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Using Waterfox 16.0.1 today while I was browsing I noticed that this share bar was down in the bottom right corner in every window. I checked all the addon's, nothing new there. I have not installed any new programs, and I checked the stylish scripts as well as greasemonkey scripts, and there are not any new ones in there either. Does anyone have any idea where this came from and/or how to remove it?

post-243659-0-45311500-1357683064.png

Edit: I loaded Waterfox in safe mode and it disappears

You could probably hit the 'alt' key then view- toolbars...then customize and try dragging it out from the bar.

I just checked that and none of those buttons are in the toolbar customize.

Or reboot.

I've been to a lot of mysterious bars ...

I have and I am sure you have hum...

OK, so I found this mysterious script attempting to run from a website io40.com which I can not find any information about, if I mark it as untrusted in noscript it does not show up.

There's been a modification to the browsers configuration data (about:config in Firefox).

I had a similar issue on a friends laptop. They previously had Avast installed, and must have downloaded an installer from the net that also prompted them to install AVG. I am not sure if the AVG that installed was a legitimate version - it changed the home page in all browsers to it's own AVG search page, and the only way to change back to the users default home page was to reset the browser. Home page settings in the browsers standard settings/preferences panel had no effect when changed. Navigating to google.com.au also re-routed to this AVG search site (in all browsers)!

I think resetting the browser is the only way you're going to fix this (but you could also search through about:config yourself). Remember to back up your profile first!

Thanks to whomever deleted my post ... :rolleyes:

I had the same bar show up.

I found this about a similar name: http://www.firewhois.../whois/io30.com

I followed jnelson's clue, and went to Firefox Options, both Content & Privacy tabs.

I added www.io40.com to the Blocked lists.

It has now disappeared from Firefox 17.x ...

post-37120-0-64258900-1357741305.png

Have you checked in your profile folder to see if anything recent has shown up? There's an article at http://mzl.la/NYhKHH that explains how to find it. It looks like either something another application threw in there or possibly a drive-by. You mentioned AVG and Hum's screenshot indicates he's using it as well.

^ Thanks.

I use AVG too.

But I am using the regular Firefox 17.x -- whereas jNelson is using Waterfox 16.x.

I don't know how much of a difference there is between the two.

My bar did not show up until this morning.

I did not have it all yesterday, or last night.

Hijackthis log:

Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.4
Scan saved at 10:12:00, on 1/9/2013
Platform: Windows 7 SP1 (WinNT 6.00.3505)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v9.00 (9.00.8112.16457)
Boot mode: Normal

Running processes:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Hard Disk Sentinel\HDSentinel.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamgui.exe
C:\PROGRAM FILES (X86)\KODAK\AIO\STATUSMONITOR\EKStatusMonitor.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\MiserWare\Granola Personal\granola.exe
G:\Install\Volume2\Volume2.exe
C:\Program Files\CrashPlan\CrashPlanTray.exe
C:\Users\Jon\AppData\Roaming\Dropbox\bin\Dropbox.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\APC\PowerChute Personal Edition\apcsystray.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Kaspersky Lab\Kaspersky PURE 2.0\avp.exe
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\rundll32.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Alternative Flash Player Auto-Updater\Alternative Flash Player Auto-Updater.exe
C:\IDrive\IDriveETray.exe
C:\IDrive\IDriveEBackground.exe
C:\Users\Jon\AppData\Roaming\KoshyJohn.com\MemClean\MemClean.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Java\Java Update\jusched.exe
D:\Web Downloads\HijackThis.exe

