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Resolved Question

Browser Redirects

by Nov 16, 2012 9:03AM PST

Hello,

I have been having an issue lately that when. I search something, I am redirected to another site. I have a Compaq laptop with Vista. I have contacted Norton and there are no viruses. But in my research I see it is common. I use Firefox and usually Google is the prime browser, Is there anything I can do?
When I say redirect.. I can put Target stores in the search and other pages come up; or even if I click on the official link.. I get another response. Please advise and help.
Thank you so much.

Discussion is locked

monica 211 has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer
10 Posts
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Best Answer

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Try This
by Nov 16, 2012 10:17AM PST

Go to www.malwarebytes.org and download their free(not the pro version which costs) scanner and run a full system scan. A virus usually causes the problem you are describing and Norton may have missed finding it. Don't panic that Norton might have missed something. That can happen as no single anti-virus product works 100% of the time. Let malwarebytes scan and when it finishes it will show if it found anything. Just select the remove all found objects and reboot your computer. If nothing is found by malwarebytes then hopefully someone else on this site can offer better advice. Wish you well.

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Thanks
by monica 211 Nov 17, 2012 9:33AM PST

I did download the malwarebytes' and there was nothing malicious on the scan. Thanks for your help.

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Please Try This
by gysgtusmc74 Nov 17, 2012 10:09AM PST
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Super Antispyware
by monica 211 Nov 24, 2012 7:32AM PST

I did run this and it did find something... but I still have the problem; so went to the next helpful person.

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Answer
Also...
by Nov 17, 2012 3:15PM PST

Try this by Grif: http://forums.cnet.com/7726-6132_102-5098912.html

Also look into your router or dsl or cable modem for settings changes within it that can result in re-directs, especially after your computer scans as clean.

You should have a strong password set within, as well as an admin name you choose and create.

If that is not the case, come back here for more help if the admin password and name have never been changed by you, and are still the default ones provided by the vendor of your device.

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Thank you to all.
by monica 211 Nov 18, 2012 7:33AM PST

I will try all your suggestions. Thanks so much

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Answer
These Seem To Work Well With Browser Redirects
by Forum moderator Nov 19, 2012 2:05AM PST

Since you've already mentioned using Malwarebytes, please keep it on your computer for use later.. Once that's done, then download the rkill program below and run it..

After downloading or transferring it to the problem machine, run it
to help allow the removal programs below to run.
(courtesy of Grinler at BleepingComputer.com)There are 3 different
versions. If one of them won't run then try to run the other one. Be
patient.... as a black window should open, then close after finding all
the background programs.Vista and Win7 users need to right click and choose Run as Admin. You only need to get one of them to run, not all of them.

Rkill.exe
http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/grinler/rkill.exe

Rkill.com
http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/grinler/rkill.com

Rkill.scr
http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/grinler/rkill.scr
_____________________

IMMEDIATELY after running the "Rkill" tool above, run/install Malwarebytes again, then download and run the Hitman Pro scanner from the link below:

Hitman Pro 3.6

Next, download TDSSKiller and follow the guide to use the tool:
http://support.kaspersky.com/viruses/solutions?qid=208280684

Restart the computer and see if things work correctly again.
____________


And after that, if everything's fine by you can't connect to the internet,
then follow the procedures below to check your network "proxy" settings
again.Open Internet Explorer and go to Tools-Internet
Options-Connection Tab. Click on the LAN settings button. IF there is a
check mark next to "Use a proxy server for your LAN", uncheck it. Click
OK. Then OK, again.
__________________

Hope this helps.

Grif

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These Seem To Work Well With Browser Redirects
by monica 211 Nov 24, 2012 7:36AM PST

Hi, I tried most of your suggestions; the rkill, Maywarebytes, hitman pro.
The reason I said some it that as I was downloading the hitman I wasn;t sure of the 32or 64.

And I used Google, so if I cannot connect to the Internet, how would I do that?

Thanks so much for your help

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These Seem To Work Well With Browser Redirects
by monica 211 Nov 25, 2012 5:24AM PST

Hi Grif,

I found out I have the 32 bit Vista; but my IE is not my default browser. And since I do not use it; I have an older version. Should I update to IE 9? Thanks so much for your help.

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If You're Not Using IE, Then Updating Is Up To You
by Grif Thomas Forum moderator Nov 26, 2012 11:35AM PST

Although IE9 is a little more secure and updating to the newest version is generally recommended, if you're not using it much, it's not going to cure the browser redirects problem..

At this point, if you haven't been helped by scans from the removal tools previously recommended, I'd like to suggest visiting one of the specialized malware removal sites recommended in the links below. They're not a Cnet site, but for virus/malware removal, they generally get the job done. (We've sent a number of members to these sites and success is generally good.) Some of the browser redirect malware can be extremely hard to remove with out experienced help and that's what those folks are for.. You'll need to log on to their site, create a user ID, etc., post your problem and a helper should come along and walk you through the removal.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum22.html

http://www.spywareinfoforum.com/index.php?s=5028cc67f4e5562d636b9a77c9017749&showforum=18

Hope this helps.

Grif

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