The Out-of-Control Comet Mac OS
The Out-of-Control Comet Mac OS
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1/5/10 1 Using Macs and Unix Nancy Griffeth January 6, 2010 Outline Switch 101: Switching from a PC to a Mac: Introduction to Unix Exercises Run Safari Run Microsoft Word Find a pdf file containing the word “CMACS” and open it What program was used to open it? Or ctrl ESC keys do not function exactly like on the PC. They do not break to the debugger on a modal dialog box. Use ESC ESC (Press the ESC twice) to bring up a dialog that allows you to enter the debugger at the location in code of the dialog box display. Tested in Excel VBA 2011.
Comet Search browser hijacker removal instructions
What is Comet Search?
Comet Search is dubious software classified as a browser hijacker. It operates by making modifications to browser settings to promote cometsearch.info (find.cometsearch.info), a fake search engine. Additionally, this browser hijacker adds the 'Managed by your organization' feature to Google Chrome browsers. Comet Search has data tracking capabilities, which are employed to steal information relating to search queries. This browser hijacker is a serious privacy concern. Due to the dubious methods used to proliferate Comet Search, it is classified as a Potentially Unwanted Application (PUA).
Popular browsers with large user bases, such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer are common targets of browser hijackers. They assign the addresses of fake search engines as the homepage, default search engine and new tab/window URLs. Comet Search makes these alterations to browsers to promote cometsearch.info. Therefore, with this browser hijacker installed, each new browser tab/window opened and search query typed into the URL bar redirects to cometsearch.info. Rogue search engines are rarely capable of providing search results, and so they redirect to (or cause redirection chains ending with) Yahoo, Bing, Google and other genuine sites. The web searcher promoted by Comet Search - cometsearch.info - is no exception to this, and simply redirects to the Google (google.com) search engine. Furthermore, browser hijackers can restrict/deny access to the browser settings and/or reset any permitted changes made. Therefore, recovering an affected browser is impossible without eliminating the browser hijacker first. As mentioned, Comet Search can track data, specifically, typed search queries. Browser hijackers monetize the collected data (e.g. browsing and search engine histories, IP addresses, geolocations, and even personally identifiable information) by sharing it with and/or selling it to third parties (potentially, cyber criminals). In summary, the presence of functionality. The advertised features are usually nonoperational, and this is common to most PUAs. The sole purpose of this unwanted software is to generate revenue for the developers. Regular users receive no real value and can instead experience serious problems. PUAs hijack browsers, force-open untrusted or malicious websites, run intrusive advertisement campaigns and track private data.
How did Comet Search install on my computer?
Browser hijackers, adware-type apps, and other types of PUAs are commonly distributed by integrating them into the download and/or installation set-ups of other programs, so that a proportion of users inadvertently download and install them together with their chosen software. This distribution method is known as 'bundling'. Offers to download and install additionally-included apps usually appear in 'Advanced', 'Custom' and other settings of the set-ups (where they can usually be declined). Many users fail to check and change these settings, thereby granting permission for PUAs to be downloaded and installed by default. In addition, unwanted downloads and installations are sometimes caused by clicking deceptive advertisements capable of executing certain scripts.
How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications
You are advised to research all software before download/installation. Use only official and verified download channels. Unofficial and free file-hosting websites, Peer-to-Peer sharing networks (BitTorrent, Gnutella, eMule), and other third party downloaders commonly offer harmful and bundled content, and are therefore untrusted and should be avoided. When downloading/installing, read the terms, study all possible options, use the 'Custom/Advanced' settings and opt-out of additional apps, tools, features, and so on. Intrusive advertisements typically seem legitimate, however, they can redirect to dubious and malicious sites (e.g. gambling, pornography, adult-dating, and many others). If you encounter ads or redirects of this kind, inspect the system and remove all dubious applications and browser extensions/plug-ins immediately. If your computer is already infected with Comet Search, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate this browser hijacker.
