how do i stop my computer from going to random sites evertime i hit a link?

Question

When i am in a site i will click on a link and end up at some random search site (WTF) If you know how to deal with this please share the knowledge

Answer 1

Download these four programs for free:

Avira Antivirus
Lavasoft AdAware
AVG AntiSpyware
Mozilla Firefox

These will clean up any nasty things and help to prevent them in future. Keep them updated and scan regularly.

Then, go into your internet options and reset to the default settings.

Hopefully, after the scan and reset, and by using Firefox, you should be free from this problem.

Answer 2

Sounds like you have a virus or some kind of spyware on your computer. First make sure your virus-checker is up-to-date. If you don't have a good one, try Avast! which you can download free, and keep it running all the time.

For spyware, try AdAware - you probably need to run that at least once a month, and delete anything which it says is dangerous.

Also make sure you keep updated with your browser, particularly if you use Internet Explorer. Windows offers updates (free) to patch problems and security holes, and sometimes they're about once a week. If your computer doesn't install these automatically, make sure you set it up to do so.

Answer 3

your bowser has been hijacked
and only IE browsers get hijacked, not Firefox


99% of all internet problems can be attributed to the wrong set of Web browser and Email clients in coordination of the
AV/ Spyware / Firewall software.


Get the following, all are free for a safe surfing experience, with proven track records and do not take up
system resources like Norton or McAffee.
install in SAFE mode with networking ( hit F-8 at boot time ), run them all in SAFE mode
with networking as you'll need it for the updates all the programs below will need.
Turn off RESTORE and the RECYLE BIN temporarily as virii can regenerate / reinfect even if you delete
them with both services on. After all the scanning and cleaning after a 2nd reboot and one last
scan do you turn both of them back on.

ANTI VIRAL

AVG (free) http://free.grisoft.com/


FIREWALL

ZoneAlarm http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp

WEB BROWSER - http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox

EMAIL use thunderbird. It has a good built in spam filter and learns when you teach it. http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird

SPYWARE

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

Once you set it all up create 3 email accounts..

a hotmail or yahoo account for web "verification", this account you will not care if it get spammed

a sub account ( from the master account )to your ISP that you use for logons, this is the one you use for personal
emails only to trusted people and banking, ebay and paypal. Never use the account for anything else than that,
you find spam is low to non existant if you follow this rule, and even if it does become spam laden, then you
can delete the account and create a new sub account and do all the email updates to ebay, paypal, banks and your
freinds.

finally your master account from your ISP, this one you NEVER use, it's only kept for creating sub accounts since
changing the master account is a real pain.


and if you have a wireless router follow these tips,


1. Use WPA encryption (WPA-PSK) it's less crackable then WEP.

2. Make a passphrase that is upper & lower case and has some numbers thrown in there as well, again harder to crack.
some like mAkE1t5eCurE0rel53 and as long as possible.

3. Use MAC access control so only you or authorized PC's can connect (even if you do have encryption turned on)

4. Turn off DHCP use static addresses.

5. Turn off SSID (and change it) unless your card really needs it (some do)

6. Change username/password of access unit front end

7. Ensure you have the usual firewall enabled on your PC.

8. Paranoia rules, turn WLAN off if your not using it :)


one last tip
control panel---administrator tools--services--messenger

right clik on it
stop the service
then disable it
save changes

Answer 4

1. Run a spyware and adware check.
2. Use Firefox. You're using Internet Explorer aren't you?

There's your two main causes.

Answer 5

a minor virus
you need adware

Answer 6

that's a virus