My search engine keeps getting hijacked by annoying sites, what should I do?

Question

When I do a search, I get taken to sites other than the ones I searched for. I also get annoying pop ups, even though I have a pop up blocker, I think I have a virus or something. I do have virus protection, anti-spyware and identify theft protection etc which is updated every day (the virgin one) so why am I having so many problems and whats the most simple way of solving it? I would really appreciate any advice! I don't want to end up downloading more software which will cause more viruses, its a bit like a mine field out there!

Answer 1

You have smitfraud, download, update & run:

http://www.superantispyware.com/

Answer 2

hiya, well one thing is for certain, you have been infected with some sort of malware, i am not familiar with the Virgin protection you have, but, if it were up to scratch then you probably wouldn't be in this situation. I know you say that you don't want to download any further software but to be honest apart from reinstalling your complete system you may have to, try getting Ad-Aware from Lavasoft and update and run it, also download SpyBot search and destroy, both of these are free and will certainly help, the next option is an on line scan, the one i use is Panda soft, go to their site, if you can get to it and follow the instructions for scanning your computer, when it finds a virus it will destroy it, with adware it will warn you about it and you will have to use some other method of removing it, as in the previous 2 i mentioned. Whatever you do don't install any other anti-virus while you have the Virgin one, two anti-virus programmes will be in conflict with each other. If all of this fails then there are other steps you can take but try this first, i would be interested to know how you get on. take care and good luck.

Answer 3

If you are running anti-virus and spyware programs and still having problems, I would suggest a two step approach.

1) Are you using a firewall (you don't mention that). Evaluate you security software. Most of the major computer magazines and consumer groups evaluate computer security software once per year. How do your programs stack up? You may need better programs. While you can only run one anti-virus program at a time, you can run multiple spyware programs. I am using three, two of which are free.

You might want to look into Spybot which is a highly rated free spyware program and Windows Defender from MicroSoft, which is also free.

2) I would reformat my hard drive and reinstall everything, starting with the operating system of course. This will get rid of what you have and let you start out with a clean system. Just be careful of the Internet sights you visit and the programs you download.

Answer 4

Go to www.download.com

All for free And download

Ad-Aware SE Personal

Spybot - Search & Destroy

If these don’t help then you have been hijacked big time

You will then have to download

Trend Micro HijackThis 1.99.1

HijackThis lists the contents of key areas of the Registry and hard drive--areas that are used by both legitimate programmers and hijackers. The program is continually updated to detect and remove new hijacks. It does not target specific programs and URLs, only the methods used by hijackers to force you onto their sites. As a result, false positives are imminent, and unless you're sure about what you're doing, you always should consult with knowledgable folks before deleting anything

Answer 5

Download and install Spybot S&D from here:
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

Downloand and install AVG antivirus from here:
http://free.grisoft.com/

Run the updates on both programs but don't do any scans yet.


Start by doing this

1) go to start--run-- %temp%--delete all files

2) navigate to C:\WINDOWS\Prefetch--delete all files.

3) go to control panel and remove all programs you don't need/use anymore or some that may look suspicious

4) navigate to "C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files" and delete all files in folder. note 'user' should be your name. Do this for each user name on your pc--if any
The Local Settings folder is hidden so once you open C:,
go to 'Tools,' then 'Folder Options,' click on the 'View' tab and then select "Show hidden files and folders"

6) download and install Glarysoft's registry repair from download.com

7) empty your trash can

8) Restart you computer in safe mode (When you restart, tap F8 for 1 second at a time until you see a screen with different options including safe mode)

9) Run the Spybot S&D

10) Run AVG Antivirus

11) Restart.

if you still need further help after this, i'm at myspace.com/bigdame121

Answer 6

The links below are trusted and will not put spyware in your system. They will find and remove nasty stuff.

You can run a free online scan from CA.
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virus...



Run Spybot and SuperAntiSpyware weekly.


Download, update and run Spybot---http://www.safer-networking.org/...... . Don't forget to use the Immunize feature.


Download, update and run SuperAntiSpyware---http://www.snapfiles.com/get/SuperAntiSpyware.html




Now to prevent spyware from being installed in the first place....

Download SpywareBlaster---http://majorgeeks.com/download2859.html...
SpywareBlaster doesn't scan and clean for spyware - it prevents it from ever being installed.

It's main features include:
- Prevent the installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, browser hijackers, dialers, and other potentially unwanted pests.
- Block spyware/tracking cookies in Internet Explorer and Mozilla/Firefox.
- Restrict the actions of potentially dangerous sites in Internet Explorer.

Answer 7

You have "Spyware". Try running both Spybot and Adaware. If you don't have either of these programs that can be downloaded for no cost at the following links.

Adaware

http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5

Spybot S&D

http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022-10122137.html?part=dl-spybot&subj=dl&tag=but

Answer 8

To prevent browser hijacks, run A-Squared Hijack Free. To prevent popups, run Firefox.

Answer 9

yeh it is tricky...sounds like you may have some sort of adware or spyware...had a lot of probs with them myself in the past...i use Norton Antivirus and that seems to take care of most probs...not so sure about the Virgin one...can you do system scans with it to look for probs?

Answer 10

try firefox as your web browser