Comet Search browser hijacker asking for permissions:
The 'Managed by your organization' feature added to Google Chrome browsers by Comet Search browser hijacker:
Appearance of Comet Search browser hijacker (GIF):
Deceptive installer promoting Comet Search browser hijacker:
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Quick menu:
- STEP 1. Uninstall Comet Search application using Control Panel.
- STEP 2. Remove cometsearch.info redirect from Internet Explorer.
- STEP 3. Remove Comet Search browser hijacker from Google Chrome.
- STEP 4. Remove cometsearch.info homepage and default search engine from Mozilla Firefox.
- STEP 5. Remove cometsearch.info redirect from Safari.
- STEP 6. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.
Comet Search browser hijacker removal:
Windows 7 users:
Click Start (Windows Logo at the bottom left corner of your desktop), choose Control Panel. Locate Programs and click Uninstall a program.
Windows XP users:
Click Start, choose Settings and click Control Panel. Locate and click Add or Remove Programs.
Windows 10 and Windows 8 users:
Right-click in the lower left corner of the screen, in the Quick Access Menu select Control Panel. In the opened window choose Programs and Features.
Mac OSX users:
Click Finder, in the opened screen select Applications. Drag the app from the Applications folder to the Trash (located in your Dock), then right click the Trash icon and select Empty Trash.
In the uninstall programs window: look for any recently installed suspicious applications (for example, 'Comet Search'), select these entries and click 'Uninstall' or 'Remove'.
After uninstalling the potentially unwanted applications that cause browser redirects to the cometsearch.info website, scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.
Combo Cleaner checks if your computer is infected with malware. To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available.
Comet Search browser hijacker removal from Internet browsers:
Video showing how to remove browser redirects:
Remove malicious add-ons from Internet Explorer:
Click the 'gear' icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select 'Manage Add-ons'. Look for any recently installed suspicious extensions, select these entries and click 'Remove'.
Change your homepage:
Click the 'gear' icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select 'Internet Options', in the opened window remove hxxp://cometsearch.info and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you launch Internet Explorer. You can also enter about: blank to open a blank page when you start Internet Explorer.
Change your default search engine:
Click the 'gear' icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select 'Manage Add-ons'. In the opened window, select 'Search Providers', set 'Google', 'Bing', or any other preferred search engine as your default and then remove 'Comet Search'.
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the cometsearch.info redirect, reset your Internet Explorer settings to default.
Windows XP users: Click Start, click Run, in the opened window type inetcpl.cpl In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.
Windows Vista and Windows 7 users: Click the Windows logo, in the start search box type inetcpl.cpl and click enter. In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.
Windows 8 users: Open Internet Explorer and click the gear icon. Select Internet Options.
In the opened window, select the Advanced tab.
Click the Reset button.
Confirm that you wish to reset Internet Explorer settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:
Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select 'More tools' and click 'Extensions'. Locate 'Comet Search' and other recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons, and remove them.
Change your homepage:
Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select 'Settings'. In the 'On startup' section, disable 'Comet Search' (or simply 'CometSearch' or 'Comet'), look for a browser hijacker URL (hxxp://www.cometsearch.info) below the “Open a specific or set of pages” option. If present, click on the three vertical dots icon and select “Remove”.
Change your default search engine:
To change your default search engine in Google Chrome: Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select 'Settings', in the 'Search engine' section, click 'Manage search engines...', in the opened list look for 'cometsearch.info', when located click the three vertical dots near this URL and select 'Remove from list'.
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the cometsearch.info redirect, reset your Google Chrome browser settings. Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Click the Advanced… link.
After scrolling to the bottom of the screen, click the Reset (Restore settings to their original defaults) button.
In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Google Chrome settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
Remove malicious plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox:
Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), select 'Add-ons'. Click on 'Extensions' and remove 'Comet Search', as well as all other recently installed browser plug-ins.
Change your homepage:
To reset your homepage, click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), then select 'Options', in the opened window disable 'Comet Search', remove hxxp://cometsearch.info and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you start Mozilla Firefox.
