Help Google acting funny

mutley74 · 8 January 2006 at 7:09PM

Hi

last week i found a trojan virus which AVG (free) seems to have solved. I have run (updated daily) AVG several time to ensure the problem is solved, and run Ad-aware and spybot checker frequently.

However, i notice that when using google, instead of google directing me to the searchs website found I seem to be redirected to some junk mail website.

Any suggestions on what i can do or other software i can use to check over my pc?

albertross_2 · 8 January 2006 at 7:10PM

check your hosts file hasn't been doctored.

Can you actually get to Google, but get re-directed when you hit a search link?

mutley74 · 8 January 2006 at 8:10PM

google and other net options work. When i see the search results e.g cineworld..and click on the website link it seems to redirect me to !!!!!! websites.

run a-squared software which picked 5 items...but when i try to use google again same problem......

help!

Bob_the_Builder_5 · 8 January 2006 at 8:23PM

- Go to https://www.doxdesk.com/parasite and see what it says
- Run Spybot Search & Destroy https://www.safer-networking.org/en/download
- For God's sake stop using Internet Explorer, it's probably what got you the problem in the first place. Download and install Opera instead https://www.opera.com

intel · 8 January 2006 at 8:35PM

Check out this also. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=133269

cherries_3 · 8 January 2006 at 9:01PM

Hi there I would also check your hosts.ini file which is in your windows folder. It should only have 127.0.0.1 (localhost) - or similar inside it... ALso do as the other posts say and run as many anti spyware programs as possible. I use SpyBot which is quite good and also Microsofts own antispam.

Good Luck!

albertross_2 · 8 January 2006 at 9:59PM

Sounds like you've caught something nasty, virus, trojan, spyware, browser helper object. checkout the links above, to see how to sort it. When you have finished, rename your hosts file to hosts.old

mutley74 · 8 January 2006 at 10:36PM

yes tried MS spyware which seemed to find a trojan horse and removed it..which the other software could not do.

pc seems okay now..when i get more time will run a online check with norton

whatis the hosts.ini file before i rename it?

i only have a hosts.msn file on my pc.

albertross_2 · 8 January 2006 at 10:50PM

c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

The hosts file is used to translate a name e.g. https://www.google.com into an ip address, which computers on the internet use to talk to each other.

A common trick for these nasties, is to put 127.0.0.1 https://www.windowsupdate.com

and similar lines in the hosts file, this which stop your PC being able to run windows updates, and similar lines may stop anti-virus updates etc..

127.0.0.1 is your PC's address, therefore if you had this in your host file, it would redirect IE to your PC, and stop you getting to the website.

Just something to check, as many anti-spyware vendors, get rid of the virus/spyware, but don't (or can't) fix the damage done elsewhere on the PC.

The hosts file is just a text file that can be opened in notepad..

albertross_2 · 8 January 2006 at 10:54PM

If there is nothing untoward in there, just leave it as it is, but if you have a long list of websites listed, and you haven't put them there, the trojan may have done it.

mutley74 · 8 January 2006 at 11:03PM

this is what is shown when i open the hosts.msn file:

Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

127.0.0.1 localhost

Help Google acting funny

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