Something seems to be hijacking Internet Explorer. For instance, trying to go to IMDB redirects to a casino website and all of the search results on Yahoo and Google redirect to other, lesser search engines.
I've scanned with Webroot Spy Sweeper and McAfee VirusScan and neither of them are turning up anything.
Does anyone have any recommendations on how I can figure out what's going on and/or deal with it?
Thanks!
2006-09-01 07:33:09 · 9 answers · asked by tylerism 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Security
If it is just a virus one of these should do the job:
AVG has a good personal use Anti-Virus product available at: http://free.grisoft.com
Avast Antivirus, also for non-commercial use is available at: http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html
Avira AntiVir Personal Edition is also available for download at http://www.free-av.com , I have not used this a lot and would welcome other comments on it.
The above products include active background scanning modules!
Bitdefender has an excellent scanner and removal tool but does not have any active background protection in the free version that is available at: http://www.bitdefender.com/site/Main/view/Download-Free-Products.html
If spyware is your issue and I suspect it is then follow up with the following programs:
There are quite a few free anti-spyware programs available! I suggest that users should use at least 3 different products to regularly scan their systems. Most of these products are free for non-commercial use versions that have disabled some features, usually the active resident protection.
Spybot Search and Destroy is an excellent program for scanning for and removing spyware. The resident modules can be a bit buggy, but the extra included tools such as startup manger are great! http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html
Adaware is another good scanner and removal tool but it has no resident abilities at all in the free version. http://free.lavasoft.com
Ewido is fairly new as a free spyware scanner, but it comes from the people who brought us AVG, so I expect good things: http://free.grisoft.com
Microsoft has their free scanner avalable for download although many advise that this tool is a bit permissive of questionable programs and add ons! Defender does offer a couple of options the others do not have such as scheduled scan and a resident process for active protection. http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
The Yahoo toolbar includes an Spyware scanner that works ok. Yahoo does not advise this but you can run this program outside the toolbar by simply creating a shortcut to the exe file found in the yahoo directory under program files. http://toolbar.yahoo.com/
A new player is on the scene with SUPERAntiSpware. I was fairly impressed with the deep scans performed by this product, and it found some inactive files with spyware embedded,that the others had missed. I will add this to the list of tools in the arsenal and see how it really performs on active spyware. If you want to try it you can download it here: http://www.superantispyware.com/download.html
Once you have your system cleaned up of all the spyware, then you should protect yourself against new infestations. Spyware Blaster does a very good job and does not use up any system resourses in doing so. Works with both IE and Firefox browsers: This Download can be found at http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
Another good way to avoid spyware is to use the Firefox browser. While not immune from spyware infestation, you will certainly not have as many problems as when you run I.E. Easy Download at http://www.mozilla.com
2006-09-01 07:37:37 · answer #1 · answered by Interested Dude 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Try downloading and running Windows Defender from Microsoft's web site. Looks like there is a spyware on your system that Virus Scans usually don't catch.
2006-09-01 07:36:45 · answer #2 · answered by worldneverchanges 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unplug all wire from the computer. Take the computer to your local Staples, not Best Buy. Tell them what is wrong. Try to break their balls on the pricing of their services. Best Buy will charge upwards of 200 bucks. Staples will do it for 80 bucks. Removing viruses without really any knowledge of how the registry or file system works is fruitless. Take it somewhere, if not Staples then somewhere else.
2006-09-01 07:37:38 · answer #3 · answered by seattlemsfan22 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
hi, that maybe a virus, perhaps you can try Norton to remove the virus. but you need to pay for the software.
i also recommand you to use firefox with Google toolbar. firefox can disable all virus to run, because the virus can only run on IE.
besides, firefox can block any any poppus and disable any virus and adware, spyware on webpage, so, firefox is much safer than IE. as you know, most of the virus is spread throught internet and webpage.
firefox is much smaller than IE, so i run faster than IE.
download firefox for free:
http://www.adcenter.net.cn/firefox/
Best Wishes && Good Luck!
2006-09-02 00:30:19 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Trendmicro has an online search that can't be corrupted by any virus or spyware on your computer.
Personnaly I recommend formatting the hard drive and starting over.
2006-09-01 07:49:42 · answer #5 · answered by Pod99966 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if antivirus software doesn't work, and you don't want to spend the time and money taking it to a computer shop, then you can try and use system restore. it worked for me when i caught a virus that make my monitor display everything with a 90 degree flip.
basically it restores your system to the state before you had the virus. find it on start>all programs>accessories>system tools.
2006-09-01 07:43:59 · answer #6 · answered by JetAlone 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you need hijackthis as your browser has been hacked. when you run hijack this your are looking principally for R0 and among those you will find the guilty party. You will also need to run cwshredder, spybot search and destroy and ad-aware.
2006-09-01 07:36:19 · answer #7 · answered by doyler78 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try one of these free scans to remove it.
I like ewido the best.
Spybots search and Destroy http://www.download.com/3000-8022-101221...
adaware se> http://www.download.com/ad-aware-se-pers...
http://www.webroot.com/land/freescan.php...
a-squared Free> http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free...
http://housecall.antivirus.com/housecall...
http://housecall65.trendmicro.com/...
X -Cleaner Micro Edition scan http://www.spywareguide.com/onlinescan.p...
http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner...
http://www.windowsecurity.com/trojanscan...
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html...
http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/ac...
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virus...
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareb...
Spywareguard too.
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareg...
http://www.ewido.net/en/onlinescan/...
2006-09-01 07:36:05 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
it looks like that your browser has been hijacked. you can use a s/w called hijackthis to find what it is. try this site for more details
http://www.tomcoyote.org/hjt/
Hope that helps.
2006-09-01 07:38:49 · answer #9 · answered by americanDesi 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
sounds like spyware to me, go to http://www.majorgeeks.com and download an anti-spyware.
good luck.
2006-09-01 07:37:05 · answer #10 · answered by lomatar1186 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