Crappy virus thingy...

[Buddy]

...redirects my google searches to other sites trying to sell me stuff...

Any computer types know how to stop this?

I ran spybot search & destroy but problem still persists.

Thanks in advance.

J.

[deus x machina]

http://www.free-av.com/   try this

[Wils]

Sounds like you've got a browser hijack, Ump.

Some info that may help you here: //http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/hijacked/

[the shutdown man]

I had something similar a while back, it's a bollocks of a thing that keeps re-appearing after you seemingly get rid of it with anti-virus/spyware scans. I think the site Wils posted was the same one I used to get rid of it, they'll look at the log file you post from HiJack and more or less talk you through exactly what you need to do to get rid of it. Tailor-made techsupport really, and it works.

[Buddy]

Cheers... gettin a 'page cannot be displayed' error on those links, but i think thats part of the spyware preventing me from going to these sites to fix the problem... I'll have to look on another computer to find out what i need to do then transfer whatever software i need to my home computer to get it sorted....

Pain in the arse more than anything else...

[Matt Timson]

What cracks me up is this: who in their right mind is going to buy stuff from a site they've been forced to visit?!?

"I'm annoyed as hell at what you've done to my machine- but, golly, now that I'm here, those sure do look like reasonable bargains.  Allow me to give you my credit card details immediately..."
 

[The Legendary Shark]

Try looking here:  http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/vmware/baintro.php
or here:   http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/hijacked/   for useful info.

Try using Firefox instead of Microsoft's Internet Explorer. (No, really, Firefox is far superior and harder to hack, imho.)

I also find it useful to install a secondary, clean browser (such as Opera, Avant or Safari) to be used only when the main browser isn't working properly. Doing this allows you to visit sites and download anti-bollixware blocked by your infected browser.

[Wils]

"I'm annoyed as hell at what you've done to my machine- but, golly, now that I'm here, those sure do look like reasonable bargains.  Allow me to give you my credit card details immediately..."

It's always for dodgy things that you only ever see in places like that and spam emails, as well:

5000 TABLETS OF COMPLETELY UNTESTED ERECTILE DISFUNCTION TREATMENT... ONLY $29.99!

BUDGET LABIA ENHANCEMENT SURGERY!

[Buddy]

Try using Firefox instead of Microsoft's Internet Explorer

Ah yes!! I have Firefox on the machine... don't know why I didn't think of using that!!!

Cheers for all the help.

J.

[Peter Wolf]

Microsoft Internet Explorer is third rate as is their MSN email or whatever its called.

 Microsoft Crap. The only thing they are good at is gaming consoles and games.

[Wils]

Didn't have you down as a Linux user, Peter. ;)

[Buddy]

OK... just about got it sorted except for the fact the my C & D drive icons have vanished from my 'my computer' window.

I can survive at the moment but a clean install might be on the cards to sort it out totally, and god knows when I'll get the time to do that!

[The Legendary Shark]

OK... just about got it sorted except for the fact the my C & D drive icons have vanished from my 'my computer' window.

Get TweakUI free from the MS Powertoys.
In there you can tick/untick to show which drives you want to see. This might work and save you from the hassle of a full re-install.

[Buddy]

Cheers Shark.... will give that ago later this evening.

[Slippery PD]

If it does it in Firefox to, they may have hacked your hosts file.
c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

Open with Notepad.  

Code Select Expand

# 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
is all that should be in it (unless youve added something yourself).  Of course even ridding it of the pointers may still leave you with the nasty program running in the background.  

Yer "Not so helpful" slips