Computer Issues

[lampliter87 8]

I somehow managed to come across some malware. Any time I try a Google Search and click on a link, I get redirected to some alternate sketchy-looking sites that may or may not be vaguely related to my search. When I type an address directly into the address bar, or go to a bookmarked site, however, there is no problem. This happens on both Firefox and Internet Explorer.

I've tried the basic computer scanning programs (Norton, AVG) and they all say my computer is clean. I'm running Vista Business btw.

Any suggestions? It's more annoying than anything.

[Krev 86]

Download google chrome for a different browser that is untampered, and download Spybot S&D. Picks up hundreds of things that AVG and Norton miss. Ad-Aware is a great one too.

[lampliter87 8]

Tried Ad-Aware, no luck.

Google Chrome, check, working well.

Downloading Spybot... which refuses to properly install.

[Krev 86]

Really? That's quite odd. Hmmm... I'm guessing you ran deep scans with AVG and Norton, not just the quickies?

[Ahriman 1]

are you searching from google or something pretending to be helpful "google bar" browser addition?

[DEATHTRON 19]

Search for the problems youre having on google.

Also, give stinger a shot. Sometimes picks some extra stuff up.

http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/

Zach

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/combofix/how-to-use-combofix

Download Combo-Fix and run. That will clear out any junk in your registry.

[chk hrd 164]

get rid of norton, it's a bloated program and AVG misses alot. Go to download.com and get Avast Free Addition. It seems to pick up alot that the others don't. Spybot is good and I don't have any problems with Windows Defender. A good registry cleaner will also do wonders. If you are confident enough you can get into your registry and see what is started during the initial start up and running in the background. You may find the problem in there. If all else fails do a system restore to an earlier date when the computer was working right.

[chk hrd 164]

while your at it do a complete defrag, dskchk, dump temp files and all that other good stuff to get the performance back up

[fawn111 0]

get a MAC

[Fletch 219]

Download Malwarebytes - probably the best removal software out there right now.

http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti...4-10804572.html

[fedorov#91 0]

get a MAC

haha knew someone would say that

[lampliter87 8]

Really? That's quite odd. Hmmm... I'm guessing you ran deep scans with AVG and Norton, not just the quickies?

Yes.

are you searching from google or something pretending to be helpful "google bar" browser addition?

Right off Google.

get a MAC

haha knew someone would say that

Anyone want to Paypal me $1500?

[camhockey16 5]

Download Malwarebytes - probably the best removal software out there right now.

http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti...4-10804572.html

+1

i agree - i have used malwarebytes alot lately on other peoples pc's - it gets rid of the nasty antivirus 2009 crap that has been going around lately - ad-aware and spybot don't seem to be able to get rid of it yet

[reyno2ac 0]

Really? That's quite odd. Hmmm... I'm guessing you ran deep scans with AVG and Norton, not just the quickies?

Yes.

are you searching from google or something pretending to be helpful "google bar" browser addition?

Right off Google.

get a MAC

haha knew someone would say that

Anyone want to Paypal me $1500?

$1500? What are you getting? Try $2000, at least if you want a laptop. I just got a macbook recently. Remember though, there is malware out that affects macs now.

[Ahriman 1]

Really? That's quite odd. Hmmm... I'm guessing you ran deep scans with AVG and Norton, not just the quickies?

Yes.

are you searching from google or something pretending to be helpful "google bar" browser addition?

Right off Google.

get a MAC

haha knew someone would say that

Anyone want to Paypal me $1500?

$1500? What are you getting? Try $2000, at least if you want a laptop. I just got a macbook recently. Remember though, there is malware out that affects macs now.

First off... a MAC is a Media Access Control address, a string of capital letters imply an acronym. A Mac is is an abbreviation, which is short for Macintosh.

And reyno2ac, show me a link to Macintosh malware that doesn't require an administrator password to install itself. Malware concerns on a mac are insanely low, especially if you're actually buying your software. "Proof of concept" code doesnt count.

[reyno2ac 0]

Really? That's quite odd. Hmmm... I'm guessing you ran deep scans with AVG and Norton, not just the quickies?

Yes.

are you searching from google or something pretending to be helpful "google bar" browser addition?

Right off Google.

get a MAC

haha knew someone would say that

Anyone want to Paypal me $1500?

$1500? What are you getting? Try $2000, at least if you want a laptop. I just got a macbook recently. Remember though, there is malware out that affects macs now.

First off... a MAC is a Media Access Control address, a string of capital letters imply an acronym. A Mac is is an abbreviation, which is short for Macintosh.

And reyno2ac, show me a link to Macintosh malware that doesn't require an administrator password to install itself. Malware concerns on a mac are insanely low, especially if you're actually buying your software. "Proof of concept" code doesnt count.

