My computer is being retarded...

[boyst]

I cannot go look for what may be the cause, every time I use a search engine it redirects me to a page that ill show shoping results for what I typed. I know there is a way to delete it but with being relatively new to Windows 7 I am scared I will remove the wrong things. I have done the standard cleaning of browser history. I know it's probably just a cached item. If someone can type a quick how-to delete the history files let me know. I cannot click on links, it is amazing I was able to get here!

Thanks!

[meazza]

I cannot go look for what may be the cause, every time I use a search engine it redirects me to a page that ill show shoping results for what I typed. I know there is a way to delete it but with being relatively new to Windows 7 I am scared I will remove the wrong things. I have done the standard cleaning of browser history. I know it's probably just a cached item. If someone can type a quick how-to delete the history files let me know. I cannot click on links, it is amazing I was able to get here!

Thanks!

 

Get hijack this.

[boyst]

Get hijack this.

I downloaded and ran it. I could not decipher what was legit and what wasn't. It also keeps poping up that I need to install a new Java system from Sun Micro.

[Fezmid]

Get a Mac and you won't have to put up with that buggy B.S.

 

Yup, they're immune.

 

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20004709-263.html

 

http://secunia.com/advisories/38932/

 

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/913...vulnerabilities

[The Dean]

I cannot go look for what may be the cause, every time I use a search engine it redirects me to a page that ill show shoping results for what I typed. I know there is a way to delete it but with being relatively new to Windows 7 I am scared I will remove the wrong things. I have done the standard cleaning of browser history. I know it's probably just a cached item. If someone can type a quick how-to delete the history files let me know. I cannot click on links, it is amazing I was able to get here!

Thanks!

 

 

Get hijack this.

 

 

This is relatively useless-to-fairly dangerous to give to someone not very familiar with using HijackThis.

 

 

I downloaded and ran it. I could not decipher what was legit and what wasn't. It also keeps poping up that I need to install a new Java system from Sun Micro.

 

 

Before you start messing wtih HijackThis (a terrific tool, to be sure), you should start with more basic scanning tools. Get your hands on these two scanners (free version is fine) then install, update and run "full scans". Remove anything they find. They use a quarantine and the chance you will do any damage to your computer by removing the wrong thing is close to nil:

 

http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

 

http://download.cnet.com/SuperAntiSpyware-...&tag=button

 

If your computer can't go to these sites, then use another computer and download the installer to a flash drive and install off of that.

 

Then it depends on what they find. If they find just a few minor issues, you may want to go do an online scan, here:

 

http://www.eset.com/online-scanner

 

After that, if you want to run HijackThis, your best bet is to post the log in a forum like this one, and wait for help from an expert.

 

If on the other hand, the scanners find a rash of infections including RootKits, then you may want to consider backing up all your stuff, reformatting and reinstalling...unless you know a very good expert in cleaning infections. Of course, there is always a chance or reinfection after restoring your data to a reformatted computer, if you stored the bad file on the hard drive. Some infections come disguised as .pdf, .wav, .mp3, etc files. So if you are the kind of person that backs up all .pdf files you may restore a bad file. That risk is increased if you use P2P file sharing, IMO.

 

If you are adamant about trying to interpret the HijackThis results yourself, upload your HijackThis log here and follow their advice for what should be removed. But read everything carefully.

[boyst]

the Malware bytes fixed it! It was driving me crazy, because every time I went to a link or clicked on ANY link it'd take me to this search engine where it showed their results. I tried searching for different solutions and got nothing!

I am going to work on the registry cleaner a little bit, see if I can learn how to use it.

 

Thanks guys!!!!

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

BTW,When was your last virus attack????

 

I've been running PCs for, oh, I don't know, since the PC XT and have NEVER had a virus. Ever. Viruses are more often than not found on PCs due to behavior and are not innate to the MS operating system family.

[damj]

the Malware bytes fixed it! It was driving me crazy, because every time I went to a link or clicked on ANY link it'd take me to this search engine where it showed their results. I tried searching for different solutions and got nothing!

I am going to work on the registry cleaner a little bit, see if I can learn how to use it.

 

Thanks guys!!!!

Yeah ... hijacker virus ... really annoying.

[UConn James]

I've been running PCs for, oh, I don't know, since the PC XT and have NEVER had a virus. Ever. Viruses are more often than not found on PCs due to behavior and are not innate to the MS operating system family.