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.claro-search.com/?affID=116695&tt=4612_6&babsrc=HP_ss&mntrId=fab0d94e000000000000000129a7998e
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,SearchAssistant =
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,CustomizeSearch =
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Local Page = C:\Windows\SysWOW64\blank.htm
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar,LinksFolderName =
F2 - REG:system.ini: UserInit=userinit.exe
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {0D778FDC-FAD7-4B1D-AB88-7A76A562D65C} - (no file)
O2 - BHO: IEVkbdBHO - {59273AB4-E7D3-40F9-A1A8-6FA9CCA1862C} - (no file)
O2 - BHO: Groove GFS Browser Helper - {72853161-30C5-4D22-B7F9-0BBC1D38A37E} - C:\PROGRA~2\MICROS~1\Office14\GROOVEEX.DLL
O2 - BHO: Java(tm) Plug-In SSV Helper - {761497BB-D6F0-462C-B6EB-D4DAF1D92D43} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre7\bin\ssv.dll
O2 - BHO: URLRedirectionBHO - {B4F3A835-0E21-4959-BA22-42B3008E02FF} - C:\PROGRA~2\MICROS~1\Office14\URLREDIR.DLL
O2 - BHO: Java(tm) Plug-In 2 SSV Helper - {DBC80044-A445-435b-BC74-9C25C1C588A9} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre7\bin\jp2ssv.dll
O2 - BHO: link filter bho - {E33CF602-D945-461A-83F0-819F76A199F8} - (no file)
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AVP] "C:\Program Files (x86)\Kaspersky Lab\Kaspersky PURE 2.0\avp.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [P17RunE] RunDll32 P17RunE.dll,RunDLLEntry
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Display] C:\Program Files (x86)\APC\PowerChute Personal Edition\DataCollectionLauncher.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [EKStatusMonitor] C:\Program Files (x86)\Kodak\AiO\StatusMonitor\EKStatusMonitor.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Conime] %windir%\system32\conime.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Granola] "C:\Program Files (x86)\MiserWare\Granola Personal\granola.exe"
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [IDriveE Startup] "C:\IDrive\IDrvieEStartup.exe" Hide
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [StartMenuX] C:\Program Files\Start Menu X\StartMenuX.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Memory Cleaner] C:\Users\Jon\AppData\Roaming\KoshyJohn.com\MemClean\MemClean.exe boot
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Volume2] G:\Install\Volume2\Volume2.exe
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\Run: [Sidebar] %ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\Sidebar.exe /autoRun (User 'LOCAL SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\RunOnce: [mctadmin] C:\Windows\System32\mctadmin.exe (User 'LOCAL SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-20\..\Run: [Sidebar] %ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\Sidebar.exe /autoRun (User 'NETWORK SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-20\..\RunOnce: [mctadmin] C:\Windows\System32\mctadmin.exe (User 'NETWORK SERVICE')
O4 - Startup: Dropbox.lnk = C:\Users\Jon\AppData\Roaming\Dropbox\bin\Dropbox.exe
O4 - Startup: IDrive Tray.lnk = C:\IDrive\IDriveEReg2ini.exe
O4 - Startup: VIIVO.lnk = C:\Program Files (x86)\VIIVO\ui\viivo.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Alternative Flash Player Auto-Updater.lnk = C:\Program Files (x86)\Alternative Flash Player Auto-Updater\Alternative Flash Player Auto-Updater.exe
O4 - Global Startup: APC UPS Status.lnk = C:\Program Files (x86)\APC\PowerChute Personal Edition\Display.exe
O4 - Global Startup: CrashPlan Tray.lnk = C:\Program Files\CrashPlan\CrashPlanTray.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: Add to Anti-Banner - C:\Program Files (x86)\Kaspersky Lab\Kaspersky PURE 2.0\ie_banner_deny.htm
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~1\Office14\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O8 - Extra context menu item: Free YouTube Download - C:\Users\Jon\AppData\Roaming\DVDVideoSoftIEHelpers\freeytvdownloader.htm
O8 - Extra context menu item: Free YouTube to MP3 Converter - C:\Users\Jon\AppData\Roaming\DVDVideoSoftIEHelpers\freeyoutubetomp3converter.htm
O11 - Options group: [ACCELERATED_GRAPHICS] Accelerated graphics
O15 - Trusted IP range: http://192.168.1.1
O15 - ESC Trusted IP range: http://192.168.1.1
O16 - DPF: {D4B68B83-8710-488B-A692-D74B50BA558E} (Creative Software AutoUpdate Support Package 2) - http://ccfiles.creative.com/Web/softwareupdate/ocx/15113/CTPIDPDE.cab
O16 - DPF: {E705A591-DA3C-4228-B0D5-A356DBA42FBF} (Creative Software AutoUpdate 2) - http://ccfiles.creative.com/Web/softwareupdate/su2/ocx/20015/CTSUEng.cab
O16 - DPF: {F6ACF75C-C32C-447B-9BEF-46B766368D29} (Creative Software AutoUpdate Support Package) - http://ccfiles.creative.com/Web/softwareupdate/ocx/110926/CTPID.cab
O17 - HKLM\System\CCS\Services\Tcpip\..\{3CEF91AF-3576-4CA1-9DCC-772780EB0245}: NameServer = 208.67.220.220,208.67.222.222
O17 - HKLM\System\CS1\Services\Tcpip\..\{3CEF91AF-3576-4CA1-9DCC-772780EB0245}: NameServer = 208.67.220.220,208.67.222.222
O17 - HKLM\System\CS2\Services\Tcpip\..\{3CEF91AF-3576-4CA1-9DCC-772780EB0245}: NameServer = 208.67.220.220,208.67.222.222
O17 - HKLM\System\CS3\Services\Tcpip\..\{3CEF91AF-3576-4CA1-9DCC-772780EB0245}: NameServer = 208.67.220.220,208.67.222.222
O18 - Filter hijack: text/xml - {807573E5-5146-11D5-A672-00B0D022E945} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE14\MSOXMLMF.DLL
O23 - Service: Adobe Flash Player Update Service (AdobeFlashPlayerUpdateSvc) - Adobe Systems Incorporated - C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\FlashPlayerUpdateService.exe
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\Alg.exe,-112 (ALG) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\alg.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: APC Data Service - Schneider Electric - C:\Program Files (x86)\APC\PowerChute Personal Edition\dataserv.exe