Change your default search engine:
In the URL address bar, type about:config and press Enter.
Click 'I'll be careful, I promise!'.
In the search filter at the top, type: 'extensionControlled'
Set both results to 'false' by either double-clicking each entry or clicking the button.
Optional method:
Computer users who have problems with cometsearch.info redirect removal can reset their Mozilla Firefox settings.
Open Mozilla Firefox, at the top right corner of the main window, click the Firefox menu, in the opened menu, click Help.
Select Troubleshooting Information.
In the opened window, click the Refresh Firefox button.
In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Mozilla Firefox settings to default by clicking the Refresh Firefox button.
Remove malicious extensions from Safari:
Make sure your Safari browser is active and click Safari menu, then select Preferences...
In the preferences window select the Extensions tab. Look for any recently installed suspicious extensions and uninstall them.
In the preferences window select General tab and make sure that your homepage is set to a preferred URL, if its altered by a browser hijacker - change it.
In the preferences window select Search tab and make sure that your preferred Internet search engine is selected.
Optional method:
Make sure your Safari browser is active and click on Safari menu. From the drop down menu select Clear History and Website Data...
In the opened window select all history and click the Clear History button.
Remove malicious extensions from Microsoft Edge:
Click the Edge menu icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select 'Extensions'. Locate any recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons, and remove them.
Change your homepage and new tab settings:
Click the Edge menu icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select 'Settings'. In the 'On startup' section look for the name of the browser hijacker and click 'Disable'.
Change your default Internet search engine:
To change your default search engine in Microsoft Edge: Click the Edge menu icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select 'Privacy and services', scroll to bottom of the page and select 'Address bar'. In the 'Search engines used in address bar' section look for the name of the unwanted Internet search engine, when located click the 'Disable' button near it. Alternatively you can click on 'Manage search engines', in the opened menu look for unwanted Internet search engine. Click on the puzzle icon near it and select 'Disable'.
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the cometsearch.info redirect, reset your Microsoft Edge browser settings. Click the Edge menu icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge) and select Settings.
In the opened settings menu select Reset settings.
Select Restore settings to their default values. In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Microsoft Edge settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
- If this did not help, follow these alternative instructions explaining how to reset the Microsoft Edge browser.
Summary:
A browser hijacker is a type of adware infection that modifies Internet browser settings by assigning the homepage and default Internet search engine settings to some other (unwanted) website URL. Commonly, this type of adware infiltrates operating systems through free. software downloads. If your download is managed by a download client, ensure that you decline offers to install advertised toolbars or applications that seek to change your homepage and default Internet search engine settings.
Removal assistance:
If you are experiencing problems while trying to remove cometsearch.info redirect from your Internet browsers, please ask for assistance in our malware support forum.
Post a comment:
If you have additional information on cometsearch.info redirect or it's removal please share your knowledge in the comments section below.
Windows ¶
System Requirements ¶
x86_32+SSE2orx86_64CPU architecture- Minimum 1024x600 screen resolution
- Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10, or newer
- Windows Server 2008, 2008 R2, 2012, 2012 R2, 2016, or newer
As of Comet 19.12.5, TLS 1.2 is mandatory in Comet Server. Windows Server 2008 users may require KB4019276 to continue accessing Comet Server; this update is also required for ESU (Extended Security Updates) for Windows Server 2008.
Microsoft ended Extended support for Windows 7, Server 2008, and Server 2008 R2 on January 14th 2020. Comet may not support older versions of Windows which are no longer under active security support from Microsoft.
Not compatible with Windows XP (released 2001) ¶
At the time of writing, there is no version of Comet available for Windows XP / Server 2003. All versions of Comet rely heavily on features that were only introduced in Windows Vista / Server 2008.
Windows XP / Server 2003 no longer receives security patches from Microsoft. It is unsafe to connect such a machine to the internet. If you are attempting to supply backup services to a customer in this situation, you should arrange to first upgrade their operating system with urgency.
