Search results hijack

[Gonzo]

Hi guys,

Something has started to occur on the laptop.

When I do a Google search, clicking on the search result almost always produces another website other than the one in the link, quite often the Yahoo home page. Closing the tab and trying the link again works OK.

I'm using Firefox but have no idea whether this is a firefox, Google or other machine issue. I'm running the full AVG security suite that's up to date, which i mention in case this might be a virus thingy.

Any ideas?

Cheers,

Simon

 

[DanielM]

Could be lots of reasons, but there are some really pesky sites that redirect you first to build up hit rates. Do you have another bar on your explorer/firefox window, a bit like a google/yahoo bar? I've not seen this specifically on Firefox, but if it can completely compromise IE, then Firefox shouldn't offer too much resistance. Look for something like "Omegasearch" on google (if you can!), you can see people asking the same questions on how to remove!

If you have been compromised, you can get rid of them, but it is a real pain, especially as when you start removing components, they go into stealth mode to remove.

As for Internet security, unfortunately, if you have this type of malware on your PC, it thinks it is allowed and won't stop it from running. It also doesn't register as a virus etc..

 

[jailon]

use a program called spybot search and detroy, saved my bacon quite a few times and its free with no adware, have used it for years with no probs

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/

 

[steve1]

Browser fix

Hi guys,

Something has started to occur on the laptop.

When I do a Google search, clicking on the search result almost always produces another website other than the one in the link, quite often the Yahoo home page. Closing the tab and trying the link again works OK.

I'm using Firefox but have no idea whether this is a firefox, Google or other machine issue. I'm running the full AVG security suite that's up to date, which i mention in case this might be a virus thingy.

Any ideas?

Cheers,


Simon

Same thing started happening to me- Solved it by drastic measures-completely uninstalled Firefox and started using Google Chrome. Bit of a pain just had to learn a new way of browsing.

 

[Gonzo]

Good news.....

....the problem has been solved by:

- uninstalling and reinstalling Firefox.
- Downloading Malwarebytes anti-spy software for free and running a scan. 121 threats detected and removed. I think one of them was related to Yahoo which was the website I got the most. Couldn't find Spybot for free but this seemed to do the job.

Thanks chaps!!

 

[Fanum]

Hi guys,

Something has started to occur on the laptop.

When I do a Google search, clicking on the search result almost always produces another website other than the one in the link, quite often the Yahoo home page. Closing the tab and trying the link again works OK.

I'm using Firefox but have no idea whether this is a firefox, Google or other machine issue. I'm running the full AVG security suite that's up to date, which i mention in case this might be a virus thingy.

Any ideas?

Cheers,

Simon

Several choices.....

You can try some of the adaware, spybot type progs and see if they work......they ought to , and you should run with Adaware installed afterwards as well......

Or you can hunt down the specific hijacker by using 'HijkackThis' which is free and very effective in reporting things like this , then you can Google a specific tool to remove what you've got.

Lastly, and probably the easiest and quickest solution (but not without risks) is to use the restore wizard and roll back the laptop to a day when you know it wasn't infected.

EDIT....Bugger, that'll teach me to refresh a thread before I type
at least you're sorted