Help... Google search redirecting

[Lollie]

 

Can anyone advise me,  when I do a search and the page comes up with what I have searched, when I click the site I want it starts up and then redirects to another site, usually a gaming or selling site.   I have  Norton firewall and antivirus, and I have full system scanned, plus a sybot scan, nothing shows up,  I have deleted all my temporary files and cookies and history,  what is it? whatcan I do???

 

Lollie 44 

[anniefromwales]

Are you using IE, if so try a different browser? (eg. Opera, Firefox, Google Chrome)

[Danny]

Has this just started happening recently/suddenly.

It does sound like some malware or spyware is running.

What browser are you using ? Internet Explorer or Firefox or other

What is the Operating system ? Windows Vista or XP or other 

If you are using Internet explorer, is it possible to try Firefox. It should not be affected by the same spyware.

Spyware problems can sometimes be quite difficult to remove but here is a good place to start

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407  if you can access the website, of course. There is a lot of information there and hopefully it is not too technical.

Danny

[Lollie]

My computer is XP,  I have changed my search engine from Google now to Yahoo, but the problem still persists,  I have updated my Norton antivirus to 2009 and done a full scan, no problems showing there, but still redirecting.

 

Lollie  44

[Danny]

Lollie

have a good read and follow all the instructions on this page

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=139313

if you are unsure, or you are unable to open the links, then please post again

Danny

[Tim]

Something like this kept happening to a friend - I downloaded SuperAntiSpyware - did a scan and it sorted out the problem

I have it running on all three of my machines - it's free and I've never suffered from this issue.

Regards - Tim

[anniefromwales]

Hi, if you haven't tried a different browser yet I really would try that, it worked for me, Internet Explorer is more prone to bugs than and if there is a bug in Explorer, using a different search engine won't make any difference but using a different browser will. A lot of people use Mozilla Firefox, I like Opera, but Google Chrome is very fast and light and intuitive. You don't need to remove Explorer first and you can download any of them for free, Chrome is at

http://www.google.com/chrome/index.html?hl=en&brand=CHMA&utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-ha-row-bk&utm_medium=ha

Good luck

(I don't think this link is going to work, admin help please?)

[DerekJ]

Chrome download from here

I use Firefox.... download from here

Oh, I've just thought, will the link work for you or will you get redirected?

Otherwise paste these urls into your browser

http://www.google.com/chrome/index.html?hl=en-GB&brand=CHMB&utm_campaign=en_gb&utm_source=en_gb-ha-emea-uk-sk&utm_medium=ha

http://www.mozilla-europe.org/en/firefox/

[anniefromwales]

Thanks DerekJ.

Just realised how stupid my post reads - if you removed Exploder first you wouldn't be able to download anything at all would you, doh! but what I meant was you can have several browsers installed on your machine and choose which to set as default/use for particular tasks.

[DerekJ]

No problem Annie. I certainly endorse your suggestion to dump Internet Explorer as quickly as possible. 

[suein56]

[quote user="Lollie"]

My computer is XP,  I have changed my search engine from Google now to Yahoo, but the problem still persists,  I have updated my Norton antivirus to 2009 and done a full scan, no problems showing there, but still redirecting.[/quote]

IMHO it really seems to be a more a question of removing whatever nasty ie trojan/ worm/whatever you have acquired asap. The removal programmes mentioned previously are all sound. So install a new browser and then exterminate the nasty.

If you are nervous of doing this then contact one or some of the members on here or post your anxiety and someone will be glad to help. We have all been where you are in one way or another at some point in our computer lives.

Sue

[Lollie]

Hi everyone,

Thank you all for your replies.....   I have downloaded Firefox, it certainly seems quicker than IE.   But guess what?   When I do a search on google, it still redirects??    When it redirects often Norton pops up to say it has blocked an intrusion and if a click on the back arrow it takes me to the site I wanted,   I have spy botted and done a full system scan with Norton antivirus 2°009 that says I have no virus,   so what now??????  Its really frustrating...

Lollie

 

[Tim]

In my opinion Sue is quite correct - you should remove the problem first. Have you run SuperAntiSpyware yet? As I said, it certainly helped with my friends' machine.

