It seems like a lot of people are having problems with this site and with coolwebsearch. Can't authorities do anything about this? There's got to be some law against hijacking computer registries, one would think. I makes me mad that they're getting away with this.

Can't authorities do anything about this?

No. They can't. Not at least at this time.

There's got to be some law against hijacking computer registries, one would think.

Again, no there is not.

I still stick to my guns that you have to visit sites that are not the norm. You have to visit porn sites and other type(s) of questionable web sites to pick up these types of Browser Hi Jacks and other nasty stuff.

Others have told me you do not have to visit such above mentioned sites but nobody to this date has provided me a web site that can/will install this type of junk on your system that is a legit site. Geocity web sites do not count. They are 100% junk and if you visit one, then learn a lesson the hard way. If that statement offends anyone, tuff.

I run a hardware firewall. I keep my anti-virus up to date. I run Spybot once a week and I keep my IE settings locked down tight and I have picked up stuff from web sites that most will never visit. Why do I visit these web sites? To learn but I also understand the risk.

I know what is out there. I go where I should not and I know what will happen when I do and when I do go there. Take a guess at what happens!!!

I just know how to fix what happens when I have gone where I should have not. Most don't.

KTTD

P.S If someone can give me that legit site that screws up your system you have my e-mail address so send away.

From SearchV

What SearchV Does

Clicking on any of those links will not cause your system any type of issue(s)

KTTD

I agree it is kinda sick what people will do just to get their advertising and such across but it is up to us to use some common sense and protect ourselves from such hacking jobs.
Many of these sites that install spyware , hijackers and such are just trying to deliver advertisements that just might interest us (ya...riiiiight!) just like we get a pile of junk mail every time we go to the post office. But the big difference there is we just toss the junk in the trash and forget it...when we go online with our computer...we feel interupted since it isn't just a matter of tossing stuff in the trash...makes ya mad doesn't it?

Just like you likely wouldnt go anywhere without locking your door to your home or business....why would we put our computer on the internet....(the unknown)...without protecting it?

We lock our doors to business and home to keep poeple out.
We install alarm systems to let us or authorities know someone is breaking into our business
We install cameras and video recorders to record and have evidence when someone does break into our place
We might even hire a security guard to watch our place wile we are not there.
We also have insurance policy that in most cases will send out specialists needed to clean up and fix whatever damage the people who broke in did.

With our computers...
We password protect our computers to keep people out
We install firewall to keep people out and record whatever security events that do happen.
We install antivirus to protect against viruses and some trojans and clean up any that do get past the scans.
We install anti hijacker software to prevent cruddy sites from changing our home and search pages
We install spyware cleaners to remove the crap that does get installed without our notice, and crap that is bundled with "good software"
We also install any new windows updates to plug up the hack holes that more and more people are exploiting every day.
We also back up our data on a regular basis in case someone does get in and trash our system.

None of these things we do will keep our homes, businesses, and computers 100% protected but sure does help and is much easier to clean up the mess after something does happen.

Some free software for protection/cleanup

AVG antivirus...must be updated regularly to stay protected

Sygate, Zone alarm, and I think Kerio all offer free firewalls

Ad-aware...spyware removal...also needs regular updates

Spybot search and destroy...spyware removal...also needs regular updates

SpywareGuard...watches for changes in home page settings in IE, lets you know when something tries to change it, and asks you if you want to keep change or put it back to where you had it.

spywareblaster...helps prevent spyware from being installed in the first place...also needs regular updates.

I highly doubt what searchv is doing is legal but since so many sites are affiliated with that hijacker and more every day...nothing will be done soon..but neither is it legal for someone to break into our home or business.
So it's up to us to stay ahead of these low lifes and protect ourselves so we can browse, and do our research in peace.

