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Googleleads (Google Redirect) Virus


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Hello again.

Since you're not getting redirects in Safe Mode or Internet Explorer (in addition to the other symptoms you've described), I'm inclined to believe that they're caused by a plugin (or add-on) in Firefox rather than a rootkit. (which is MUCH better than having a rootkit! :D )

Let's do the following to see if we can finally nail this thing ;):

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Please open Firefox.

In the address bar, type the following (in bold): about:config

Select I'll be carefull, I promise!

In the top left-hand corner of the newly loaded page, copy and paste each of the following entries (in black bold). (ignore the ---- lines)

browser.search.defaultengine ----------------- Google

browser.search.defaultenginename ------------- Google

browser.search.order.1 ----------------------- Google

browser.search.selectedengineURL ------------- www.google.com

browser.startup.homepage --------------------- www.google.com

keyword.URL ---------------------------------- http://www.google.com/search?btnI=I%27m+Feeling+Lucky&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=

Right-Click, and select Modify on each of the Preference Names I have included above..

When the popup titled Enter String Value appears, copy and paste each respective Value located to the left of each Preference Name (in green bold).

You will have to do this for each of the entries I have listed.

When you have finished, please restart Firefox. Let me know if that helps.

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Please familiarize yourself with the process of Uninstalling Add-ons and Plugins in Firefox.

We're going to attempt to remove the following plugin(s)/addon(s):

  • anchorfree.com
  • netvideohunter.com

Follow the steps described in the Mozilla article, and look for any instances of the names I have listed above. If you see them, remove Only those.

When you are finished, please reboot your computer. Let me know if that helps. ;)

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Let's run another online scan, only this time we'll allow it to fix the "bad" entries that it finds:

Please run a free online scan with the ESET Online Scanner

Note: You will need to use Internet Explorer for this scan.

  1. Tick the box next to YES, I accept the Terms of Use.
  2. Click Start
  3. When asked, allow the ActiveX control to install
  4. Click Start
  5. Make sure that the options Remove found threats and the option Scan unwanted applications is checked
  6. Click Scan
    Wait for the scan to finish
  7. Use Notepad to open the logfile located at C:\Program Files\EsetOnlineScanner\log.txt
  8. Copy and paste that log as a reply to this topic

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In your next reply, please include the ESET scan log. Please let me know if you have encountered any redirects after following the 2 procedures I have instructed you to perform. :)

Also, please let me know of any issues you've encountered.

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Hmm When I searched up browser.startup.homepage, there was also:

browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID value: 20110615151330

browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone value: rv:5.0

My original browser.startup.homepage was set to yahoo.com (which I set to). The other two following it were user set and I never set those so maybe they might cause problems.

Some of the things like Google were already set, but I made it user set, so I don't think it makes any difference.

I'll be posting the eset log later on.

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C:\Documents and Settings\Jimmy Huang\Application Data\Sun\Java\Deployment\cache\6.0\4\4b83f3c4-66513c92 multiple threats deleted - quarantined

C:\Documents and Settings\Jimmy Huang\Application Data\Sun\Java\Deployment\cache\6.0\7\1ee67f87-6fd71d45 multiple threats deleted - quarantined

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Please try resetting Firefox: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/internet/firefox/restore-the-default-settings-in-firefox-without-uninstalling-it/

NOTE: This will reset your Firefox browser entirely. You will have to reinstall any addons/plugins that you want to keep.

Please let me know if that helps. ;)

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I'd rather not :) the anchorfree is from hotspot shield so it should be safe. If there aren't any more suggestions, you can probably close this thread. Hopefully everything here has done something to fix the problem. I will ask you to re-open the thread if there are future problems, unless you still have more ideas on how to fix it.

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I'd rather not :) the anchorfree is from hotspot shield so it should be safe.

I understand, no worries. :)

If there aren't any more suggestions, you can probably close this thread. Hopefully everything here has done something to fix the problem. I will ask you to re-open the thread if there are future problems, unless you still have more ideas on how to fix it.

The next thing I was going to recommend you would be to reinstall Firefox. If you're not getting any more redirects or other odd symptoms, then obviously there would be no point to that :P.

browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID value: 20110615151330

browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone value: rv:5.0

For what its worth, those settings look clean. ;)

What I would recommend, is looking for anything related to "search engine". Make sure you have them set to Yahoo (or Google or another reputable search engine). You might have to do some searching, because there are just a few settings that require special values for each specific Search engine. If you're unsure, just look up the Preference Name, and you should find the answer on Mozilla's website, or come back here and I can help you out :).

Another thing I noticed is that your Java cache had a few infections in it. While ESET appeared to have cleaned them, I would still recommend that you reinstall Java.

then, please use TFC to clear temporary files:

Run TFC by OldTimer to clear temporary files:

  • Please download TFC from here or here and save it to your desktop.
  • Close any open programs and Internet browsers.
  • Double click TFC.exe to run it and once it opens click on the Start button on the lower left of the program to allow it to begin cleaning.
  • Please be patient as clearing out temp files may take a while.
  • Once it completes you may be prompted to restart your computer, please do so.
  • Once it's finished you may delete TFC.exe from your desktop or save it for later use for the cleaning of temporary files.