 

Several years ago, my mum's computer went all kafarfle after she downloaded a knitting pattern. Ultimately, found out it was a derivative of CWS (Cool Web Search). Used several anti-malware programs before I even got a whiff of what was wrong. Then one of them IDed it as CWS... but didn't fix the whole problem... and I discovered the CWS Shredder from fileHippo.

 

A few months ago, I opened a .pdf that, once clicked unmasked as an .exe and there was no way to stop it --- tried Esc button as it was, then forced shut down by the button, but it was on there and bricked everything. Had to use safe mode and system restore, which was a lot easier. (This was on the same ancient rig, that by then had no antivirus, etc. b/c updates bogged down the resources, making it unusable anyway.) Got a new laptop last month and Windows 7 has been great so far.

 

To a very high degree, yes, the bolded section is correct. Visiting the seedier side of the Web, downloading from untrusted sources, torrents and P2P, etc. are all very good ways to expose your computer to bad things. But there are a lot of ways things can happen.

[Fezmid]

To a very high degree, yes, the bolded section is correct. Visiting the seedier side of the Web, downloading from untrusted sources, torrents and P2P, etc. are all very good ways to expose your computer to bad things. But there are a lot of ways things can happen.

 

And they can happen to both Windows and Mac:

http://www.macworld.com/article/138943/200...nerability.html

 

Acrobat Reader is getting so bloated, and 95% of the features aren't very important IMHO, so I'm thinking it's time to skip Reader and use a different PDF viewer.

[Live&DieBillsFootball]

And they can happen to both Windows and Mac:

http://www.macworld.com/article/138943/200...nerability.html

 

Acrobat Reader is getting so bloated, and 95% of the features aren't very important IMHO, so I'm thinking it's time to skip Reader and use a different PDF viewer.

 

I've been using Foxit for quite a while now. Just like Acrobat Reader without the BLOAT.

 

link: Foxit website

[Steely Dan]

I cannot go look for what may be the cause, every time I use a search engine it redirects me to a page that ill show shoping results for what I typed. I know there is a way to delete it but with being relatively new to Windows 7 I am scared I will remove the wrong things. I have done the standard cleaning of browser history. I know it's probably just a cached item. If someone can type a quick how-to delete the history files let me know. I cannot click on links, it is amazing I was able to get here!

Thanks!

 

Glad to hear Malwarebytes fixed it. I'm just curious from others with more knowledge on this if going back to a system restore date before this happened would solve the problem too?

[stuckincincy]

the Malware bytes fixed it! It was driving me crazy, because every time I went to a link or clicked on ANY link it'd take me to this search engine where it showed their results. I tried searching for different solutions and got nothing!

I am going to work on the registry cleaner a little bit, see if I can learn how to use it.

 

Thanks guys!!!!

 

Follow-up...

 

Programs > Accessories > System Tools.

 

Run Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter for all hard drives.

 

Then invoke My Computer > Properties > Tools.

 

Schedule CHKDSK with the fix problems and bad sectors boxes checked for all drives upon your next powering on. It will take a good while. If you have a laptop, make sure it's elevated somehow, so it gets good air circulation and cooling. And plug the charger in.

[EC-Bills]

Get a Mac and you won't have to put up with that buggy B.S.

 

Typical mac boy fanism. Try to doing some research instead of believing what Steve tells you.

[The Dean]

Glad to hear Malwarebytes fixed it. I'm just curious from others with more knowledge on this if going back to a system restore date before this happened would solve the problem too?

 

 

Sometimes a System Restore will solve the symptoms, but it rarely gets to the root of the problem. Even if you get some immediate relief from a Restore, you should still check to see if you are free of any infected files.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Get a Mac and you won't have to put up with that buggy B.S.

 

 

There is the problem. You shouldn't want them to get a Mac! If everyone got a Mac, then Macs would have just as many problems.

[stuckincincy]

Sometimes a System Restore will solve the symptoms, but it rarely gets to the root of the problem. Even if you get some immediate relief from a Restore, you should still check to see if you are free of any infected files.

 

So true. I got hit with a bug 6 months or so ago, a rare occurrence for me - thankfully. It tunneled into the restore files - running MB in safe mode was required to eradicate it.

[Fingon]

No kidding!............. :w00t: :rolleyes:

It's completely true. The vast majority of viruses get onto people's computers because they have poor browsing habits.

