Sites and Soundbytes

Lycos has sunk to the level of installing lycos side search with spyware and adware. Thus for the majority of people they don't actually have a choice whether they want this crap installed or not!

it shut down my computer when I was trying to post auctions on ebay - it has cost me time and money - A PITA

What a trashy means to try and revitalize. 6 computers "infected" with this. It is almost as bad as a tellemarketer.

It installed itself and broke my IE (after I removed it). Thing crashes all the time and shuts down my computer! How do I fix this without formatting my harddrive? Email me, please!

Does anyone out there know if it would be possible to file a class action lawsuit over crap like this? I'm a tech at a public internet facility and there just has to be a way of dealing with people like this... Lycos Sidesearch, and Second Thought, to name a couple.

There has to be something that can be done about these things. Lycos Sidesearch and Second thought seem to be the worst. That sort of thing should be so freakin illegal. I've tried running Ad-Aware to remove them. It removes a bunch of ad ware, but the next time I get on the internet, the lycos and second thought crap are back. Everybody in America should be allowed to give the people responsible for this a swift kick to the gonads. (that should go for telemarketers as well)

I have had to uninstall this 3 times already and when you do it starts shutting down your IE with error messages. This is driving me crazy. Does anyone know if you can get rid of it altogether. I went to add/remove and it only causes my IE to crash. Dang there has got to be something you can do. Why is it not illegal to install something when you don't even ask for it and if does ask you you say no and then you turn your puter on and there it sits on your desktop again.

Well, I would like to be the first to give them a swift kick in th !*&%%##. I think I resolved this issue by using Go Back, when I first caught it. I have not had a crash and my IE works fine for now. If you have XP you can also System Restore under System Tools.

You have to go to Start
Programs
Accessories
System Tools
System Restore

I have no idea how to get rid of this, and i have 98 SE... my browser is crashing often and it NEVER goes away! Email me plz with help :(

If you really want to get rid of Sidesearch, hit the start button, choose "run" and type in msconfig. Go over the the tab that says "startup" and hunt around for a line that says "uninst.exe."
You might also have to fool around in the registry to get rid of it. Dangerous if you screw up, but try this if you're brave/dumb:
Click the start button, choose run and type regedit. Choose edit and then find. Type run in the "find what" box. Click the checkboxes that say "keys" and "match whole string only." Leave the others unchecked. Click "find next." You should be presented with a list of things that run when your computer starts up. Delete the things you don't want--keeping in mind that there's no undo.

Good luck!

I had the same problem, and change the registry will not work.
You will find the answer in the link below:

http://www.spysweeper.com/lycos-sidesearch-uninstall.html

I hope you enjoy it.

from Brazil. Walmir.

What a peice of crap! This thing keeps freezing my pc when I try to uninstall it. F Lycos! I hope they go under.

You can download the uninstaller from the following link.

You can also manually delete stcloader.exe, but I recommend the uninstaller. I used it twice at my place of business and it worked fine on both W2K and a 98 machine.

http://www.2nd-thought.com/uninstall.html

I am so sick and tired of these %$*@&*! a-holes at lycos. If I win the lottery next week I promise to file my own lawsuit against lycos!!!
As mentioned in a previous comment, I have completely removed every single file associated with lycos in my wife's computer... I even deleted all the registries and disabled her windows services. Well, guess what? Two days later she turns her pc back on and BOOM there you have it...again. I say F*&% them all.

This was at Lycos website.

How do I remove or uninstall Lycos Sidesearch?

Answer:

To uninstall Sidesearch, please go to Start>Settings>Control Panel>Add/Remove Programs. Highlight “Lycos Sidesearch” and click on “Change/Remove”.

I hate this dam thing too. I dont know if i have sidesearch. but if i type a url in my address bar it always takes me to a lycos search. that wouldnt be so bad if LYCOS SEARCH ENGINE WASNT SO CRAPPY!!!

I had removed the sidesearch program but was still getting sent to some Lycos search page when I typed directly to my address bar. I downloaded the spysweeper from above and that seems to have removed it completely.

does anyone know what write protected is i keep getting that message when ever i go into program files and try to manuelly delete it

It isn't really write protected. Its giving you that message because that file is in use, and you can't delete it while it's in use. This side bar shit is a bitch, I still can't get rid of it.

i know this has nothing to do with lycos but this is the only real site that i found that people post comp related stuff. well heres my problem my computer is yelling out random soundbytes everyonce in awhile sometimes its just like a beep its even yelled confused anyone know what im dealing with

omg theres a virus on lycos that cant be healed my scanner suggested moving it to my virus vault but it cant be moved since its "write protected" if theres ever a lawsuite against these morons im so in

"I had the same problem, and change the registry will not work.
You will find the answer in the link below:

http://www.spysweeper.com/lycos-sidesearch-uninstall.html

I hope you enjoy it.

from Brazil. Walmir.