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I'll keep this thread open for another day. Let me know tomorrow if you get any more redirects. If not, I'll go ahead and have it closed towards the end of the day. How does that sound? :)

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I will also provide you with some suggestions for security software, but first, ComboFix must be uninstalled:

The following will implement some cleanup procedures as well as reset System Restore points:

Click Start > Run and copy/paste the following bolded text into the Run box and click OK:

ComboFix /Uninstall

**You may now reinstall AVG AntiVirus if you haven't already.

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Please consider using these ideas to help secure your computer. While there is no way to guarantee safety when you use a computer, these steps will make it much less likely that you will need to endure another infection. While we really like to help people, we would rather help you protect yourself so that you won't need that help in the future. :)

Please either enable Automatic Updates under Start -> Control Panel -> Automatic Updates or get into the habit of checking Windows Update regularly. They usually have security updates every month. You can set Windows to notify you of Updates so that you can choose, but only do this if you believe you are able to understand which ones are needed. This is a crucial security measure.

You have NO antivirus program installed !

It is really dangerous to go online without an antivirus. Without one, you are extremely likely to get infected and the consequences could be even worse next time. All of the following are excellent free antiviruses. Be sure to only install one.

avast!.

AntiVir

AVG

Please consider installing and running some of the following programs; they are either free or have free versions of commercial programs:

Spybot-Search & Destroy

A tutorial on using Spybot to remove spyware from your computer may be found here. Please also remember to enable Spybot's "Immunize" and "TeaTimer" features if you don't have the resident part of another anti-spyware program running.

SpywareBlaster

A tutorial on using SpywareBlaster to prevent malware from ever installing on your computer may be found here.

SpywareGuard

A tutorial on using SpywareGuard for real-time protection against spyware and hijackers may be found here.

Please, consider maintaining a firewall with HIPS (Host Intrusion Prevention Systems). Firewalls are extremely important and are the first part of your computer's defense. HIPS stops malware by monitoring its behavior and it's very important, too.

A firewall is a software program or piece of hardware that helps screen out hackers, viruses, and worms that try to reach your computer over the Internet.

If you are using the Windows Firewall please note that it doesn't monitor or block outbound traffic and is therefore less effective than other free alternatives.

These firewalls are good and do have free versions available

A tutorial on understanding and using firewalls may be found here.

If you use Internet Explorer, it is a good idea to use IE-Spyad for ZonedOut which provides protections against malicious websites. (Requires 2 downloads)

Please keep these programs up-to-date and run them whenever you suspect a problem to prevent malware problems. A number of programs have resident protection and it is a good idea to run the resident protection of one of each type of program to maintain protection. However, it is important to run only one resident program of each type since they can conflict and become less effective. That means only one antivirus, firewall and scanning anti-spyware program at a time. Passive protectors, like SpywareBlaster and IE-Spyad can be run with any of them.

Note that there are a lot of rogue programs out there that want to scare you into giving them your money and some malware actually claims to be security programs. If you get a popup for a security program that you did not install yourself, do NOT click on it and ask for help immediately. It is very important to run an antivirus and firewall, but you can't always rely on reviews and ads for information. Ask in a security forum that you trust if you are not sure. If you are unsure and looking for anti-spyware programs, you can find out if it is a rogue here:

http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

A similar category of programs is now called "scareware." Scareware programs are active infections that will pop-up on your computer and tell you that you are infected. If you look closely, it will usually have a name that looks like it might be legitimate, but it is NOT one of the programs you installed. It tells you to click and install it right away. If you click on any part of it, including the 'X' to close it, you may actually help it infect your computer further. Keeping protection updated and running resident protection can help prevent these infections. If it happens anyway, get offline as quickly as you can. Pull the internet connection cable or shut down the computer if you have to. Contact someone to help by using another computer if possible. These programs are also sometimes called 'rogues', but they are different than the older version of rogues mentioned above.

Please consider using an alternate browser. Mozilla's Firefox browser is a very good alternative. In addition to being generally more secure than Internet Explorer, it has a very good built-in popup blocker and add-ons, like NoScripts, can make it even more secure. Opera is another good option.

If you are interested, Firefox may be downloaded from here

Opera is available here: http://www.opera.com/download/

For much more useful information, please also read Tony Klein's excellent article: How did I get infected in the first place

Hopefully these steps will help to keep you error free. If you run into more difficulty, we will certainly do what we can to help. :)

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Like I said, don't hesitate to let me know if you encounter any more redirects. We'll do everything we can to get rid of it. :)

-DFB

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Haven't Googled much but hopefully it is gone. Thanks for all the above suggestions, I'll be sure to use some of them. And thank you for helping me all this way, I really appreciate your help. I donated $1, it's not much but hopefully it'll be of some use.

If I re-experience the problems, I'll just PM you to re-open the thread. Thanks again!

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Haven't Googled much but hopefully it is gone. Thanks for all the above suggestions, I'll be sure to use some of them. And thank you for helping me all this way, I really appreciate your help. I donated $1, it's not much but hopefully it'll be of some use.

You're welcome! Glad to hear the issue is resolved. :)

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