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Thread: computer problem

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Paradise PA
    Posts
    3,098

    Exclamation computer problem

    somewhere in the past month or so it seems i picked up a virus or something on my computer. i have run SuperAntispyware, and Ad-Aware numerous times on my computer and run then both atleast once a week. but one seems to have slipped through.

    everytime i try to google search using firefox it gives me the desired search, but when i click on the link it takes me to some shopping site or other add site, or it takes me to a site that says it is a search engine and has already run my search.

    when i use google on internet explorer, i can put in the search term "millersville university" and it will come up with a search for the number "7" and it doesnt always open the link when i do get it to search correctly.

    im thinking its some type of redirect thing but i have no idea.

    any help?
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  2. #2
    Copy off any important files (quarantine them on a thumb drive) and reload. Scan the files before you put them back on your PC.

    I try and stay away from backwater websites (anything with file sharing.)

  3. #3
    Try Hitman Pro.

  4. #4
    google redirect, hopefully didn't come with a rootkit virus.

    Try tdsskiller and any other anti-rootkit you can find. I don't know if hitman will catch that kind of thing, but it's worth a shot.

    I had a rootkit on a computer that never goes anywhere unsafe (and has antivirus protection). AV software doesn't do well with that type of virus, and even while it was running, my virus scanning software said the system was clean. As far as I could tell, my system files themselves must've been corrupted and the only fix was restoring an entire prior version to get rid of the redirects. If you can get rid of everything else, the redirects might be harmless (they're just there to generate ad money for whoever wrote the virus), but they are extremely annoying.

  5. #5
    If you're savvy, this could be a hosts file hijack. If it is, it's easily fixable by removing everything from the hosts file other than the loopback. It can be a million other things too, including a rootkit.

  6. #6
    Dave, I recommended Hitman Pro because it does particularly well with rootkits. It seems to catch everything that the other ones let through. They tout it as a "second opinion" scanner meant to run in conjunction with a full blown AVS.

  7. #7
    I couldn't remember whether I shot mine with TDSSKiller or hitman, hitman costs money if you use it more than 30 days though, but you can do a lot in 30 days. Even after my system came up clean, I was left with redirects. I'm still baffled where the PC got the issue, because other than searching for regulatory stuff and web based email, it doesn't do much else.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Medina Ohio
    Posts
    4,514
    Microsoft essentials works really good. I think I used the free viper anti software to remove a redirect virus

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Mtl, Canada
    Posts
    2,379
    Quote Originally Posted by curtis rosche View Post
    somewhere in the past month or so it seems i picked up a virus or something on my computer. i have run SuperAntispyware, and Ad-Aware numerous times on my computer and run then both atleast once a week. but one seems to have slipped through.

    everytime i try to google search using firefox it gives me the desired search, but when i click on the link it takes me to some shopping site or other add site, or it takes me to a site that says it is a search engine and has already run my search.

    when i use google on internet explorer, i can put in the search term "millersville university" and it will come up with a search for the number "7" and it doesnt always open the link when i do get it to search correctly.

    im thinking its some type of redirect thing but i have no idea.

    any help?
    i would suspect the hosts file also. Some scanners will run by themselves rather than inside windows which is how rootkits hide...

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Victoria, BC
    Posts
    2,367
    Spybot. Try it you'll like it.
    Check your hosts file as well. Spybot will test it for you as well.
    Paul

  11. Malawarebytes has always worked for me. Download it to a thumb drive on another computer with the lastest definitions.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Algonquin, IL
    Posts
    303
    Quote Originally Posted by Graham Wintersgill View Post
    Malawarebytes has always worked for me. Download it to a thumb drive on another computer with the lastest definitions.
    +1 I've use it to save my sister and brother in law a couple of times.

    There's a big difference between a virus and malware in the way the get in. AV programs don't always stop or find malware. This will.
    “Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity”

  13. #13
    Malwarebytes doesn't always work with rootkits. Some of them disable or modify it so that they don't get found. Mine did (either disable or modify it).

  14. #14
    If SAS didn't find anything, you need TDSSKiller.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    The Hartland of Michigan
    Posts
    7,628
    Quote Originally Posted by paul cottingham View Post
    Spybot. Try it you'll like it.
    Check your hosts file as well. Spybot will test it for you as well.
    +1 Make sure you get "Spybot- Search and Destroy" There are other scanners using the Spybot name.
    http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
    Never, under any circumstances, consume a laxative and sleeping pill, on the same night

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