Has anyone heard of...

anno · 04-17-2007, 10:56 AM

...Puzzl'Em 1.0 Beta2 or Crush'Em 2.0?

An Win XP computer I use has these two programs in the control panel add/remove list, but they cannot be removed. The owner of the computer has no idea where they came from.

A Google search for Puzzl'Em 1.0 Beta2 only brings up 12 results, and the majority of the results are from malware forums. No one in these forums has identified either of the processes as harmful and in fact they weren't even the reason for posting in many cases, but were brought up as part of a HijackThis log.

Scans have been run with the latest versions of F-Secure, AVG Anti-Spyware and Ad-Aware, but they all came up negative. If anyone has any comments or suggestions, I would be very grateful!

Thanks for reading.

guiblum · 04-17-2007, 12:40 PM

Many years ago I had a Diamond1200Plus scanner (HP, i think) and I made the mistake of installing the bundled photoeditor prog which was a very poor and old version of an Ulead prog., and IT contained a screensaver called Crushem in which a bunch of rabbits were chased around by a hammer.
Have the PC you are looking at ever had a Diamond 1200 scanner or an old Ulead prog.
I seem to remember that although all the drivers etc and other software uninstalled ok when the scanner came to the end of it's days, these stupid Crushem rabbits hung around like a bad smell.
Had to go into regedit and hack them out.

anno · 04-17-2007, 01:37 PM

Interesting. He had recently installed an A3 scanner... I will check that theory out, thanks guiblum.

Not looking forward to getting rid of the rabbits if that is the case though!

---

EDIT:

Yep, ParaSaver and PuzzSaver both appear in the list of screensavers. Ah well, I'd rather it was a badly designed piece of software than spyware or something worse. Thanks again guiblum.

**Glaswegian** · 04-17-2007, 01:42 PM

Hi

Have you tried in Safe Mode?

anno · 04-17-2007, 01:44 PM

Seem to have found the cause now, thanks Glaswegian! Now I just need to get rid of the things...

anno · 04-17-2007, 01:53 PM

That was easy. It seems as if they have improved their uninstallation program at least, they both came off fairly easily when the scanner software was removed.

So if you have a Mustek ScanExpress A3 USB scanner beware!

guiblum · 04-17-2007, 11:12 PM

Glad you are sorted out, Anno.
What did the rabbit stew taste like ??

anno · 04-20-2007, 02:20 PM

I couldn't tell you, but it smelt like victory.

CharlieBear · 07-22-2008, 10:59 AM

CRUSH'EM 2.0 and PUZZLE'EM 1.0 BETA 2 are both games!! They were installed on MY computer as part of the software for a MUSTEK A3 USB large format scanner. I have found the same scenario - you can't individually uninstall them. . . and I haven't tried getting rid of them by uninstalling the scanner. Anyway, the programs don't do anything or cause any problems - at least not in my case.

04-17-2007, 10:56 AM	#1 (permalink)
anno Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 45 OS: Win XP	Has anyone heard of... ...Puzzl'Em 1.0 Beta2 or Crush'Em 2.0? An Win XP computer I use has these two programs in the control panel add/remove list, but they cannot be removed. The owner of the computer has no idea where they came from. A Google search for Puzzl'Em 1.0 Beta2 only brings up 12 results, and the majority of the results are from malware forums. No one in these forums has identified either of the processes as harmful and in fact they weren't even the reason for posting in many cases, but were brought up as part of a HijackThis log. Scans have been run with the latest versions of F-Secure, AVG Anti-Spyware and Ad-Aware, but they all came up negative. If anyone has any comments or suggestions, I would be very grateful! Thanks for reading.

04-17-2007, 12:40 PM	#2 (permalink)
guiblum Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 102 OS: xp	Re: Has anyone heard of... Many years ago I had a Diamond1200Plus scanner (HP, i think) and I made the mistake of installing the bundled photoeditor prog which was a very poor and old version of an Ulead prog., and IT contained a screensaver called Crushem in which a bunch of rabbits were chased around by a hammer. Have the PC you are looking at ever had a Diamond 1200 scanner or an old Ulead prog. I seem to remember that although all the drivers etc and other software uninstalled ok when the scanner came to the end of it's days, these stupid Crushem rabbits hung around like a bad smell. Had to go into regedit and hack them out.

04-17-2007, 01:37 PM	#3 (permalink)
anno Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 45 OS: Win XP	Re: Has anyone heard of... Interesting. He had recently installed an A3 scanner... I will check that theory out, thanks guiblum. Not looking forward to getting rid of the rabbits if that is the case though! --- EDIT: Yep, ParaSaver and PuzzSaver both appear in the list of screensavers. Ah well, I'd rather it was a badly designed piece of software than spyware or something worse. Thanks again guiblum. Last edited by anno; 04-17-2007 at 01:54 PM.

04-17-2007, 01:42 PM	#4 (permalink)
Glaswegian Moderator/ Rangemaster TSF Academy; Analyst, Security Team; Oor Wullie; TSF Surgeon and Resident Comic Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Glasgow Posts: 25,400 OS: Win XP Pro SP3 / Win 7 Pro My System Blog Entries: 10	Re: Has anyone heard of... Hi Have you tried in Safe Mode? __________________ Iain - Defender of the Haggis and all things Scottish. I don't help by PM - post in the Forums. PC Safety & Security::PC running a bit slow?::Donate::Photographers Corner

04-17-2007, 01:44 PM	#5 (permalink)
anno Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 45 OS: Win XP	Re: Has anyone heard of... Seem to have found the cause now, thanks Glaswegian! Now I just need to get rid of the things...

04-17-2007, 01:53 PM	#6 (permalink)
anno Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 45 OS: Win XP	Re: Has anyone heard of... That was easy. It seems as if they have improved their uninstallation program at least, they both came off fairly easily when the scanner software was removed. So if you have a Mustek ScanExpress A3 USB scanner beware!

04-17-2007, 11:12 PM	#7 (permalink)
guiblum Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 102 OS: xp	Re: Has anyone heard of... Glad you are sorted out, Anno. What did the rabbit stew taste like ??

04-20-2007, 02:20 PM	#8 (permalink)
anno Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 45 OS: Win XP	Re: Has anyone heard of... I couldn't tell you, but it smelt like victory.

07-22-2008, 10:59 AM	#9 (permalink)
CharlieBear Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: PA Posts: 1 OS: XP Pro Service Pak 3	Re: Has anyone heard of... CRUSH'EM 2.0 and PUZZLE'EM 1.0 BETA 2 are both games!! They were installed on MY computer as part of the software for a MUSTEK A3 USB large format scanner. I have found the same scenario - you can't individually uninstall them. . . and I haven't tried getting rid of them by uninstalling the scanner. Anyway, the programs don't do anything or cause any problems - at least not in my case.