Flip_Side Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Everytime I use google or any search engine it will bring up my search results and I click the links and it will take me to a whole different site with ads and stuff. This is the only thing weird I've noticed on my computer, anyone know what the problem is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flip_Side Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 are you saying that you can see the URL in the results, but you get re-directed somewhere else? It brings up all the results for my search I'll click it then it automatically goes to a new link that always starts with www.affiliate.biz or something then redirects me again to a whole new site for advertising and stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithkt Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Sounds like some form of malware to me. Download/Install Malwarebytes. Run a scan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flip_Side Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 Yep, 3 infections found already. Geeze i don't know what I'm doing, I don't visit porn or anything this is frustrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithkt Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Yep, 3 infections found already. Geeze i don't know what I'm doing, I don't visit porn or anything this is frustrating. It happens all the time. These scum bags will hack major sites like CNN, install transparent downloaders and collect more victims. Same thing happens with "legitimate" ad servers. They may unintentionally host an ad which contains malware. It sucks. Could have come from an email, facebook, myspace page. Infected USB stick. Countless methods. anti-malware/spyware/virus software is simply a must in this day and age. Especially true on Windows systems as they are simply the most targeted systems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flip_Side Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 This is ridiculous. Malware found a bunch of objects and deleted them on restart. I also ran Symantec antivirus and it found 1 small virus and deleted it. I'm still getting the same problem on search results however... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocknrobn26 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 This is ridiculous. Malware found a bunch of objects and deleted them on restart. I also ran Symantec antivirus and it found 1 small virus and deleted it. I'm still getting the same problem on search results however... When did this start? Did you try to do a restore? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightsOfKnee Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 This is ridiculous. Malware found a bunch of objects and deleted them on restart. I also ran Symantec antivirus and it found 1 small virus and deleted it. I'm still getting the same problem on search results however... My wife had this problem a few months ago. It was a new virus at the time. Unfortunately I don't remember how i fixed it. I can tell you i searched out a geek blog and fixed it pretty quick though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 (edited) sometimes one scanning program won't catch your problem. you could try the free one from lavasoft as well. I tell you though....ever since I started using mozilla as mt primary browser a couple years ago, I really don't have adware problems. edit to add: go to your add/remove prgrams control panel and scroll through slowly to see if it lists anything that might be a culprit. sometimes these things will get "officially" installed and, I dunno, maybe that gives them some credibility in the eyes of the malware scan, like it's supposed to be there so it skips over. Edited July 7, 2009 by Azazello1313 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrip Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 (edited) This happened to me a while back. A combination of a couple antivirus programs didn't work. I fixed it with a program called "Hijackthis" which will scan all processes, even hidden ones, registry, programs, etc and come up with a list of crap that is potentially bad. The only problem is that you need to take the list and do some research on what files you can safely delete and which are important parts of programs you've installed. It sounds like a pain, but for me it was either this or wipe my entire hard drive and start over. After you've fixed the problem, start using Firefox and download the addon NoScript. No more self-installing viruses. Edited July 7, 2009 by mrip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flip_Side Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 Already looked through my programs and nothing looks fishy. If I just leave my computer like this will it start affecting other things beside just the searching on google, because I can live with just that if I have to. I don't want to start downloading programs that I have no clue what to do with and end up messing up more important stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrip Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 (edited) Already looked through my programs and nothing looks fishy. If I just leave my computer like this will it start affecting other things beside just the searching on google, because I can live with just that if I have to. I don't want to start downloading programs that I have no clue what to do with and end up messing up more important stuff. The trick is the program hides from windows. It won't show up in programs list or process list. It's an entry in the registry that starts the virus and hides it from view before the operating system finishes loading. If you find it and delete it, one of several hidden files will reinstall it next time you turn on your computer. It's crazy. I spent a lot of time looking into this. Who knows what else it will do. It could be programmed to do anything, including copy your keystrokes, think bank accounts, passwords, SS#, etc. and send it to Bangladesh. Edited July 7, 2009 by mrip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Already looked through my programs and nothing looks fishy. If I just leave my computer like this will it start affecting other things beside just the searching on google, because I can live with just that if I have to. I don't want to start downloading programs that I have no clue what to do with and end up messing up more important stuff. going through hijackthis logs is something of a last resort. just downloading and installing a couple different free adware scans really isn't. the lavasoft one is reputable and easy. if it doesn't find your problem, you can easily just uninstall. I wouldn't advise "just living with" what sounds like a fairly serious adware bug. these things don't just sit there nice. they tend to pull down other crap and spread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomicCEO Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 I don't visit porn or anything Go back to Russia, commie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocknrobn26 Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Read my question above and change browsers (FF if on IE). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flip_Side Posted July 8, 2009 Author Share Posted July 8, 2009 Read my question above and change browsers (FF if on IE). Just started a few days ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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