SurfSideKick

Overview

SurfSideKick show ads for various products, services and web sites, appearing as pop-ups or pop-unders. SurfSideKick collects the web pages you view while using the Internet, how you respond to the ads, your computer type, internet connection type, operation system, what softare you have on your computer, etc. SurfSideKick can update, fix, upgrade, add new functions and make other modifications or versions of the software available to you, without user interaction. SurfSideKick can be installed from the vendor's web site or come bundled with other software products.

SurfSideKick is implemented as a URLSearchHook and the .dll file is located in "%ProgramsDir%\SurfSideKick 2\". SurfSideKick will also redirect you to one of the vendor's web sites if the page you try to view is unavailable.

Note: %ProgramsDir% is a variable (?). By default, this is C:\Program Files.

Classification

Adware

Files

Ssk.exe, SskBho.dll

If you have any of the files related to SurfSideKick on your system, please send them for additional analysis. Generally, I have only analysed a few versions for each software component listed at this web site. With your help I will be able to look at both old and more recent versions of the SurfSideKick software. Thank you very much for your time!

Log references

Log 1273

Vendor

SurfSideKick.com

Detection

Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner detects SurfSideKick. Bazooka is freeware and detects spyware, adware, foistware, trojan horses, viruses, worms and other potentially unwanted applications. Read more »

Uninstall procedure

Uninstall SurfSideKick from "Add/Remove Programs" in the Windows® Control Panel.

Uninstall SurfSideKick with FreeFixer

I'm working on a general purpose tool for removing unwanted software. The tool is called FreeFixer and can help you remove unwanted Browser Helper Objects, Internet Explorer toolbars and software that starts automatically when you reboot your computer, so it can offer some assistance while uninstalling SurfSideKick. The manual removal instructions listed below will help you to identify what to delete with FreeFixer.

Read more about FreeFixer.

Manual removal

Please follow the instructions below if you would like to remove SurfSideKick manually. Please notice that you must follow the instructions very carefully and delete everything that is mentioned. In most cases the removal will fail if one single item is not deleted. If SurfSideKick remains on your system after stepping through the removal instructions, please double-check by stepping through them again.

1. Start the registry editor. This is done by clicking Start then Run. (The Run dialog will appear.) Type regedit and click OK. (The registry editor will open.)
2. Browse to the key:
   'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run'
3. In the right pane, delete the value called 'SurfSideKick 2', if it exists.
4. Browse to the key:
   'HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run'
5. In the right pane, delete the value called 'SurfSideKick 2', if it exists.
6. Exit the registry editor.
7. Restart your computer.
8. Start Windows Explorer and delete:
   %ProgramsDir%\SurfSideKick 2\
   Note: %ProgramsDir% is a variable (?). By default, this is C:\Program Files.
9. Start Microsoft Internet Explorer.
10. In Internet Explorer, click Tools -> Internet Options.
11. Click the Programs tab -> Reset Web Settings.
    

Problems uninstalling? Click here.

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Contact information for SurfSideKick's vendor

In order to provide correct, accurate and updated information about SurfSideKick I encourage the vendor to contact me if any part of this write-up needs a revision.