G**gle hijack

[Poppa_Viagra]

I have picked up a virus/worm/trojan/whatever which causes browsers (both Chrome and IE) to redirect to different web sites, most of which are advertising sites. Example: G**gle "antivirus" and click a link like pctools.com, I get redirected to specific av site.
Anybody know how to fix this, other than going back to the paper copy of the Observer and telephones attached to the wall with wire?

[Toasted]

I do not know if related - but I was having a problem of being re-directed on all Google searches and upped the security requirements and found blocked Cookies from:

google-analytics.com/index.php?abc

[yardape]

You could try to download & install AVG (it's free), run it to entrap the trojan, then run Clean (it's free) or the sweeper of your choice, finally do a system restore back to a known uninfected date. Reads like some strong marketing trash is messing with your browser's interpreter. I use Firefox, don't trust goog or msft.

[Bella_HHD]

Originally Posted by sancocho

I have picked up a virus/worm/trojan/whatever which causes browsers (both Chrome and IE) to redirect to different web sites, most of which are advertising sites. Example: G**gle "antivirus" and click a link like pctools.com, I get redirected to specific av site.
Anybody know how to fix this, other than going back to the paper copy of the Observer and telephones attached to the wall with wire?

Wow .. ALL your browsers? I only got it on Firefox, but I got it on THREE friggin' computers.

This thing is a BITCH to get rid of, but it CAN be done. But it takes more than just downloading AVG, which I have an adore.

From an uninfected browser search "Google hijack". Look especially for post from computing.net, lockernome.com and www.bleepingcomputer.com. Also geekstogo.com.

They all have pretty comprehensive information on the problem.

Good luck.

[Greyhound]

There's an amazing tool out there called "combofix.exe". It's a pretty powerful utility that I use as a "last resort", but has better than a 90% fix rate for the virii(viruses?) that can't be removed by normal means. There's another tool that I use in conjunction, called MalwareBytes that is also very good. I like the ol' 1-2 punch when I'm working on infected computers. You can download these here :

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/comb...o-use-combofix

http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebyte...html?tag=mncol

Download, install, update, and then run a full scan with MalwareBytes first. That may be all you need to clean up your machine. If not, then download and run combofix. ComboFix looks a bit scary when you run it, but it's safe, and very effective. Both apps will take 20 mins or more to run.

As always, when working on cleaning up your computer, backup everything you need to a flash drive or external hard drive before you do anything, just to be safe.

Hope this helps!

[Will.P.Dallas]

I use Spybot S&D on all of my computers. If anything is there it will find it. You are probably looking for Malware.

[Tex9401]

I get paration made and once I have my computer or laptop setup with the stuff I need. I make ghost image. If something happens, I format C drive and reload with ghost image.

[GneissGuy]

Be very careful about bogus antimalware/antivirus software. Lots of the computer criminals are offering malware disguised as antimalware software.

For instance, Adaware is a very legit antimalware program. There's a criminal spyware program called "Adware" that tries to get you to load it instead. They post links to make it appear in google searches and (I think) even buy keyword ads on google.

I've got some links to legitimate antimalware programs here:

http://www.eccie.net/showpost.php?p=246712&postcount=15

Good luck

[Soxguy]

I had this problem, too. Took me about four days, off and on, to fix it. I had it on at least two browsers; Firefox and I don't remember which of the others.
Long story short, Answer: I downloaded Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, brought the computer up in Safe Mode, then ran Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware program. Bing, bang, boom. Problem fixed for free.
I second what GneissGuy said about watching out for bogus antimalware/antivirus software sites.

[Mokoa]

Get yourself the following tools...

CCleaner
This tool will clean out all crap that gets left behind in the various temporary file areas. Files, cookies, cached pages, etc. It also can help cleanup the Windows Registry as well.

You can find it here... CCleaner

avast!
This is a great free anti-virus tool that that costs nothing to to subscribe to updates for its virus database.

You can find it here... avast! free anti-virus software

Revo Uninstaller
This tool will uninstall pretty much remove any program you have installed in your system. It run the programs own uninstall and then scan the system for anything that may be left over. It is quite thorough.

You can find it here... Revo Uninstaller

Microsoft Security Essentials
Yes, even Microsoft has made available a free anti-virus tool. It is also quite good and will cost you nothing to keep its virus database updated.

You can find it here... Microsoft Security Essentials

Windows Defender
This is the firewall that comes with Windows. It was first introduced in Service Pack 2 of Windows XP. You need to have some kind of firewall up to protect the malicious stuff from getting in.