Workarounds ¶
You can work around this issue by
- installing Comet Backup on another machine, and then backup the XP machine over the network; or
- virtualizing the XP machine, and backing up the VM guest from the VM host. This also allows you to remove internet access from the XP machine.
Installation ¶
Run the CometBackup_install.exe file and follow the prompts.
Once installed, the client software prompts for account details to log in.
Silent installation (Windows advanced) ¶
With username and password
Comet allows you to install and configure the software silently, by running install.exe /S /CONFIGURE=user:password via your remote management software. Silent installations must be started by running from the installer directory.
With install token (passwordless)
Comet also allows you to install the software and register the device silently, by running install.exe /S /TOKEN=installtoken via your remote management software. Silent installations must be started by running from the installer directory.
You can generate the installation token by calling API AdminCreateInstallToken and the token is for a single use only. It can be used to hide the username and password from the command-line parameters.
Other optional arguments
Disable shortcuts
Comet allows you to disable the software shortcuts for the silent installation, by adding command-line argument /SHORTCUT='disable'. For example, if you want to install with token while no shortcuts are created, you can run the command-line install.exe /S /TOKEN=installtoken /SHORTCUT='disable'
Disable tray icon
Comet allows you to disable the tray icon for the silent installation, by adding command-line argument /TRAYICON='disable'.
Log on backup.delegate service as Local System account
Comet allows you to explicitly set backup.delegate service to log on as Local System account for the silent installation, by adding command-line argument /ISLOCALSYSTEM='yes'
Service account ¶
Comet automatically creates a Virtual Account (NT SERVICEbackup.delegate) with all necessary permissions to back up files on the PC.
Isolating Comet Backup under a Virtual Account is supported on Windows 7 or later, and Windows Server 2008 R2 or later when that server is not a Domain Controller. On other machines (e.g. Windows Server 2008 RTM, and domain controllers) the backup service will run as LOCAL SYSTEM by default.
On a Domain Controller running Windows Server 2008 R2 or later, we recommend configuring a Managed Service Account inside Active Directory for the backup service. This allows you to isolate the backup service permissions in a password-less service account. You should apply this to the backup.delegate service (but not the backup.elevator service, used for software updates).
Upgrading ¶
The installer will safely remove and upgrade any prior version of Comet Backup, including those with a different software branding.
If the product name is changed as a result of the installation process, the newly-branded software may be installed into the old-branded directory name. You can avoid this issue by completely uninstalling and reinstalling the software.
Silent upgrade (advanced) ¶
You can silently upgrade the software remotely via the Comet Server interface, or by running install.exe /S via your remote management software.
Service account ¶
In Comet 19.12.1 and later, if you customize the backup.delegate service to use any other user account, your changes will be preserved in any future software upgrade.
In Comet 19.3.0 and later prior to 19.12.1, such changes will be preserved as long as the target user account is not LOCAL SYSTEM or NT SERVICEbackup.delegate.
Prior to Comet 19.3.0, different restrictions were in place for this process. For more information, please see the documentation that is included with your previous version of Comet Server.
The Out-of-control Comet Mac Os X
Uninstall ¶
The software can be uninstalled via the 'Apps and Features' section in the Windows Control Panel.
During this process, you may be prompted whether you wish to preserve any username/password credentials saved on this computer.
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You can also remove the saved credentials manually by deleting the AppDataRoamingbackup-toolconfig.dat file. If the backup.delegate service was running as the NT SERVICEbackup.delegate user, this is stored in the C:Usersbackup.delegateAppDataRoamingbackup-tool directory; the path may differ if the service was running as another user account.
Silent uninstall ¶
You can silently uninstall Comet Backup for Windows by passing the /S command-line argument (e.g. 'C:Program FilesComet BackupUninstall.exe' /S).
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If you also want to remove the saved username/password credentials, add this command-line 'C:Program FilesComet BackupUninstall.exe' /S /ISDELETECREDENTIAL=yes
The Out-of-Control Comet Mac OS