In case you have problems searching for it -here is the url   http://www.superantispyware.com/download.html

The free edition works just fine. As in all these cases, it's important to update the programme regularly and then run - I normally run mine once a week.

Hopefully this will help you out and you can then decide whether to change browsers. I have to say, again in my opinion, I quite like IE7 - it certainly seems much more secure than the older versions. I also run Firefox on one of my other machines and I get on quite well with that as well.

Regards - Tim

[tel]

[quote user="Tim"]

In my opinion Sue is quite correct - you should remove the problem first. Have you run SuperAntiSpyware yet? As I said, it certainly helped with my friends' machine.

In case you have problems searching for it -here is the url   http://www.superantispyware.com/download.html

The free edition works just fine. As in all these cases, it's important to update the programme regularly and then run - I normally run mine once a week.

Hopefully this will help you out and you can then decide whether to change browsers. I have to say, again in my opinion, I quite like IE7 - it certainly seems much more secure than the older versions. I also run Firefox on one of my other machines and I get on quite well with that as well.

Regards - Tim

[/quote]

I completely agree regarding I.E. too many Microsoft detractors on this forum.  If it wasn't for Microsoft 99% wouldn't even have a computer.  Internet Explorer IS as secure if not MORE secure than the other browsers simply because Microsoft keep on top of any security issues.  Annies problem as pointed out is a Trojan,  remove that and your browsing will return to normal.

Regards

[Lollie]

I have downloaded and used superantispyware as recommended,  and yes it showed 100+ adware all been taken care of, but still being redirected!!!  Years ago I used Stopzilla when I am sure it was free, any other ideas?  Also after a week of Firefox I am not impressed it seems to crash on a regular basis generally after a search engine request.

Lollie

[Pierre ZFP]

I have used this with great success in the past

www.doctor-alex.com

It found stuff left behind by other anti-spyware programs

As usual, no connection with this lot blah blah just a satisfied user

 

[suein56]

[quote user="Lollie"]

I have downloaded and used superantispyware as recommended,  and yes it showed 100+ adware all been taken care of, but still being redirected!!!  Years ago I used Stopzilla when I am sure it was free, any other ideas?  Also after a week of Firefox I am not impressed it seems to crash on a regular basis generally after a search engine request.

[/quote]

OK, assuming your computer is now clean ... then perhaps Norton is being overzealous? You might need to tweak your settings to stop NAV from being overprotective. A close friend had a snag with her Kaspersky doing the same thing.

Sue

[AnOther]

Try downloading Toolbarcop  http://windowsxp.mvps.org/toolbarcop.htm  It's tiny and doesn't install anything just unzip and run.

In the report look for particularly for BHO's (Browser Helper Objects) and delete any you don't recognise along with anything else which seems suspicious. The programme keeps a backup of anything you delete so you can always put things back again.if necessary.

[Lollie]

Things are etting worse, it now redirects to porn sites occasionally, I dare not let the kids on the computer!!    Help, but it simple terms.   Anyone any experience of Stopzilla?

[AnOther]

Some have had success fixing this with Malwarebytes

[AnOther]

Another point, could your meddling little visitors have downloaded a fake antivirus programme called Antivirus 2009 ?

This pops up when you are on a rogue site claiming you have a virus and offering you a free download of their programme to fix it, needless to say it is not what it appears to be.

Could be the sort of thing kids might fall for though.

[cheminot]

Have you tried doing a 'system restore' back to a date when you know the computor was working ok?

cheminot

[Lollie]

No  how do I do that?  and will it remove the antivirus and antispyware I have paid for and downloaded since?

[cheminot]

Click on 'all programs' in your start menu.

Click on 'accessories'.

From the dropdown list select 'system tools', from this dropdown menu select 'system restore'.

 Windows might now ask your permission to continue, if so click on 'OK'.

 A 'restore system' page will then come up. It will offer you a recommended restore point but this is unlikely to be far enough back so select 'choose a different restore point'.

 It will then bring up a page with a list of other restore points or an option to select an earlier date.

Choose this option if neccessary and scroll down until you find a date that you are sure was before your computor was infected and click on it.

Click on 'next' and follow the instructions.

You will not lose any programs or files but you may have to download updates for some programs again.

cheminot