O23 - Service: APC UPS Service - Schneider Electric - C:\Program Files (x86)\APC\PowerChute Personal Edition\mainserv.exe
O23 - Service: Kaspersky Anti-Virus Service (AVP) - Kaspersky Lab ZAO - C:\Program Files (x86)\Kaspersky Lab\Kaspersky PURE 2.0\avp.exe
O23 - Service: CrashPlan Backup Service (CrashPlanService) - CrashPlan - C:\Program Files\CrashPlan\CrashPlanService.exe
O23 - Service: Creative Audio Engine Licensing Service - Creative Labs - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Creative Labs Shared\Service\CTAELicensing.exe
O23 - Service: CryptoStorage control service (CSObjectsSrv) - Infowatch - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\InfoWatch\CryptoStorage\ProtectedObjectsSrv.exe
O23 - Service: Creative Audio Service (CTAudSvcService) - Creative Technology Ltd - C:\Program Files (x86)\Creative\Shared Files\CTAudSvc.exe
O23 - Service: DiskBoss Service - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files\DiskBoss\bin\diskbsa.exe
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\efssvc.dll,-100 (EFS) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\fxsresm.dll,-118 (Fax) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\fxssvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: Granola PM Manager - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files (x86)\MiserWare\Granola Personal\GranolaManager.exe
O23 - Service: Google Update Service (gupdate) (gupdate) - Google Inc. - C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Update\GoogleUpdate.exe
O23 - Service: Google Update Service (gupdatem) (gupdatem) - Google Inc. - C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Update\GoogleUpdate.exe
O23 - Service: IDriveE Service - Pro Softnet Corporation - C:\IDrive\IDriveE Service.exe
O23 - Service: @keyiso.dll,-100 (KeyIso) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: Kodak AiO Network Discovery Service - Eastman Kodak Company - C:\Program Files (x86)\Kodak\AiO\Center\EKAiOHostService.exe
O23 - Service: Kodak AiO Status Monitor Service - Eastman Kodak Company - C:\Program Files (x86)\Kodak\AiO\StatusMonitor\EKPrinterSDK.exe
O23 - Service: Logitech Bluetooth Service (LBTServ) - Logitech, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Common Files\LogiShrd\Bluetooth\lbtserv.exe
O23 - Service: Ma-Config Service (maconfservice) - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files\ma-config.com\x64\maconfservice.exe
O23 - Service: MBAMScheduler - Malwarebytes Corporation - C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamscheduler.exe
O23 - Service: MBAMService - Malwarebytes Corporation - C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamservice.exe
O23 - Service: Mozilla Maintenance Service (MozillaMaintenance) - Mozilla Foundation - C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Maintenance Service\maintenanceservice.exe
O23 - Service: @comres.dll,-2797 (MSDTC) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\msdtc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\System32\netlogon.dll,-102 (Netlogon) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Display Driver Service (nvsvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\nvvsvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: O&O CleverCache  (O&O CleverCache) - O&O Software GmbH - C:\Program Files\OO Software\CleverCache\ooccag.exe
O23 - Service: PDAgent - Raxco Software, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Raxco\PerfectDisk\PDAgent.exe
O23 - Service: PDEngine - Raxco Software, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Raxco\Shared\PDEngine.exe
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\psbase.dll,-300 (ProtectedStorage) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\Locator.exe,-2 (RpcLocator) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\locator.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\samsrv.dll,-1 (SamSs) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\snmptrap.exe,-3 (SNMPTRAP) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\snmptrap.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: Soluto Launcher Service (SolutoLauncherService) - Soluto - C:\Program Files\Soluto\SolutoLauncherService.exe
O23 - Service: Soluto PCGenome Core Service (SolutoService) - Soluto - C:\Program Files\Soluto\SolutoService.exe
O23 - Service: Print Spooler (Spooler) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\sppsvc.exe,-101 (sppsvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\sppsvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Stereoscopic 3D Driver Service (Stereo Service) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\3D Vision\nvSCPAPISvr.exe
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\ui0detect.exe,-101 (UI0Detect) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\UI0Detect.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\vaultsvc.dll,-1003 (VaultSvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\vds.exe,-100 (vds) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\vds.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\vssvc.exe,-102 (VSS) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\vssvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\Wat\WatUX.exe,-601 (WatAdminSvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\Wat\WatAdminSvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\wbengine.exe,-104 (wbengine) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\wbengine.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%Systemroot%\system32\wbem\wmiapsrv.exe,-110 (wmiApSrv) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\wbem\WmiApSrv.exe (file missing)

