Should I remove V-bates?
What percent of users and experts removed it?
80% remove it20% keep it
What do people think about it?
(click star to rate)
How common is it?
Global Rank #23,785
United States Rank #16,889
Reach 0.0078%
Lifespan of installation (until removal)
< 8.89 days
262.24 days >
Average installed length: 137.79 days
Versions
Version | Distribution |
2.0.0.442 |
100.00% |
|
Rankings
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- #23,784 EZ Vinyl Converter 2.0.0 by MixMeister
- #23,785 V-bates 2.0.0.442 by Bit Cocktail
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V-bates 2.0.0.442
from Bit Cocktail Ltd.
What is V-bates?
This Wajamu toolbar/web browser extension is ad/search-supported that is typically installed as an optional offer, users generally have this bundled with 3rd party software. During setup, this toolbar will modify the home page and new tab pages to an affiliate search portal using a primary search engine in order to collect shared search revenue. It will also modify the default search provider as well. This add-on is silently installed into Firefox and Chrome, in violation of the Add-on Guidelines.
Overview
During setup, the program creates a startup registration point in Windows in order to automatically start when any user boots the PC. Upon being installed, the software adds a Windows Service which is designed to run continuously in the background. Manually stopping the service has been seen to cause the program to stop functing properly. It adds a background controller service that is set to automatically run. Delaying the start of this service is possible through the service manager. It adds a Browser Helper Object (BHO) to Internet Explorer. A scheduled task is added to Windows Task Scheduler in order to launch the program at various scheduled times (the schedule varies depending on the version). The primary executable is named ExtensionUpdaterService.exe. A majority of users end up uninstalling this less than a week of it being installed. The setup package generally installs about 19 files and is usually about 5.16 MB (5,412,702 bytes). The installed file ExtensionUpdaterService.exe is the auto-update component of the program which is designed to check for software updates and notify and apply them when new versions are discovered.
- Malware detected in the program
- Starts automatically
- Integrates into the web browser
- Adds a background Windows Service
- Delivered through a thrid-party offer
- Hijacks the web browser's home page
- Hijacks the browser's default search provider
- The experts agree, you should remove it!
Warning, multiple anti-virus scanners have detected possible malware in V-bates.
ExtensionUpdaterService.exe (cf66ca0b94d9ca6f02aa36f78aca5542) has been flagged by the following 5 scanners: |
Anti-Virus software | Version | Detection |
AVG |
2015.0.3390 |
Wajamu |
Baidu-International |
4.0.3.1486 |
Adware.Win32.BitCocktail.81 |
ESET-NOD32 |
8.10123 |
a variant of Win32/Toolbar.BitCocktail.B |
Malwarebytes |
v2014.08.06.09 |
PUP.Optional.SweetPacks.A |
VIPRE Antivirus |
31426 |
Wajamu (fs) |
Extension64.dll (6047ff74d5f44577390893cb1ecbc5ea) has been flagged by the following 14 scanners: |
Anti-Virus software | Software version | Detection |
Lavasoft Ad-Aware |
12.0.163.0 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B |
AVG |
14.0.0.3986 |
Wajamu.F3D |
AVware |
1.5.0.16 |
Wajamu (fs) |
Baidu-International |
3.5.1.41473 |
Adware.Win32.Agent.40 |
Bitdefender |
7.2 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B |
Emsisoft Anti-Malware |
3.0.0.600 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B (B) |
F-Secure |
11.0.19100.45 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B |
G Data |
24 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B |
McAfee |
6.0.4.564 |
Artemis!6047FF74D5F4 |
McAfee-GW-Edition |
2013 |
Artemis!6047FF74D5F4 |
MicroWorld-eScan |
12.0.250.0 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B |
nProtect |
2014-07-31.01 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B |
TrendMicro-HouseCall |
9.700.0.1001 |
Suspicious_GEN.F47V0701 |
VIPRE Antivirus |
31782 |
Wajamu (fs) |
PrefHelper.exe (e24427accb0ec148bbad970d77c73749) has been flagged by the following 12 scanners: |
Anti-Virus software | Software version | Detection |
Lavasoft Ad-Aware |
