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Currently Notice: Undefined variable: incprefix in /data/www/xblock/product_show.php on line 123 25,860,543 Spy Software Busted!
Full Name:
BargainBuddy
Type: Adware
Also Known As: bargain buddy BullsEye Network exactadvertising eXactUtil
Created By: Exact Advertising
Danger Level: 5
Category Description: Program that delivers advertisements on your PC.

Note that many websites have their own advertising, unrelated to adware.

Adware is any software application in which advertising is displayed while the program is running. The authors of these applications include additional code that delivers the ads, which can be viewed through pop-up windows or through a bar that appears on a computer screen and sometimes through text links or in integrated search results. Adware may or may not track personal information. It may also gather information anonymously or in aggregate only. Users should check the EULA and Privacy policy to ensure if the adware on their machines conforms to their standards.
Comment: Bargain Buddy consists of an IE Browser Helper Object, and a process set to run at startup. The BHO monitors web pages requested and terms entered into forms. If there is a match with a preset list of sites and keywords, an advertisement may be shown. The process can contact its maker's server to download updates to the list of adverts and to the software itself.
   
Information URL: http://www.exactadvertising.com
Properties:
Manual Removal: Manual removal
Before you can delete it, the DLL file must be deregistered.

In BargainBuddy/Apuc, this DLL is inside the Bargain Buddy folder in 'Program Files'. Here there will be one or more 'bin' folders, one of which will contain a file called apuc.dll. If, for example, it's in 'bin2', the commands to enter (from a DOS command prompt window, under Start->Programs->Accessories) would be:

cd "%WinDir%\System"
regsvr32 /u "C:\Program Files\Bargain Buddy\bin2\apuc.dll"
(If your 'Program Files' directory has a different name (for example, on a non-English version of Windows), or is on a different drive, you'll have to substitute that in the path above.)

In BargainBuddy/Version, the file you have to get rid of is instead called 'CC_Versn.dll', and it's inside the 'Net2Phone CommCenter' folder in Program Files. The commands to get rid of it are:

cd "%WinDir%\System"
regsvr32 /u "C:\Program Files\Net2Phone CommCenter\CC_Versn.dll"
After the deregistration, end the 'Bargains' process from the Task Manager (ctrl-alt-delete). Having successfully done this you should be able to delete the entire 'Bargain Buddy' folder. To clean up the registry, run regedit and delete the value in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run that refers to Bargain Buddy. You can also delete the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Bargains; in the Adp variant this is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\adp instead.

Partial installs
An installer executable may be included with the host application which attempts to download enough of the software to run so that it then updates itself fully. If this fails or has not yet run, you will only have the 'bargains' process. Kill this from the Task Manager (ctrl-alt-del) and remove the 'Run' value mentioned above, then you can delete the entire Bargain Buddy directory manually

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