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Remove CnsMin
About CnsMin Spyware
CnsMin is another keyword-lookup provider that takes over the search feature of IE's address bar. It is aimed at providing keywords using Chinese characters.
Other than replacing the IE search feature with a Chinese site likely to be incomprehensible to non-Chinese users, CnsMin is not overtly harmful, but it uses extremely anti-social methods to make it difficult to uninstall.
CnsMin is installed by ActiveX drive-by-download at its company's site, 3721.com. Has also apparently been included in junk e-mail, which could be how some Western users have ended up with it.
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How to Remove CnsMin ?
There is an Add/Remove Programs entry for "Chinese keywords" which corresponds to CnsMin. However, choosing it sends you to a set of removal pages in Chinese on the manufacturer's web site.
You cannot delete CnsMin while it is running; if you try to deregister it, it restores all its registry entries immediately. In Windows 95 and 98, to boot without loading it, use Start -> Shutdown -> Restart in MS-DOS mode and typing the following commands:
cd DOWNLO~1
del cns*.*
del 3721\*.*
rmdir 3721
exit
Then reboot.
In Windows NT/2000/XP it is possible to move the files so that they cannot be reloaded. Open the Command prompt (Start -> Programs -> Accessories) and type:
cd "%WinDir%\Downloaded Program Files"
ren CnsMin.dll CnsDel.dll
Reboot and load the Command prompt again. Type:
cd "%WinDir%\Downloaded Program Files"
del cns*.*
Users of Windows Me lack an MS-DOS mode and files cannot be renamed. So manual removal here will be more difficult.
The first time you reboot after deleting or moving CnsMin you'll get an error about not being able to find it. Ignore this. To clean up the remaining traces of the software that cause this, open the registry (Start -> Run -> regedit) and delete the following keys:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{B83FC273-3522-4CC6-92EC-75CC86678DA4}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{D157330A-9EF3-49F8-9A67-4141AC41ADD4}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CnsHelper.CH
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CnsHelper.CH.1
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CnsMinHK.CnsHook
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CnsMinHK.CnsHook.1
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\3721
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\3721
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\InterChina
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\AdvancedOptions\!CNS
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Extensions\{5D73EE86-05F1-49ed-B850-E423120EC338}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Extensions\{ECF2E268-F28C-48d2-9AB7-8F69C11CCB71}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Extensions\{FD00D911-7529-4084-9946-A29F1BDF4FE5}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\CnsMin
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\CnsMin
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