Yea I know, you have to be stupid to get any sort of virus/malware on your Mac. I was just saying its out there.

[Ahriman 1]

but that's just it, it really isnt "out there" its proof of concept, laboratory concocted never seen "out there" stuff. The only real malware I can think of really was the "leak" of the 2003 MS Office on various P2P networks which really was just a script that deleted large portions of your user's home folder, the best part about that one the damn thing was less than 2MB, anyone who ran a 2MB installer for MS Office deserved what they got. :P

[ndlancer95 0]

only use google chrome, other browsers are disease ridden. chrome does a great virus scan. Ive had it for a year and my computer hasn't gone boom yet.

[Jason Harris 31]

Any ideas how to get a Macbook Pro to see an external hard drive that is attached?

Everything was fine yesterday, although I let the battery completely run out since their literature suggested that was better than a series of partial charges. However, iTunes had been connected to the source of music on the external HD, which caused problems when the laptop ran out of juice. I returned to find a "Next time, disconnect the USB device properly" message, restarted the machine (which usually works) three or four times, but it still isn't seeing that an external HD is connected.

It's possible the HD was fried during the last shut down, although I doubt it, so any ideas how to force the computer into looking got it?

[wildebeest 0]

Any ideas how to get a Macbook Pro to see an external hard drive that is attached?

Everything was fine yesterday, although I let the battery completely run out since their literature suggested that was better than a series of partial charges. However, iTunes had been connected to the source of music on the external HD, which caused problems when the laptop ran out of juice. I returned to find a "Next time, disconnect the USB device properly" message, restarted the machine (which usually works) three or four times, but it still isn't seeing that an external HD is connected.

It's possible the HD was fried during the last shut down, although I doubt it, so any ideas how to force the computer into looking got it?

Try rebooting the machine, plugging the external HDD back in, running Disk Utility (APPLICATIONS -> UTILITIES -> DISK UTILITY) and see if Mac OS can see the drive. If it can, then use the "Repair Disk" option and see if that helps.

[cptjeff 0]

Really? That's quite odd. Hmmm... I'm guessing you ran deep scans with AVG and Norton, not just the quickies?

Yes.

are you searching from google or something pretending to be helpful "google bar" browser addition?

Right off Google.

get a MAC

haha knew someone would say that

Anyone want to Paypal me $1500?

$1500? What are you getting? Try $2000, at least if you want a laptop. I just got a macbook recently. Remember though, there is malware out that affects macs now.

First off... a MAC is a Media Access Control address, a string of capital letters imply an acronym. A Mac is is an abbreviation, which is short for Macintosh.

And reyno2ac, show me a link to Macintosh malware that doesn't require an administrator password to install itself. Malware concerns on a mac are insanely low, especially if you're actually buying your software. "Proof of concept" code doesnt count.

http://news.techworld.com/security/1798/ma...y-myth-exposed/

It's not as secure as you think. Hackers just don't care about macs when they get 9 times as much bang for their buck by writing stuff for windows.

To the OP: Download the spybot installer, restart in safe mode and try installing and running it then. Run spybot and CCleaner, then run your antivirus.

But I don't think it's a virus. It sounds like a routine spyware infestation.

[barrett 0]

Not on the same topic , but just curious if there is anything that can be done to resolve my issue. On my macbook whenever im one face book and recieve a msg on facebook chat it freezes everything up temporarily

[wildebeest 0]

Not on the same topic , but just curious if there is anything that can be done to resolve my issue. On my macbook whenever im one face book and recieve a msg on facebook chat it freezes everything up temporarily

Which browser are you using?

[NYR1982 0]

To the OP, I've seen the malware problem you are experiencing many times. It took me a little while to find a fix but I think I got it as I've applied the method to multiple machines with pretty good success.

First, you should download Piriform's CCleaner application. Run a registry scan and fix the issues. Be sure to click on yes to backup your registry when prompted to. Also, run it a second time after the first to be sure it catches everything. This action won't necessarily remove the malware, but it will allow the malware removal programs to see the infected registry keys and infected memory modules that load at startup and should allow for removal.

If you haven't already done so, download Malwarebytes. This is probably the best malware removal program I've ever used that I didn't have to pay for. Once you have it installed and updated, navigate to your system properties and diable system restore. Reboot the computer into safemode. Run Malwarebytes. Once it is complete, you will be prompted to reboot the machine. Reboot the machine and run another Malwarebytes scan in normal mode.

Again, this method worked for me but it may not necessarily work for you as these bugs effect different areas of the registry and memory modules. Give it a shot and hopefully it works!