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Dec 1st, 2019, 06:53 AM
#1
Thread Starter
PowerPoster
[RESOLVED] Search Engine misdirection problem.
Hi,
I've had a problem with search engines for a few weeks and can't find the culprit.
I usually use Google Chrome, but I have the same problem with FireFox and with Bing.
I enter something to search... The search engine finds a load of URLs... So far, so good.
When I click an item, the selected URL displays for a moment, then something takes over and a page of similar items turns up. Usually these include inappropriate images. If I go 'Back' a page to the original list of URLs, sometimes clicking the same item will display correctly, more usually... Not.
Maybe someone can suggest something to look for and (probably) remove.
Poppa.
Along with the sunshine there has to be a little rain sometime.
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Dec 1st, 2019, 07:12 AM
#2
Re: Search Engine misdirection problem.
I would recommend looking at the Hosts file (which maps web addresses to IP addresses). You can find it in System32\drivers\etc\ , and can open it in Notepad.
There is a good chance you will find a line in there that specifies the search engine you use... and if there is, removing that line is likely to solve it.
The file starts with a commented section (including some instructions), and in general you should only have a few uncommented lines after it.
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Dec 1st, 2019, 08:22 AM
#3
Thread Starter
PowerPoster
Re: Search Engine misdirection problem.
Thanks for the reply Si,
I think I found the folder to which you refer, in that folder are five files:
hosts
imhosts.sam
networks
protocol
services
hosts and imhosts.sam are both all comments (Each line starts with '#' ?)
networks contains:
# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This file contains network name/network number mappings for
# local networks. Network numbers are recognized in dotted decimal form.
#
# Format:
#
# <network name> <network number> [aliases...] [#<comment>]
#
# For example:
#
# loopback 127
# campus 284.122.107
# london 284.122.108
loopback 127
Protocol contains:
# Copyright (c) 1993-2006 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This file contains the Internet protocols as defined by various
# RFCs. See http://www.iana.org/assignments/protocol-numbers
#
# Format:
#
# <protocol name> <assigned number> [aliases...] [#<comment>]
ip 0 IP # Internet protocol
icmp 1 ICMP # Internet control message protocol
ggp 3 GGP # Gateway-gateway protocol
tcp 6 TCP # Transmission control protocol
egp 8 EGP # Exterior gateway protocol
pup 12 PUP # PARC universal packet protocol
udp 17 UDP # User datagram protocol
hmp 20 HMP # Host monitoring protocol
xns-idp 22 XNS-IDP # Xerox NS IDP
rdp 27 RDP # "reliable datagram" protocol
ipv6 41 IPv6 # Internet protocol IPv6
ipv6-route 43 IPv6-Route # Routing header for IPv6
ipv6-frag 44 IPv6-Frag # Fragment header for IPv6
esp 50 ESP # Encapsulating security payload
ah 51 AH # Authentication header
ipv6-icmp 58 IPv6-ICMP # ICMP for IPv6
ipv6-nonxt 59 IPv6-NoNxt # No next header for IPv6
ipv6-opts 60 IPv6-Opts # Destination options for IPv6
rvd 66 RVD # MIT remote virtual disk
And services has 307 commented lines, hardly 'a few'.
I can't find anything which specifies a search engine in any of these.
Poppa.
Along with the sunshine there has to be a little rain sometime.
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Dec 2nd, 2019, 06:22 AM
#4
Thread Starter
PowerPoster
Re: Search Engine misdirection problem.
I'm still having this problem, it's a real nuisance.
Any suggestions would be most welcome.
Poppa.
Along with the sunshine there has to be a little rain sometime.
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Dec 2nd, 2019, 09:12 AM
#5
Re: Search Engine misdirection problem.
Never heard of this "Bing" browser, perhaps you meant Edge?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_hijacking
Sounds like a browser redirect virus (browser hijacker) to me. You probably need to apply one or more malware cleaner tools.
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Dec 2nd, 2019, 09:19 AM
#6
Re: Search Engine misdirection problem.
Did you look at the HOSTS file as suggested? What does the contents of that file look like? Also check the browser and system proxy settings too. My wife's browser once got hijacked by something she installed that updated her proxy settings to redirect her browsing through their servers, overriding everything she was doing.
-tg
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Dec 2nd, 2019, 10:56 AM
#7
Re: Search Engine misdirection problem.
Try downloading and running the free version of Malwarebytes to see if it finds anything.
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Dec 2nd, 2019, 12:34 PM
#8
Thread Starter
PowerPoster
Re: Search Engine misdirection problem.
Originally Posted by techgnome
Did you look at the HOSTS file as suggested? What does the contents of that file look like? Also check the browser and system proxy settings too. My wife's browser once got hijacked by something she installed that updated her proxy settings to redirect her browsing through their servers, overriding everything she was doing.
-tg
Thanks tg, did you miss post #3 ?
Pop.
Along with the sunshine there has to be a little rain sometime.
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Dec 2nd, 2019, 01:25 PM
#9
Re: Search Engine misdirection problem.
Did Malwarebytes find anything? The behavior you are encountering is typical of malware.
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Dec 2nd, 2019, 01:47 PM
#10
Re: Search Engine misdirection problem.
Originally Posted by Poppa Mintin
Thanks tg, did you miss post #3 ?
Pop.
No, just the line where you mentioned that hosts was all comments...
-tg
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Dec 2nd, 2019, 07:34 PM
#11
Thread Starter
PowerPoster
Re: Search Engine misdirection problem.
Originally Posted by jdc2000
Try downloading and running the free version of Malwarebytes to see if it finds anything.
Very good idea, I've only ever used Microsoft Windows Defender on this machine, but I've noticed recently that the icon which is usually in the taskbar is no longer there and I've been unable to find anywhere else to launch a scan.
Originally Posted by jdc2000
Did Malwarebytes find anything? The behavior you are encountering is typical of malware.
Yes, I tried MalwareBytes as you suggested, it took an hour and some few minutes to check over 500,000 items and found over 1,000 'Detections' and suggested over 100 quarantines.
I've tried Google after the reboot and my problem seems to've been cured, a few days will confirm it I hope.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Ought to've thought of that myself... So much for the advice that Windows Defender is as good as anything else !
I couldn't find the proxy setting which tg suggested checking.
Poppa.
Along with the sunshine there has to be a little rain sometime.
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Dec 3rd, 2019, 10:32 AM
#12
Re: [RESOLVED] Search Engine misdirection problem.
I would triple check to make sure that Windows Defender is actually running. If it isn't, your malware probably disabled it, which would leave you vulnerable to potential re-infection. You need to get it running again, or replace it with something else.
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Dec 3rd, 2019, 07:47 PM
#13
Thread Starter
PowerPoster
Re: [RESOLVED] Search Engine misdirection problem.
Originally Posted by jdc2000
I would triple check to make sure that Windows Defender is actually running. If it isn't, your malware probably disabled it, which would leave you vulnerable to potential re-infection. You need to get it running again, or replace it with something else.
Yeah, I'm leaving MalwareBytes on and running.
I used the Microsoft chat facility and the agent showed me how to get the icon back in the task bar.
Looks like it's all running ok now.
Thanks for the advice.
Poppa.
Along with the sunshine there has to be a little rain sometime.
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