Posted by: Walmir on December 19, 2003 04:50 AM"

Dude thanks for that site it removed lycos and so much more stuuf i had no idea i had i would highly recoomend that site to any one with a lycos problem

I've tried everything and can't get rid of this. I ran Ad-aware, HijackThis, Spyhunter and Spysweeper. I also searched for and removed all references to LYCOS and Sidesearch in MY COMPUTER and the Registry.
I still have the same problem: When I do a search (both Google and Yahoo) I get a list of adds and a popup saying about "2020Search Toolbar". If I scroll down to the bottom and click NEXT then I get the actual Search Results. Does nayone know what else I can try?

after i used the spy sweeper program, everytime i tried to enter a website like Blizzard.com, the webpage would jump to a free search page ( xxxx.outhost.info). And i cant get rid of it

ok for all you geeks out there.. here's how to remove the sidesearch sh!t from your pc:

(all this done on WinXP)

1) Close up IE.

2) open up cmd.exe and type
" cd /d %PROGRAMFILES%\Lycos "
(and DONT close the prompt)

3) Open the Task Manager go to Processes, Select explorer.exe and click on "End Task" (also check that iexplore.exe is not running if it is end the task)

4) now back at the command prompt type in
" del sidesearch\ " then ' y '

5) still in the command prompt type ' explorer '

and Voila!! no more sidesearch!!

or so you think.. anyway.. now you need to remove the reg keys, that webpage ppl have been posting explains what keys to delete.. so read up kids...

Hope this helps

just a little comment from my previous post...

what we did is avoid the whole "cannot delete side*.dll access denied", why does it say that? well its because explorer.exe has it loaded as a module.. so we close explorer.exe (which automagically unloads the DLL) and delete the sidesearch*.dll and we geeks win again!!!

btw: privacy issues may be applicable in a lawsuit to lycos since the searchbar records your visited webpages.. or so i've read... just a thought

To the "geeks": Thanks for the helpful hints. I will try them out.

I also noticed some good tips on "Pest Patrol.com"

Does anyone know whether this is really affiliated with Lycos or not?

It's time to make stuff like this a jailable offense, with big, fat fines for the jerks who pull this stuff. (Of course, maybe just someone catching them and kicking the living s*** out of them might work pretty well, too). I have already spent over three hours on dealing with this thing, and have some expeerince dealing with this stuff--this one is particularly nasty and invasive. Do they sell M-40s on eBay? (Ha, ha, just kidding Dept. of Homeland Security. Just kidding.)

Anybody remove sidesearch only to have mutiple home pages open? Everytime I hit a link a new window opens, most of the time its to my home page. Any information on legal actions would be appreciated too - I'm ready to pay to get revenge

Anyone have a problem with Lycos installing its search thing along with some other nasty program...then restarting your computer after "deleting" only to find a system file is corrupt or deleted? I type this as my system is 30% through recovery.

I called Lycos headquarters and they finally told me to look for a program in "add/remove programs" called SEP. I removed it and everything works fine. They also got an ear full about what a crappy way to do business. I run XP and kept having problems after uninstalling sidesearch. Check for SEP if you experience the same thing.

The following is an Email that I received from a Lycos tech on what to look for and what to do for the following softwares. Hope this helps anyone who can't get rid of this junk.....

Lycos is currently implementing its Search products with distribution
partners. If you find that a program has been installed on your computer
that is causing Lycos Search results or Lycos Sidesearch to appear, the
following information will help you with the uninstallation.

Here is a step-by-step process to determine the origin of install and
provide you with a resolution.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------
The determine the distribution partner that has installed on your
computer, please follow these steps:

-In your browser, type in an invalid web address, such as
"wwww.lycos.com". (notice the extra "w")
-Lycos Search Results may appear.
-Take a look at the web address in your address bar and look for src=.
-If src=clear, then the distribution partner is Clear Search and the
uninstall instructions follow.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------

Uninstall instructions for Clear Search:

-Close all but one browser window.
-Type in the following URL into the address bar of the one open browser:
http://www.clear-search.com/
-Click on the "Uninstaller" tab.
-Click on the link named "ClickHere".
-Open the uninstaller.
-Restart your computer when the uninstall process is complete.

