step-by-step information on how to edit the Windows Registry, a large database containing system and program settings that are essential to how the OS (operating system) operates. Follow Registry-editing instructions to the letter and be sure to make a backup of your Registry before you begin. (Registry errors can render your computer inoperable if you don't have a backup.) This procedure differs depending on the OS you use. For more information on backing up and editing the Registry, see these articles: "Protect Yourself" and "Register Here."

Manual Removal For Advanced Users

1. In My Computer, search for and delete these files: tinybar.html, hb.html, br.reg, br.dll, hb.reg, sp.dll, sp.reg, atk.vbs.

2. In IE, delete these cookies: internet-eraser, zeropopup, tinybar, allcybersearch, gocybersearch, topsearcher, znext, traffic4sure, errorpage404, searchaccurate, ourlinklist, topclicks, iseekresults, ysearchus.

3. Using Regedit, delete these Registry values: {69550BE2-9A78-11d2-BA91-00600827878D}, {69555BE2-9A78-11d2-BA91-00600827878D}, {8FB0F3E2-5193-11D7-9F88-0050FC5441CB}, {69550BE2-9A78-11d2-BA91-00600827878D}, {69555BE2-9A78-11d2-BA91-00600827878D}, {8fb0f3e2-5193-11d7-9f88-0050fc5441cb}.

4. Using Regedit, delete these Registry keys: {69550BE2-9A78-11d2-BA91-00600827878D}, {69555BE2-9A78-11d2-BA91-00600827878D}, {8FB0F3E2-5193-11D7-9F88-0050FC5441CB}, Messenger, ITBarLayout.

5. Reboot your system.

NOTE: These instructions were found at www.scanspyware.net/info/TinyBar.htm and used here for their relative brevity. We have not verified their accuracy and have not dealt with the company ScanSpyware before. For those who don't mind more heavy lifting, we'd rather recommend the manual steps from Computer Associates at www.pestpatrol.com/pestinfo/t/tinybar.asp.