--
End of file - 12505 bytes

I really do not see anything odd in this report. Also to clear something up: I do not use AVG, I never have used it, I am using Kaspersky Pure, Waterfox used to come with the AVG stuff bundled, but that has been discontinued.

^ Thanks.

I use AVG too.

But I am using the regular Firefox 17.x -- whereas jNelson is using Waterfox 16.x.

I don't know how much of a difference there is between the two.

My bar did not show up until this morning.

I did not have it all yesterday, or last night.

I think everything from release to experimental builds uses %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox as the profile directory.

@jnelson: Did you run HJT as administrator? There are a bunch of "file missing" warnings in your log.

Uh, it looks like the built in "bookmarks toolbar"

view/toolbars/bookmarks toolbar - uncheck last one.

I should point out that I use wf 16.01, with the bookmarks toolbar enabled...

I do not install or use any toolbars.

I have updated to Firefox 18.

Ran a malware scan. Removed 8 things.

Did an Error check.

All clear. :)

I think everything from release to experimental builds uses %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox as the profile directory.

@jnelson: Did you run HJT as administrator? There are a bunch of "file missing" warnings in your log.

Yes I did. ran it twice just to make sure.

Ran a virus scan and a MWB on it, nothing pops up.

Now this is odd, I have the address blocked via noscript and that works just fine (for FF), however, it still shows up in IE and Chrome. I attempted to add the address to the host file but that does not seem to work. Also as noted before: I did run a virus and malware scan and nothing shows up, but something has taken over IE's default start page (see screenshot)

post-243659-0-47493500-1358256534.png

I have checked the installed programs and can not locate anything with the name claro search. According to a search online, Claro search is malware, and that I can uninstall it from the control panel (which is not there) and then I can restore IE to default setting from internet options, which I did and it did not fix the issue.

^ I would temp. install and run Adw-Cleaner.

Did you look at the Task Manager processes running when 'claro' pops up ?

You should be able to see an odd program, find it, and Delete.

http://malwaretips.c...o-search-virus/

Claro Search is an adware program that has changed your browser home page and default search engine to claro-search.com. Apart from this unwanted changes, Claro Search has added a useless toolbar on your browser and whenever your are doing a search,it will display on the first search results their own ads.

Claro Search got on your computer after you have installed another program that had bundled in their installer the Claro Search.

You should always pay attention when installing software because often, a software installer includes optional installs, such as this Claro Search. Be very careful what you agree to install. Always opt for the custom installation and deselect anything that is not familiar, especially optional software that you never wanted to download and install in the first place. It goes without saying that you should not install software that you don?t trust.

^ I would temp. install and run Ad-aware.

Did you look at the Task Manager processes running when 'claro' pops up ?

You sholud be able to see an odd program, find it, and Delete.

http://malwaretips.c...o-search-virus/

You use/recommend Ad-aware and AVG? What, did you stop updating your programs in 2006? Both are junk now. Use MalwareBytes and ComboFix to scan. Then ditch AVG and use MSE or Avast.

You use/recommend Ad-aware and AVG? What, did you stop updating your programs in 2006? Both are junk now. Use MalwareBytes and ComboFix to scan. Then ditch AVG and use MSE or Avast.

I have MWB and Kaspersky Pure. I have run both on the OS drive and nothing pops up. Hum- When I have IE open there is no claro process running. So I have no clue where this is coming from.

