Sweetpacks Virus vs Avastfree Browser Cleanup Tool

You may have recently encountered a persistent and annoying search program called Sweetpacks on your system. It mysteriously appears as part of your browser and, try as you can, you can’t get it uninstalled, even when you remove it using control panel. Of course, the first reaction is to try various virus removers to root out this sucker. When it still returns, even after doing some registry-cleaning, you throw up your hands and become absolutely frustrated. After all, what program continues to run even after removing its registry keys? Sweetpacks does.

I recently had a bout with Sweetpacks. It sent me reeling against the ropes. It was that tough. I used all the available tools and techniques at my disposal but still could not conquer this beast. It burrowed so deeply into Google Chrome that even Malwarebytes could not find it. Even Avast’s Browser Cleanup Tool could not remove it from my Chrome browser (easy pickings for Mozilla Firefox). I was stumped.

All my internet research was almost of no avail. Step by step instructions from “Malware Tips” could not be easily followed on the latest versions of Chrome, so those did not help. (I did not try Hitman Pro). I rifled through my internet options, changing my connection settings and related items but that did not help. I ran “regedit.exe” to remove all references to Sweetpacks from H_key_Current User (Software) and H_Key_Current Machine (Software), but when I rebooted my machine, there it was again! Other people afflicted with this curse had removed it from their systems, why couldn’t I? I put my thinking cap back on. (Had to take it off my smoking brains for a minute to allow my head to cool down. Lol)

Satisfied that I had done everything possible, I again turned to my antivirus software to see if I had overlooked any features. Malwarebytes said no, but lo and behold, Avastfree Browser Cleanup Tool asked me if I wanted to return my browser to its default setting? I highlighted Chrome and clicked “yes”. Shortly thereafter, I received a message that my browser had been returned to normal. Curious to see if this was so, I restarted my computer (to ensure a clean boot) and checked my offending browser. It was working perfectly now! How do you spell R-e-l-i-e-f?

Had I carefully scrutinized the Avastfree program, I could have restored my browser in a mere fraction of the time I had used working up a lather of frustration. In a previous posting, I have properly commended the produces of “freeware”, and extolled their praises. Once again, I wish to reiterate that some of the most effective programs on the internet are free of charge, including Avastfree Anti-virus. Kudos to Grisoft for making this tool freely available to consumers. I am, hereby recommending Avastfree Browser Cleanup Tool to all and sundry, especially those affected by the Sweetpacks virus.