Knowledge Base

Adware T.V. Media Program Removal Tool

Article ID: 886590

Article Last Modified on 6/6/2007

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

SUMMARY

Microsoft has become aware that some users are experiencing difficulties installing Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2). After investigation, some of these issues have been tracked to an incompatibility between Windows XP SP2 and an adware package from Total Velocity Corporation. This package, commonly known as T.V. Media, is bundled with certain advertisement-supported applications such as Speed Blaster and Memory Meter. In accordance with the End User License Agreement (EULA) for these applications, three additional files are installed on a user’s system; these files form the advertisement data-gathering and reporting mechanism. As part of its protection mechanism, the T.V. Media adware files monitor certain registry keys to prevent removal of the adware program. This monitoring mechanism uses certain functions in a manner that results in registry corruption during the installation of Windows XP SP2.

Microsoft has released a tool to help you remove the T.V. Media adware files from your computer. You can download this tool from the Microsoft Download Center and run it on your computer to remove the T.V. Media files. Be aware that this may result in the applications with which T.V. Media was bundled from functioning. Users should uninstall these applications before running this tool and before installing Windows XP SP2.

Technical updates

September 20, 2004: Microsoft released version 1.0 of the Adware T.V. Media Program Removal Tool to the Microsoft Download Center.

SYMPTOMS

If your computer has T.V. Media installed you may notice one or more of the following symptoms:

Pop-up advertisements appearing when you browse the Internet.
Inability to install Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs because you may have T.V. Media installed on your system. If you have installed the applications Memory Meter or Speed Blaster from Total Velocity, it is likely you have T.V. Media installed on your system.

RESOLUTION

Microsoft has released a tool that enables you to remove the T.V. Media files from computers that are running one or more of the products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

Important Microsoft recommends that you uninstall any application, including Memory Meter or Speed Blaster from Total Velocity, that was bundled with T.V. Media before using this removal tool or installing Windows XP SP2.

Download and setup information

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

Download the Windows-KB886590-ENU-V1.1.exe package now.

Release Date: September 20, 2004

For additional information about how to download Microsoft Support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

119591 How to obtain Microsoft support files from online services

Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help to prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

Prerequisites

The Adware T.V. Media Removal Tool has the following prerequisites:

Your computer must be running a 32-bit version of Windows XP SP1 or earlier.
You must log on as a computer administrator or as a member of the Administrators group.

For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

827218 How to determine whether your computer is running a 32-bit version or a 64-bit version of the Windows operating system

If these prerequisites are not met, the installation will not work and you will receive an error message. For more information about the error message, view the following log file:

%Windir%\debug\tvmcln.log

Restart requirement

You do not have to restart your computer after you install this tool.

Usage information

Note Before you follow these steps, make sure that you have backed up all your important data.

When you install the Adware T.V. Media Removal Tool and accept the end-user license agreement (EULA), the installation package extracts the Tvmcln.exe file to a temporary directory, and then the removal tool runs. The removal tool checks your computer for the prerequisites listed in the "Prerequisites" section. If the prerequisites are met, the removal tool does the following:

Examines the registry for entries added by the T.V. Media package to run Tvm.exe upon system startup. If these entries are found, the tool searches memory to determine whether Tvm.exe is running. If it is found running, the tool terminates it.
Examines the registry for entries referring to TvmBho.dll, which is loaded into the Explorer.exe process memory. If the tool finds these entries, then the tool searches memory for the Explorer.exe process. If the process contains TvmBho.dll, the process is restarted.
Terminates any instances of Internet Explorer, in order to release TvmCore.dll from memory.
Deletes all files associated with T.V. Media identified in steps 1 and 2.
Removes registry entries identified in step 1 and 2.
Displays a Windows message box that describes the outcome of the detection and removal process. The following list contains the messages that you may receive and what these messages mean:
- T.V. Media is not installed.– The T.V. Media program was not detected on this computer.
- Successfully removed Adware T.V. Media program. To allow removal, all instances of Internet Explorer were terminated. – The T.V. Media program was removed. No additional action is required.
- This tool must be run by an administrator. – You are not logged on with an administrator account. Log off, and log on with an account that has administrative privileges. Run the tool again.
- Fatal error, please review log file. – See %Windir%\debug\tvmcln.log for more information.
- Adware T.V. Media program was detected, but could not be removed. – Run the tool again and check the log file for errors.
- This tool requires Windows 2000 or Windows XP. – This tool is not supported on versions of Windows other than Windows 2000 and Windows XP.
- Incorrect Windows version (Win32s) – This tool is not supported on Windows 3.1 with Win32s.
When you close the message box, the removal tool quits, and Tvmcln.exe is deleted from the temporary folder. You can now delete the Windows-KB886590-ENU-V1.1.exe file manually.
The removal tool creates a log file named Tvmcln.log in the %Windir%\Debug folder. You can view this log file to determine if Adware T.V. Media program was detected and removed.

Command-line switches

The removal tool installer supports the following command-line switches:

/Q – Use quiet mode or suppress messages when the files are being extracted.
/Q:U - Use user-quiet mode. User-quiet mode presents some dialog boxes to the user.
/Q:A - Use administrator-quiet mode. Administrator-quiet mode does not present any dialog boxes to the user.
/T: path – Specify the location of the temporary folder that is used by the Setup process or specify the target folder for extracting files (when used together with the /C switch).
/C – Extract the files without installing them. If /T: path is not specified, you are prompted to specify a target folder.
/C: cmd – Specify the path and the name of an alternate Setup .inf file or an .exe file to use to install the tool.
/R:N - Never restart the computer after installation.
/R:I - Prompt the user to restart the computer if a restart is required, except when this switch is used with the /Q:A switch.
/R:A - Always restart the computer after installation.
/R:S - Restart the computer after installation without prompting the user

For additional information about the supported installation switches, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

197147 Command-line switches for IExpress software update packages

The removal tool supports the following command-line switch:

/S - Enables silent mode for the tool. This switch suppresses the infection status dialog box that you receive after the tool has run.

Removal information

The Tvmcln.exe file is automatically deleted from its temporary location after the removal tool runs. You can delete the tool installer package after you install the removal tool.

Note After you install the Adware T.V. Media Program Removal Tool, it does not appear in the Installed programs list in the Add/Remove Programs tool in Control Panel.

Disclaimer

The information provided in the Microsoft Knowledge Base is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Microsoft disclaims all warranties, either express or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall Microsoft Corporation or its suppliers be liable for any damages whatsoever including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, loss of business profits or special damages, even if Microsoft Corporation or its suppliers have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages so the foregoing limitation may not apply.

Keywords: kbprb kbenv atdownload kbtshoot KB886590

Microsoft KB Archive/886590

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