All traces of the original Clear Search install will be removed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------
If you find that when you search on sites such as Yahoo, Google, and
MSN, Lycos Search results appear in the background, please follow these
uninstall directions.

-Click START -> SETTINGS -> CONTROL PANEL.
-Open the "ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS" icon.
-Click on "SEP".
-Finally, click on the "ADD/REMOVE..." button and follow any on-screen
instructions.

Be sure to restart your computer when the process is complete.

this is like breaking and entering,i tried to get rid of it and all vital data was lost i use my computer for work for christ sake.What do these companies gain from this? i mean if anything pops up in the middle of work im doing im not going to reD THE FREAKIN ADD IM GOING TO GET RID OF IT. how can we sue?,how can we sue?, how can we sue?,how can we sue?,how can we sue?, how can we sue?,how can we sue?,how can we sue?, how can we sue?,how can we sue?,how can we sue?, how can we sue?,

I am burning myself out trying to get this sidesearch thing off my machine! Every move I make DoubleClick, Avenue A or some other piece of crap tries to download! I am so sick of it! If anyone is actually successful at removing this pest I will reward you If you can help me geet rid of it! I really think that we should pettition for a class action lawsuit!

OMG! HOW THE HELL DO U GET RID OF SECOND THOUGHT! NOT ONLY DOES IT MAKE FILTHY PORN ADS COME UP IT STOPS ME FROM LISTENING 2 MUSIC ON MEDIA PLAYER IM ONLY 14 AND FEMALE AND I DONT WANNA SEE PICTURES OF WOMEN IN BIKINIS WITH NO TOP ON!!!!! please will someone tell me how 2 get rid of it im almost crying with frustration here!

I bought two different spyware removal programs (the free ones didn't work). I slogged through the registry. I deleted stuff. I'm okay now, but I want revenge. I lost a few hours and am out the seventy bucks I paid to ultimately clean up the mess. If this class action gets off the ground I'm in.

I'm not particular though. If anyone knows a way to inflict some commercial damage on Lycos and their stock price, I'd be fine with that too.

I have IE 6, recently my machine has slowed down considerably, and this lycos side search pops up when I try google, altavista etc. I can find no trace of lycos and yet it still does exist. My browising now is slower than a dial up, and sumtimes it stagnates. I have tried adaware, spybot .. spy-sweeper .. none of them could detect lycos or any adware. Please help .. it specifically showz the lycos logo there. My OS is win XP.

I'm using IE 6 on Windows 2000 and every bloody time I use a search on any site, this damn Lycos sidesearch comes up. I've used Ad-Aware, Spy Sweeper, Spybot, Secretmaker, and I think one or two others, and none of them seem to see it. The trouble is I can't find a damn trace of it myself; there's nothing named SEP to uninstall, there's no Lycos folder in my program files, *nothing.*

That lawsuit's sounding pretty damn good. Heh.

I'm having the same problem as you Lennold. I can't find a THING, I've had the stupid thing for over two weeks and so when I finally go insane with it and think it will only take a simple as-aware to remove, I end up spending a few hours downloading programs that don't do a thing for me. I'm no computer expert and some of the "straight forward" answers on here go totally over my head, but I have tried many spyware detecting programs and looking in add/remove and looked for the SEPT thing and a bunch of other thigns I can't think of at the moment, it's 2 am, I just want this crap off my computer.

I sent a letter to Lycos asking for removal instuctions

I recieved the following reply:

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello,

Here are the uninstall instructions to remove the partner that is
causing Lycos Sidesearch to appear on your browser:

Uninstall instructions for City Net:

-Close all but one browser window.
-Type in the following URL into the address bar of the one open browser:
http://67.52.161.42:8080/ss/client/_release/_UN/USetup.exe

-A File Download box will appear. Click "Open.".
-Follow any on screen instructions.
-Restart your computer when the uninstall process is complete.

Please let me know if you continue to have any problems.

Sincerely,

Farah

Lycos Customer Service
Product Support Specialist
http://help.lycos.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I tried the program and it works.

didn't work for me. :o(
any other ideas?

Finally something that removed the sidesearch lycos, download this file "Lavasoft Ad Aware Personal 6.0 build 181" from download.com or here and then make sure that you update this ad aware. 100% works! post again if it doesnt work.
http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10045910.html

Finally, this crap vanished from my computer.
I just updated my Adaware version to the link
above and........voala...it's gone. Spent ours
in the regestry to remove strings whitout succes.
Thanks for the tip.

http://www.fastfind.org/usetup.exe

I called Lycos and they said to do this...seemed to work.....and they got an earful! This crap should be illegal! PERIOD!