Ok, so I came across this pain in the a*s of a toolbar that's called "AZESearch". After searching and searching and searching, I finally came across a solution (everything else I tried failed) that actually works! I'm just posting this message so that if anybody else has the same problem they'll be able to fix it and not go insane in the membrane like 'ol Yousaf here. LOL. Three steps helped me solve this problem. 1) Download, install & run "Ad-Aware SE". (It's FREE) First check for updates. Then do a full scan and quarantine/remove whatever pops up. Note : Do NOT reboot if prompted to do so. 2) Download, install & run "Spybot-SD". First click on "Search For Updates". Then go into the "Tools" section (located on the left hand side pane) and make sure everything is highlighted. NOTE : This toolbar is of a very malicious nature, so even when AD-AWARE removes certain files from step #1, the toolbar will try to re-install itself without your knowing. Fortunately you've got Spybot-SD to catch that! A Spybot-SD window will most likely appear (that's what happened to me) indicating that a change is trying to be made to your registry. When this message pops up, you will have the option to track the file path of which program is making the request. And you will clearly see it's the AZESearch toolbar that's trying to reinstall itself. DENY CHANGE is the option you should select, and make sure there's a checkmark in the "Remember This Always" box (something like that). Do NOT reboot if prompted to do so. 3) Download, install & run "Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta1" (http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx). First, check for any updates. Then run the program. NOTE : This BETA software is only available to legitimate XP owners (not people who have a pirated version). But I'm sure somebody has a hacked version if you just check with KaZaa or any other file sharing P2P program(not that I'm condoning and/or endorsing it) Once you're done the scan and have removed/deleted everything REBOOT YOUR PC. Your problem should be solved! If anybody has read this and it worked for them, please let me know! It nearly made me go nuts! Peace.

Hav'nt had the problem myself , but HiJackthis also fixes . Download HiJackThis , install & run to get a log file . Don't fix anything . You then post the log file at the site provided below & it will tell you what to fix . http://hijackthis.de/index.php?langselect=english http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/hijackthis.zip http://tomcoyote.com/hjt/ http://www.spywareinfo.com/downloads/tools/HijackThis.exe http://www.zerosrealm.com/downloads/hjt.zip HijackThis log file analysis & repair http://hijackthis.de/index.php?langselect=english HijackThis is a program used by experienced users in order to detect browser hijackers. It allows you to identify any sort of spyware and malware (as well as some trojan horses and worms). This is achieved by scanning special zones of the registry as well as the hard disk drive, the results being listed in a structured window. Another feature of HijackThis is the creation of a log file, which can be saved as a simple text file and opened by any text editor (notepad as default). Until now, inexperienced users, who could not analyze the log file by themselves, had no other choice than posting it in a specialized forum and to hope that a more experienced user takes some time to analyze it. The script presented on this page is a way to analyze your log without help from the outside: simply copy/paste the content of the log file in the textbox below and hit the analyze button.

As part of my online search I did come across "HiJackThis" as part of the solution. Unfortunately, it did not work for me. I tried several things (including working in SAFE MODE). One very interesting thing about this annoying toolbar is that it is very self-aware. If you try to manually delete certain files, you must do so in SAFE MODE. Problem is, they change their file names in SAFE MODE. Go figure. I did a search for the file AZESEARCH.OCX in NORMAL MODE and the file was there. Reboot in SAFE MODE and all of a sudden it's gone (and yes...I did have my view set for hidden files & folders). Some people will go to great lengths to push their products on other people. It's amazing. Why not accept that when people are ready to buy they'll buy? You don't have to cram ad's down our throats! Oh well...'nuff ranting here. :)

THANK YOU! Who ever you are, thank you so much. At first, i was quiet reluctant to install so many programs just to rid my computer of a virus, but in the end it paid off well. You instructions worked like a charm and now all that porn is off my yahoo!. thank you agian:) ~Shrevey~

One thing I've noticed using my method to remove this malware though, is that even though the toolbar is removed, when you try to access the toolbar menu (Click on "View", then click on "Toolbars") the "AZESearch toolbar" option is still there, however when you click on it, nothing appears. So it's a minor nuisance. When I figure out how to get rid of that, I'll let you know!

Thank you so much. i downloaded all the programs and did as you instructed and thank goodness, that toolbar is gone. Only thing I did not know if i needed to keep those three programs installed on my computer to keep it from popping up again.

In regards to removing it completely. That pesky little annoyance in the "view-toolbars" section of IE explorer can be removed by performing regedit, search first for AZESEARCH and DELETE all instances, then perform a search for "ZTOOL" and again DELETE all instances, reboot, and ~violla~ that pesky annoyance is gone for good.