^ This site does a pretty thorough explanation of getting rid of Claro:

http://malwaretips.c...o-search-virus/

As I quoted above, Claro could have installed as part of some other program.

Look at what programs you may have recently added.

And Adw-Cleaner seems to be a good detection and removal proggy.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
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If you use AI-powered browsing history search in Microsoft Edge, the company has bad news. A new update on the Microsoft 365 Roadmap revealed that Microsoft is discontinuing the feature. Despite using on-device models for natural search, some users found it creepy, claiming that Microsoft lacks trust in features like this. While the ability to find pages without using 100% precise words may sound cool, customers argued that it was nothing but another feature to bloat the browser with more AI. Good riddance? PowerToys received several updates this week. For one, Microsoft released version 0.100.1 with several improvements and bug fixes for the recently arrived version 0.100. A couple of days later, Microsoft dropped another update, this time fixing memory leaks in Command Palette Dock. In addition, the company is working on a new module that will make it easier to switch between windows within one application using the Alt + ` shortcut. The new module should make it to the stable release somewhere soon. Here are other updates and releases you may find interesting: New Ventoy update adds Windows 11's mandatory update support and more Microsoft updates Visual Studio Code with chat cost tracking and multi-agent chats Microsoft is building an AI datacenter that "uses less water than a fast food restaurant" Microsoft adds new AI study and teaching tools for free to Microsoft 365 Education Researchers claim Microsoft's quantum breakthrough is flawed by basic Python errors Microsoft is bringing a much-needed Recap app to Teams Microsoft's fast coding model, MAI-Code-1-Flash, comes to Copilot Business and Enterprise Here are the latest drivers and firmware updates released this week: AMD Radeon Software 26.6.2 with FSR 4.1 support for RDNA 3 graphics card. However, the driver contained a bug, which prevented installations on Windows 10 PCs. AMD fixed that with a quick hotfix update. Reviews are in Here is the hardware and software we reviewed this week This week, Steven Parker published several reviews. He shared his experience with the Creative Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe, a high-quality sound card with a headphone amp, low-latency communications, great build quality, and DSD256. However, it is on the pricier side of the spectrum, and it lacks EMI shielding. Check out the full review here. The second review is about the TerraMaster F4-425 Pro, an octa-core Intel NAS with a stand-out feature: built-in AI (OpenClaw). We also published a few Hands On reviews, which you can view below: We check out the SKG PS700 Neck Massager SKG Hand Massager with Heat OS500 hands on Hands-on with BOOX Tappy: cute little reading accessory Hands on with the ProtoArc EM25 affordable ergonomic mouse On the gaming side Learn about upcoming game releases, Xbox rumors, new hardware, software updates, freebies, deals, discounts, and more. If you plan to purchase a new Xbox, it's time to act now. This week, Microsoft announced yet another Xbox price increase. Starting August 1, 2026, all Xbox Series X|S models with 512 GB of storage will cost $100 more. As for the 1TB models, they are going up in price by a whopping $150. Finally, Microsoft is discontinuing the 2TB Xbox Series X. To make up for that, Microsoft announced a few programs to make its consoles more accessible. Those include BNPL, interest-free financing, pre-owned consoles, certified refurbished consoles, and more. Valve also shared some not-so-welcome news. The company has finally announced prices of the upcoming Steam Machine console, and if you plan to buy one, get ready to spend a whopping $1,049 on the 512GB configuration. The Steam Machine is now available for preorder, with shipments scheduled for June 29, 2026. Grand Theft Auto VI also received its official price tag. Rockstar Games announced that the long-anticipated game will launch at $79.99 for the base edition and $99.99 for the ultimate edition. The latter includes an exclusive collection of premium vehicles, weapons, apparel, and action threaded across all aspects of Jason and Lucia’s story." Those who preorder the game will get extra bonuses, including a Vintage Vice City Pack of cosmetic items as well as a free month of GTA+. NVIDIA announced new games for its GeForce NOW streaming service. Those include Dark Scrolls, SAND: Raiders of Sophie, Deer & Boy, EMPULSE, and more. Steam is running its annual Summer Sale, during which you can purchase plenty of various games with big discounts. It runs until July 9, so in case you missed it, you can still get some games at a lower price. Also, you can get two games for free in the Epic Games Store, plus more deals are available in this week's Weekend PC Game Deals issue. This link will take you to other issues of the Microsoft Weekly series. 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    • Text extractor hasn't been working great on 0.99.1 but I am now updating to this version, hopefully it's better!
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