How to Remove SearchMiracle/EliteBar

The following is VGS's original "How to Remove SearchMiracle.EliteBar" page. The information and links continue to be valid. It was created before VGS began its ongoing series of "How to Remove... 'detail pages,'" which include detailed file and removal tool information. The regularly updated "How to Remove SearchMiracle.EliteBar" detail page is located >>> Here.

How to Remove (Delete, Uninstall, Get Rid of) SearchMiracle/EliteBar.


Darren_st maintains an informative site on SearchMiracle/EliteBar (also known as ETBRUN) which links to a freeware EliteBar Removal Tool developed by an Italian named Giancarlo Calo. The site provides:

1) background on SearchMiracle ("It was created by a company called Entranet Media who own a web site called www.searchmiracle.com.... the Trojan Downloader will [...] download files from a web site @ install.searchmiracle.com.");
2) a history page giving versions and the dates they were released (a placard informed me that I had the most recent version: "Version 59 (approx 1st January 2005) EliteToolBar");
3) a description of the method of infection it utilizes; and,
4) walks the reader through a process to remove it.

His description of the adware/virus generally squares with what I experienced but I have no way of knowing whether or not it is updated to the latest version of the Startpage trojan. My experience seems to have been slightly different and this may mean that the version I encountered was an upgrade.

Some who have downloaded the EliteBar Removal Tool have posted positive reviews. As always, each reader will have to use his best judgment. I make no representations whatsoever concerning the site or the software.


Also see:

PokaPoka.exe + Nothing = YupSearch (October 19, 2005). What do people mean when they say they have "YupSearch" instead of "EliteBar"?

Elite Toolbar Remover Information Page (October 17, 2005).

LQfix Information Page (October 15, 2005) There's a new tool in town!

How to Remove PokaPoka. (October 12, 2005) Does your EliteBar variant include PokaPoka.exe?

EliteBar Removal Tool Updates to 2.0.1. (September 21, 2005) The EliteBar Removal Tool now comes in two flavors and two generations!

SearchMiracle.EliteBar Then and Now (September 21, 2005). Hijacks, heroes, updates and links.

EliteBar Removal Tool Updates to 2.0.0!!!!! (September 15, 2005). Includes expanded list of infections removed by the removal tool.

More on Variant ADW_ELITEBAR.D. (May 27, 2005). "It is a standard XP with two top-end commercial anti-virus programs. Moreover, one of the anti-virus programs -- Trend Micro's PC-Cillin -- we already know..."

Diabolical new EliteBar variant Strikes the Web!!!! or the one the EliteBar Removal Tool can't remove (May 22, 2005).

EliteBar Removal Tool Updates to 1.3.0!!!!! (May 20, 2005). Includes expanded list of infections removed by the removal tool.

Adware & Malware Indentifier Index (updated regularly). "The following is an in-progress index of some of the more common malware toolbars/browser helper objects at large on the Internet."

EliteBar Removal Tool Alert: Update V.1.2.2.!!! (April 18, 2005). "The new variants of the malware also completely conceal the presence of the EliteToolbarRemoverV10.exe, so that if you are opening the archive you can only see the readme.doc file that is attached to that and you cannot see the *.exe even if though it is really there!"

HijackThis vs. SearchMiracle/EliteBar (April 11, 2005).

[re: SearchMiracle.EliteBar Search Miracle Elite Bar EliteToolBar Elite Toolbar Elite Tool Bar Elitum ETBrun YupSearch Yup Search.]