The Advertbar's spyware is a set of programs, which includes the MessageMates software from Adtools, Inc. These small advertising Windows programs have various characters that display across the screen, such as the animals from "Ice Age," the animated movie.
This particular adware program installs spyware files on your system, as well as a unique identifier in the registry. Upon the closing of the application, this Adware has been known to try and contact remote servers.
The spyware files on the system can be detected as Adware under the file name(s) Advertbar.
Adware 'Advertbar' can be installed from MessageMates, ScreenMates, and Screen Movies.
File names: ice_age.exe
Advertbar's adware will be detected with various MessageMates and/or ScreenMates software.
When executed, the ice_age.exe installer creates the folder, C:\%WinDir%\Program Files\Ice Age, and places the file, ice_age.exe, into that folder.
The following registry key is added to the Windows registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\AdTools, Inc.
This adware key may contain several subkeys.
Depending on which MessageMate adware software is installed, the subkeys will be the name of the MessageMate, such as Ice Age.
There will also be a key named UserInfo, in which a unique spyware identifier value exists.
Uninstalling the "Ice Age" Adware
Do one of the following:
On the Windows 98 taskbar:
Click Start > Settings > Control Panel.
In the Control Panel window, double-click Add/Remove Programs.
On the Windows Me taskbar:
Click Start > Settings > Control Panel.
In the Control Panel window, double-click Add/Remove Programs.
If you do not see the Add/Remove Programs icon, click "...view all Control Panel options."
On the Windows 2000 taskbar:
By default, Windows 2000 is set up the same way as Windows 98, so follow the Windows 98 instructions. Otherwise, click Start, point to Settings, point to Control Panel, and then click Add/Remove Programs.
On the Windows XP taskbar:
Click Start > Control Panel.
In the Control Panel window, double-click Add or Remove Programs.
Click the program, Ice Age.
Click Add/Remove, Change/Remove, or Remove (this varies with the operating system). Follow the prompts.
Scanning for and Uninstalling the Spyware files
Make sure to run a full system scan with Anti-Spyware to identify that this security risk no longer resides on your system.
Run a full system spyware scan.
If any files are detected as spyware infected with the Adware Advertbar, click Delete.
Uninstalling the Spyware Values from the Registry
Click Start, and then click Run. (The Run dialog box appears.)