redirecting problem

[J.R.69]

Somehow, I've acquired a trojan horse (?) that redirects any google or bing search to random unwanted sites.

I'd appreciate any help in getting rid of this damned thing. A particularly frustrating aspect of this is that if I google for a solution for it, I get redirected elsewhere!!

 

[jmatt]

If you can afford to lose stuff on your system, you might consider completely reformatting and reloading your system. If you don't want to do that...

First off, you need to the following loaded on your system:

One firewall, you don't need more than one.

One virus scanner. Again, don't load more than one.

Malware/spyware scanner/blocker.

I use Sygate Person Firewall, AVG Anti-Virus, SpywareBlaster and SUPERAntiSpyware. All of those are freeware programs and work great.

Start by going here: MajorGeeks.

If you don't like that site, or can't get to it, there are others.

 

[J.R.69]

Well, I have Trend Micro Antivirus and Spy Sweeper, which are run every night, yet this thing has sneaked past them.

I can't re-format and reload everything, because I don't have the programs. This is the result of buying from Best Buy: if they pre-load all the software at the store, you don't end up with anything except what's loaded on your hard drive. If you have a problem, Best Buy gives you 2 options: take your computer to their Geek Squad department, or call Dell.

And I'd rather french-kiss a rattlesnake than do either.

 

[YoLaDu]

Malware and Spyware removal is becoming a cottage industry.

Did you get one of those viruses that says you have a virus, click here, which then spreads the nasty bugger thoughout your computer?

 

[J.R.69]

YoLaDu:

No. It just showed up one day when I tried to google something....everything gets redirected to random sites, e.g., bass fishing equipment, car insurance, etc.

It not only affects google, it does same with bing and yahoo. It really sucks ***.

 

[14tokihorn]

What kind of equipment is your computer connected to for getting to the Internet?

Home Router? If so, you may have this relatively new redirect exploit. It not only has attacked your computer, it has hacked your router - the link has a list of home routers, scroll to the far right for "yes" / "no" which indicates vulnerability.

Routers hit by rebinding attack

[edit] Likely If you have one of these AND have NOT changed the default UName & password in the router.

Related Link

 

[J.R.69]

14tokihorn:

I'm connected to internet through AT&T U-verse and don't use a router.

 

[Reborn_Horn]

I picked up the same thing where all links returned in a search would redirect elsewhere. It was a pain in the butt to get rid of and after 2 days, I was finally successful.

I tried Bazooka, Malwarebytes, Adaware, etc but nothing worked. What DID work was a combination of ComboFix and SUPERAntiSpyware. May not work for you but there are other options and combinations.

The biggest problem is getting new programs to install. Luckily, I had another computer and was able to download, copy to flash drive, and then install on infected computer. It wasn't easy but probably not necessary just yet to re-flash/reload the hard drive.

Check out bleepingcomputer.com or similar sites where folks have experienced what you are OR you can post up your issue and have someone help you through it.

Good luck!

 

[YoLaDu]

anyone have any experience with SpyDoctor. It tells me it has found the virus that is plaguing my machine. I have Ariva and Malwarebytes, but they didn't get rid of it.

It appears after a scan, SpyDoctor found it, but now they want $30.00 to get rid of it. PCWorld, Cnet give it good reviews. Am i getting scammed if i go through with it?

 

[Reborn_Horn]

No experience with SpyDoctor but I wouldn't pay for anything unless I'd exhausted all the freeware options.

 

[YoLaDu]

In reply to:

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[J.R.69]

Got rid of thr google redirect virus with Hitmanpro3.5. It's free for 30 days.

Thanks, all, for suggestions.

 

[Longhorny630]

I had a similar problem, if you have to pay to fix it you aren't trying hard enough. Generally, my approach to solving virus or malware infections is to google the problem. Chances are high (like 100% high) that somebody else who knows a helluva lot more about it than you has/had a similar problem, fixed it, and are getting the word out on how to fix it. Step by step instructions are typically given. If you have access to another computer, do your searches there so you can bypass the redirect problem, otherwise, you can google the stuff, find a link you want to go to, copy it rather than click on it, paste it in the address bar, and hopefully bypass the redirect. what to google for depends, if pop ups are telling you you're infected, google the name of the virus program it wants you to download. google the sites that you're being redirected to, google the high risk stuff that comes up in the scans you run. it's hard to help you unless you know the exact virus you have. post the stuff here if you cant bypass the redirects and ill do it for you.

Download all the free ware stuff (spybot, malware, a-squared), update em all, then reboot and run the scans in safe mode. i had one similiar problem like this that i fixed with SDFIX.exe (in addition to the aforementioned scans). simple and effective. paying for this kinda stuff is ridiculous. download AVG for your antivirus and run that when youre done with everything else.