dns problem - apps.webservicehost

I am having a problem with my friends computer where all of a sudden his DNS is not working correctly. His ISP has been no help. May have been hacked, but there is no virus except for this NHelper.com file (there are a couple others, but I can't remember what they are) having to do with adware.

We have access to the internet and can get to the sites (such as www.yahoo.com if we use the IP address but not the www.yahoo.com name). In IE, it starts flashing apps.webservicehost.com/apps/... extremely fast and when it stops the URL line has "apps.webservicehost.com/apps/epa?cid=navl9882&s=www.yahoo.com".

In Netscape, it just doesn't find it nor does it from the command prompt.

I am going to take my portable over there later today to see if it has the same problem. If it does, then it is probably a DNS problem. If not, it is probably a problem with his computer.

This started to happen when he got a message saying that a remote computer was trying access his computer. Norton did find 6 files, such as NHelper.com that were adware files.

Anyone know what the problem is and how to fix it?

My first guess in this is it probably could be some sort of spy ware or virus. I know my fiend had a similar problem when he typed in a URL it changed to something similar what you described.

The way I fixed it was run a Ad-Aware scan with the latest updates also I used Trend Micro free online virus scan which can be found at housecall.antivirus.com or ( 66.35.253.32 ). I found a couple of viruses on his computer that were cleaned.

I also did some googling for you and came up with this:

www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner/library/navhelper/index.phtml
NavHelper

Overview
NavHelper is a browser helper object that redirects your address bar searches to apps.webservicehost.com. The data displayed on this page will be based on keywords entered in search engine forms.

is bundled with "Ares Galaxy", "CD-Cover Editor", "Spam Nullifier", "Robust Internet Speed Booster", etc.

Classification
Adware

Files
NHelper.dll, NHUninstaller.exe, NHUpdater.exe, NHelper.htm

Vendor
NavHelper

Privacy policy
NavExcel privacy policy

Detection
Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner detects NavHelper. Bazooka is freeware and detects spyware, adware, foistware, trojan horses, viruses, worms, etc. Read more »

Uninstall procedure
Uninstall NavHelper from "Add/Remove Programs" in the Windows® Control Panel. If you run into problems uninstalling, please contact the NavHelper vendor for support.

Manual removal
Please follow the instructions below if you would like to remove NavHelper 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 NavHelper 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. Delete
'HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ AppID \ {710BCB5B-8C6C-483E-A4F5-FAF083B13184}\', if it exists.
3. Delete
'HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ CLSID \ {C1E58A84-95B3-4630-B8C2-D06B77B7A0FC}\', if it exists.
4. Delete
'HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ NavExcel.NavHelper\', if it exists.
5. Delete
'HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ NavExcel.NavHelper.1\', if it exists.
6. Delete
'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Classes \ CLSID \ {C1E58A84-95B3-4630-B8C2-D06B77B7A0FC}', if it exists.
7. Delete
'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Uninstall\ NavHelper', if it exists.
8. Delete
'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Browser Helper Objects \ {C1E58A84-95B3-4630-B8C2-D06B77B7A0FC}', if it exists.
9. Exit the registry editor.
10. Restart your computer.
11. Delete the following directory and its content:
'%ProgramsDir%\NavExcel\NavHelper\'
Note: %ProgramsDir% is a variable ( ? ). By default, this is C:\Program Files.
Problems uninstalling? Click here .

I hope this helps...

A perfect 10

Sounds great.

I am going over to his house in a few hours and will try it out. If it works, I owe you one.

Also, I use both ad-aware and spybot on my system and like both. I did hear something about a problem with spybot and was curious if anyone else did.

Also curious about others experience with both. I planned on putting these on my friends computer - but want to be sure there wasn't a problem I hadn't heard of before I do.

Yep, that's another perfect 10 from me! I totally agree with Neon, it sounds like a spyware issue. You might want to check the startup tab in the system configuration utility by going to "run" and typing "msconfig".

I experienced a problem with IE where no matter how many times I ran spyware, it constantly found registration entries and files everytime I rebooted.

To eliminate the problem, I ended up performing a system restore.
It seems like these spy cookies and reg entries are getting tooo smart to be handled permanently by today's spyware programs.

Let us know what the results were!

Cheers,