12.0.163.0 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B |
AVG |
14.0.0.3986 |
Wajamu.F3D |
AVware |
1.5.0.16 |
Wajamu (fs) |
Baidu-International |
3.5.1.41473 |
Adware.Win32.Agent.40 |
Bitdefender |
7.2 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B |
Emsisoft Anti-Malware |
3.0.0.600 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B (B) |
F-Secure |
11.0.19100.45 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B |
G Data |
24 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B |
MicroWorld-eScan |
12.0.250.0 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B |
nProtect |
2014-07-30.01 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B |
Symantec |
20131.1.5.61 |
WS.Reputation.1 |
VIPRE Antivirus |
31752 |
Wajamu (fs) |
guardsvc.exe (257754e4713a1bed11d1d674106d8dc6) has been flagged by the following 11 scanners: |
Anti-Virus software | Software version | Detection |
Lavasoft Ad-Aware |
12.0.163.0 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B |
AVG |
14.0.0.3986 |
Wajamu.F3D |
AVware |
1.5.0.16 |
Wajamu (fs) |
Baidu-International |
3.5.1.41473 |
Adware.Win32.Wajam.81 |
Bitdefender |
7.2 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B |
Emsisoft Anti-Malware |
3.0.0.600 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B (B) |
F-Secure |
11.0.19100.45 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B |
G Data |
24 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B |
MicroWorld-eScan |
12.0.250.0 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B |
nProtect |
2014-07-30.01 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B |
VIPRE Antivirus |
31776 |
Wajamu (fs) |
notifier.exe (afe8f17cb9444b2f78681e4cb9a71c9c) has been flagged by the following 11 scanners: |
Anti-Virus software | Software version | Detection |
Lavasoft Ad-Aware |
12.0.163.0 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B |
AVG |
14.0.0.3986 |
Wajamu.F3D |
AVware |
1.5.0.16 |
Wajamu (fs) |
Baidu-International |
3.5.1.41473 |
Adware.Win32.BitCocktail.81 |
Bitdefender |
7.2 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B |
Emsisoft Anti-Malware |
3.0.0.600 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B (B) |
F-Secure |
11.0.19100.45 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B |
G Data |
24 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B |
MicroWorld-eScan |
12.0.250.0 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B |
nProtect |
2014-07-30.01 |
Adware.SearchGuard.B |
VIPRE Antivirus |
31776 |
Wajamu (fs) |
Extension32.dll (81391e0177f7f853f89ac488fa6ab20d) has been flagged by the following 5 scanners: |
Anti-Virus software | Software version | Detection |
AVG |
14.0.0.3986 |
Wajamu.F3D |
AVware |
1.5.0.16 |
Wajamu (fs) |
Baidu-International |
3.5.1.41473 |
Adware.Win32.Agent.40 |
G Data |
24 |
Win32.Adware.Wajamu.B |
VIPRE Antivirus |
31726 |
Wajamu (fs) |
View all 58 all detections
V-bates has been found to be bundled with 3rd party software. If you have not purposefully installed this, you should be safe uninstalling it.
Program details
Displayed publisher: Wajamu
Installation folder: C:\Program Files\V-bates\
Uninstaller: "C:\Program Files\V-bates\unins000.exe"
Estimated size: 5.16 MB
Files installed by V-bates 2.0.0.442
Program executable: | ExtensionUpdaterService.exe (Malware detected) |
Path: | C:\Program Files\V-bates\ExtensionUpdaterService.exe |
MD5: | cf66ca0b94d9ca6f02aa36f78aca5542 |
Additional files:
-
(Malware detected) notifier.exe (by Wajamu) - Notifications (Notications)
-
(Malware detected) guardsvc.exe (by Wajamu) - Search Guard
-
(Malware detected) Extension32.dll
-
Extension64.dll
-
(Malware detected) ExtensionUpdaterService.exe
-
InstallerHelper.dll
-
libapi2hook.dll
-
libinject2.dll
-
libredir2.dll
-
NMHClient.exe
-
(Malware detected) PrefHelper.exe
Behaviors exhibited
2 Internet Explorer BHOs
- Extension64.dll is installed in Internet Explorer as a BHO (Browser Helper Object) under the name 'V-bates' with the class of {21EAF666-26B3-4a3c-ABD0-CA2F5A326744} (V-bates Helper).
- Extension32.dll is installed in Internet Explorer as a BHO (Browser Helper Object) under the name 'V-bates' with the class of {21EAF666-26B3-4a3c-ABD0-CA2F5A326744} (V-bates Helper).
Scheduled Task
- PrefHelper.exe is scheduled as a task named 'FF Watcher {5547EFC4-6E5D-4CB6-8978-1BBB0D295BD6}'.
