1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Bizarre browser hijack problem - help needed

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by EStreetJoe, Oct 5, 2012.

  1. EStreetJoe

    EStreetJoe Well-Known Member

    I've got a bizarre browser hijack problem I can't solve.
    The problem -- any link to a Google search result in Firefox gets highjacked to another random site. When using Google in Chrome or IE this doesn't happen. When using Ask.com or Yahoo in Firefox this doesn't happen. The hijack only happens in Firefox and with Google.
    Scans with Norton Internet Security and with Malwarebytes have come up negative in trying to fix the problem.

    Anyone have another solution I should try?
     
  2. Dirk Legume

    Dirk Legume Active Member

    I was going to suggest Malware Bytes, but since that didn't find anything, and it isn't happening with the other browsers, I would uninstall and re-install Firefox.
     
  3. KJIM

    KJIM Well-Known Member

    Is it the same random site?

    I had an issue where I got directed to a "funmoods" search site. Malwarebytes didn't find anything. (Actually, I'd gotten the hijack before and run it, caught something but then it came back and a new search came up empty.)

    I finally searched for files (hidden and otherwise) with that name and deleted them.

    If you're being directed to the same site, maybe you can try that.

    Good luck. I spent an entire day this week working to fix one computer someone killed and I feel your pain.
     
  4. Diego Marquez

    Diego Marquez Member

    Hope you've found a fix. Your post made me give it a spin ... all's well here. Hope you get things back to normal.
     
  5. NoOneLikesUs

    NoOneLikesUs Active Member

    You have a Google redirect virus. This will be a pain in the ass to eliminate (I've had two within the year).

    First resist the temptation to try to figure this out yourself. These things can be crazy complex. A simple MalwareBytes scan isn't going to be enough.

    I went right to forums dealing with these sort of issues. Use one of these two (not both). Read everything they say to do before posting your problem. Scans with different programs will be involved.

    http://forums.majorgeeks.com/forumdisplay.php?f=35
    http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum22.html

    This sounds a lot like the most recent redirect virus I picked up. I highly recommend visiting those forums to work out those issues, but in the meantime try this:

    At the top of the Firefox window, click the "Firefox" button,
    go over to the "Help" sub-menu
    (on Windows XP, click the Help menu at the top of the Firefox window) and select "Troubleshooting Information".
    Click the "Reset Firefox" button in the upper-right corner of the Troubleshooting Information page.
    click "Reset Firefox" in the confirmation window that opens.
    Firefox will close and be reset. When it's done. Click "Finish" and Firefox will open.

    restart the computer and check firefox again.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page