Uninstall, Remove Bargain Buddy Spyware and related Adware Toolbars?

Infopackets Reader Richard G. writes:

" Dear Dennis,

Thank you for your newsletter, as it helps a 'silver surfer' like me to get by with the day-to-day computing tasks. My problem is that Bargain Buddy has somehow managed to find its way onto my computer and now I've got advertising PopUps coming out the wahoo. Worse yet, I can't seem to remove / uninstall it successfully from my system.

I have tried all sorts of downloads that say they can remove the bugger, but when I do another Spyware scan, the darn thing is still there! Any help will be greatly appreciated and I am pretty sure I'm not the only one with this problem. Thanks in advance! "

My response:

You're definitely right about a number of things: Bargain Buddy is annoying, Bargain Buddy is difficult to remove, and I do receive this question frequently.

A while back (almost 2 years ago!) I wrote an article with instructions to manually remove Bargain Buddy from Windows. The instructions are generic, and as far as I know, should still work. To recap:

1. Exit the Bargain Buddy from your Tray Bar (near the system clock), if it is present.
    
2. Press CTRL + ALT + DEL to remove the Bargain Buddy from your Task Manager, if it is present. According to SaferSite.com [as of December 2004], the Bargain Buddy "default" process name operates as "Acup (internal name), adp.exe (some versions), Bargain Buddy, Bargains (process name), or Ikena." (Source:safersite.com) Side note: the process name or related processes of Bargain Buddy will most likely change over time, as varying Spyware / Adware components are added / removed to the Bargain Buddy "package".
    
3. Remove Bargain Buddy from your Programs List. Click Start -> Control Panel (or Start -> Settings -> Control Panel) and then to the Add / Remove Programs; remove Bargain Buddy (the main program), and anything else that you don't recognize in the list that looks Spyware-licious (or Spyware suspicious), such as "deals now" or "whatever toolbar" or "cash back", and similar. Side note: if Bargain Buddy isn't present in the Add / Remove Programs Window, the Uninstaller may be listed in your Program Files (accessible from Start -> Programs -> Bargain Buddy, for example).
    
4. At this point, refer to my article on "How to remove any Spyware / Adware Toolbar" from your system. Bargain Buddy (and *many* Spyware applications) often come bundled with Browser Helper Objects (BHO's) that take control of Internet Explorer while you're surfing the web -- and can continue to exist even after the "main" Spyware program (Bargain Buddy) has been removed.
    
5. Scan and remove all instances of Bargain Buddy and related software from your System Registry. This step isn't really recommended for Newbies (as it is somewhat technical), but may be the *only* way to completely remove the scummy software from your system. I recommend using EasyCleaner (freeware) or jv16 power tools (not freeware) to scan / remove registry keys ... but, before you do that, please take a moment to make a backup of your Registry in case the changes you make don't take!

RE: Additional Bargain Buddy removal info

If you have any other problems, I suggest you visit SaferSite.com for additional tips on Bargain Buddy removal, as they seem to keep the removal instructions fairly up-to-date. You may also want to query Google for "bargain buddy uninstall", "bargain buddy remove", and similar variations.