Scheduled Task (Boot/Login)
- PrefHelper.exe is automatically launched at startup through a scheduled task named FF Watcher {14CABEE5-1F2F-447B-A633-274B777B84D7}.
2 Services
- guardsvc.exe runs as a service named 'Mext Guard' (Mext Guard).
- ExtensionUpdaterService.exe runs as a service named 'V-bates Updater' (V-bates Updater).
Startup File (All Users Run)
- notifier.exe is loaded in the all users (HKLM) registry as a startup file name 'V-bates' which loads as C:\Program Files\V-bates\notifier.exe.
How do I remove V-bates?
You can uninstall V-bates from your computer by using the Add/Remove Program feature in the Window's Control Panel.
- On the Start menu (for Windows 8, right-click the screen's bottom-left corner), click Control Panel, and then, under Programs, do one of the following:
- Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall a Program.
- Windows XP: Click Add or Remove Programs.
- When you find the program V-bates 2.0.0.442, click it, and then do one of the following:
- Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall.
- Windows XP: Click the Remove or Change/Remove tab (to the right of the program).
- Follow the prompts. A progress bar shows you how long it will take to remove V-bates.
- If for some reason uninstallation fails, please install Microsoft's uninstall fixer utility which will help fix problems with programs that can't be uninstalled at support.microsoft.com.
How do I reset my web browser?
If your web browser homepage and search settings have been modfied by V-bates 2.0.0.442 you can restore them to their previous default settings.
Microsoft Internet Explorer
- Open Internet Explorer and click the Tools button, and then click Internet options.
- Click the Advanced tab, and then click Reset. Select the Delete personal settings check box if you would also like to remove search providers, Accelerators and home pages. When Internet Explorer finishes applying default settings, click Close, and then click OK.
- The changes will take effect the next time you open IE.
Mozilla Firefox
- At the top of the Firefox window, click the Firefox button, go over to the Help sub-menu and select Troubleshooting Information.
- To continue, click Reset Firefox in the confirmation window that opens. It will close and be reset.
- When it's done, a window will list the information that was imported. Click Finish and Firefox will open.
Google Chrome
- Open Chrome and click the Chrome menu on the browser toolbar.
- Select Settings. In the "Search" section, click Manage search engine. Check if (Default) is displayed next to your preferred search engine. If not, mouse over it and click Make default. Mouse over any other suspicious search engine entries that are not familiar and click X to remove them.
- When the "Show Home button" checkbox is selected, a web address appears below it. If you want the Homepage button to open up a different webpage, click Change to enter a link.
- Restart Google Chrome.
OS VERSIONS
Win 7 (SP1) 48%
Win Vista (SP1) 1%
|
|
HOW IT STARTS
Automatically starts? Yes
(Found in the run registry)
|
|
USER ACTIONS
|
Uninstall it 80%
Keep it 20%
|
|
Windows
Which Windows OS versions does it run on?
Windows 7 |
54.90% |
|
Windows 10 |
32.03% |
|
Windows XP |
7.19% |
|
Windows Vista |
5.88% |
|
Which OS releases does it run on? |
Windows 7 Home Premium |
38.82% |
|
Windows 8.1 |
17.11% |
|
Windows 7 Ultimate |
11.84% |
|
Windows 8 |
7.24% |
|
Microsoft Windows XP |
6.58% |
|
Windows Vista Home Premiu... |
5.92% |
|
Geography
67.62% of installs come from the United States
Which countries install it?
United States |
67.62% |
Canada |
8.10% |
India |
7.62% |
Germany |
4.76% |
Brazil |
3.33% |
Australia |
3.33% |
Russia |
1.90% |
United Kingdom |
0.95% |
Philippines |
0.48% |
Spain |
0.48% |
DK |
0.48% |
China |
0.48% |
Italy |
0.48% |
PC manufacturers
What PC manufacturers (OEMs) have it installed?
Hewlett-Packard |
33.33% |
|
Dell |
26.50% |
|
Acer |
18.80% |
|
ASUS |
8.55% |
|
Lenovo |
3.42% |
|
Toshiba |
3.42% |
|
Sahara |
1.71% |
|
Samsung |
1.71% |
|
Gateway |
1.71% |
|
GIGABYTE |
0.85% |
|
Common models |
HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook ... |
4.59% |
|
HP Pavilion g6 Notebook P... |
3.67% |
|
HP 2000 Notebook PC |
1.83% |
|
Dell Inspiron N5110 |
1.83% |
|
LENOVO 10094 |
1.83% |
|
Acer Aspire V3-731 |
1.83% |
|