 

 

An equal priced PC will always be far faster than an equal priced Mac.

[The Dean]

.......

 

No virus attacks EVER in 22 years.That's all of the 'research' that I need.

Keep drinking the Windoze Kool aid.......

Better start saving for your next "service pack'.....

 

 

I think it's pretty clear who here is drinking the kool aid. If I were to base Macs solely on my experience with them, I would say they are pieces of garbage. My Mac Book Pro was a stinking pile of crap that froze several times a day. The iMac I used at one job in the last 90's was the slowest computer I have ever used, and this includes some very very old OS machines. I also currently have to work on a Mac Mini that is such a dog, the worst POS PC in the client's stable outperforms it by double.

 

But I actually can think beyond my experience, and pay attention to the experience of others. I know Macs are not garbage, even though most of my Mac experience has been miserable. They are very good, if overpriced, machines for the most part. And as a rule, they suffer from fewer infections than PCs. This is primarily due to their low market share (they don't make an appealing target for the bad guys...unlike iPhones, which are so popular they are the most attacked phone) and not simply due to the OS.

 

Need proof? There is a competition that started four years ago called PWN2OWN. If you can break into and take over a device, you keep it. In this case, the goal is to keep a particular machine, so market share doesn't enter the picture. The results from the four PWN2OWN contests to date:

 

2007:

 

http://securitywatch.eweek.com/apple/mac_h...wn_contest.html

 

Mac Hacked Via Safari Browser in Pwn-2-Own Contest

A zero-day vulnerability in Safari, the default browser for Apple's Macintosh operating system, allowed two MacBooks to crumble before the onslaught of a CanSecWest security conference attendee's hacking, aided as he was by a New York buddy with years of experience hacking Macs.

 

...Macaulay pwned the Mac by sending it an e-mail that directed a user to a malicious site. Upon visiting the site, the user—a CanSecWest organizer perched on the machine to protect it from physical assault—was infected with malware, without clicking on anything within the site.

 

2008:

 

http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/711

 

Mac OS X first to fall

Published: 2008-03-27

<!-- OAS_AD('x30'); //--> <a linkindex="47" href="http://adserver.securityfocus.com/RealMedia/ads/click_nx.cgi/www.securityfocus.com/brief@x30" target="_blank"><img class=" lnuftbqkbctrdplgwmcf" src="http://adserver.securityfocus.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_nx.cgi/www.securityfocus.com/brief@x30" alt="" border="0" height="250" width="300"></a> Vancouver, CANADA -- In the first attempted attack in the PWN2OWN contest, a security analyst breached the defenses of Apple's Mac OS X using a bug in the Safari browser and won $10,000 as well as the computer that he compromised.

 

 

2009:

 

http://dvlabs.tippingpoint.com/blog/2009/0...ro-day-exploits

<h1 class="h s-1"></h1>

<h1 class="h s-1">Pwn2Own 2009: Safari/MacBook falls in seconds</h1>VANCOUVER, BC — Charlie Miller has done it again. For the second consecutive year, the security researcher hacked into a fully patched MacBook computer by exploiting a security vulnerability in Apple’s Safari browser. “It took a couple of seconds. They clicked on the link and I took control of the machine,” Miller said moments after his accomplishment.

 

 

2010

 

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/03/25/pw...t-man-standing/

 

Pwn2Own 2010 is under way, and after day one of the annual security showdown the results are darn near an exact replica of last year's. Safari was the first to fall...

 

...Miller successfully targeted Safari on OsX using one of 20 exploits he had at the ready -- exploits which he uncovered using a simple 5-line Python script. "Tomorrow, I'm going to describe exactly how I found them, so hopefully that means Apple will replicate what I did and they'll find my 20 [bugs] and probably a lot more," Miller stated.

 

So, as you can see, the OS is vulnerable, and can be infected with malware or taken over.

 

Another issue that should be addressed is the use of the term "virus". Only a very small percentage of malware infections are "virus" infections. I believe Macs are as susceptible to Adware as any OS, although I may be wrong here. I know they can be infected by a DNS changing trojan.

 

Which leads me to my question for you Bart. How do you know your computer has never been infected? If you don't use AV or Antimalware, and don't perform scans looking for malware, how can you be positive you are clean? You may be infected and not even know it. Not all infections make themselves apparent to the user.

[Fingon]

Right. :w00t:

Why did you even bother posting in this thread? None of your posts contain anything of substance.