Hope that helps anyone that crosses this post understand a little more how to protect themselves.

one way to get hijacked is if you click on yes,
when asked if you want to set your homepage to
http://ie.twrds.com/r.phtml/d/33/N/VFgWUFwSVlZPUw0O/'?
after mistyping alltheweb.com in your browser
address window, if you type
http://www.altheweb.com
some people accidentally click yes, or have kids that click yes on any popup, that puts gator and other malware on your pc.
some of these popups are at sites kids surf to,or misspell the url. such as anglefire.com
instead of angelfire.com, have a friend with two kids and he had plenty of spyware,and his
ie was crashing from all that stuff. I told him about ad-aware,spybot,spywareblaster
to help keep the junk away.

How you get to a site that is "not of the norm" can be an issue all on it's own. I was searching for a info on a virus a few weeks ago (do not remember which one). One of the Google responses was to something I thought was at the Symantec website (according to the description).

I clicked and went directly to some hacker site. I got about 15 popups immediately. PC-Cillin popped up pretty quickly saying it had blocked all traffic.

I would bet that Spywareblaster blocked several other things as well.

... and it would help if those of us who are not in poverty would PAY these software companies which are protoecting us. Obviously, they hope that a certain % of users will pay, and they do. Some people don't pay because they can't afford to, which is understandable; but some are just cheap, so we should do what we can when we can, in that direction.

Some sites that offer to install toolbars, helpers and other such crap has the "no" button screwed up in such a way that in reality you are hitting yes!...the best way to get out of those popups is alt+f4 to close that window. I have not yet been infected with crud from those sites using that method of closing windows. I too visit "should not go to sites" to see what happens...cus i wanna see what it is all about and am able to clean up the mess after. I have a test pc just for that purpose...with no email capabilities, or msn or anything that enables me to spread whatever viruses and such i get from doing that....kinda interesting in a way...

"such crap has the 'no' button screwed up in such a way that in reality you are hitting yes!"

Many bof these are not normal windows at all. Clicking anywhere on them (including the "x" button to close on the far top right) confirms the existence of your system and installs the garbage.

Some windows mean the garbage is being installed (or has been installed) just from being at the site, whether you clicked anything or not.

Like Kevin said, this are non-legit websites.
If you are surfing for hacks and keygens, you can expect it. If you click a valid looking link and are redirected, you just need to be careful.

Thanks for the replies guys. I know it's mostly porn sites where this type of stuff takes place, I guess you'd expect there to be some funny business. But searchv masks itself as a legit search engine. Look at it's web site (link provided) and you'd think they were on your side. Maybe it's the people that they are in business with that are installing the hijack and not the company that owns searchv itself, I don't know.
I appreciate the need to take responsibility for your own surfing habits and to use "protection," so to speak. But that seems a separate question from whether or not companies should be legally allowed to do it. To me it's like trespassing or destruction of property, except in a virtual setting. Now some of those "illegit" Web sites are probably in some foreign country somewhere beyond the reach of U.S. law. But Searchv doesn't seem to disguise its identity, so it would seem easy to hold them and other sites like them accountable. But, again, as someone else said, maybe they're not the ones doing the hijacking, some rogue sites are simply doing their dirty work for them. Thanks guys, I really appreciate the information and advice you all offer. It's taught me a lot.

to follow on dave's notes,MY beef is that the internet is generally not taken seriously. People steal steal, steal, destroy, destroy, vandalize, and because it's done "on the computer" it's not taken seriously. Gradually it will improve as governments listen to the population and deal with it. All the pathetic criminal puss on the net, and all the people who partake, proves that most, or a lot of, humanity, will do whatever they can get away with. People rip off stuff and other people for the same reason that a dog licks his privates: because they can.

Yell at your government.

Thanks for all the advice in these postings.

However, SearchV is still taking over my home page every time I restart the computer.

I have Symatec antivirus, Spybot, and Google toolbar (which seem to block the popups) all running and updated.

What else can I do?

I struggled with SarchV briefly, but found very useful information at

forums.techguy.org/t172387/ s189d7ed402318e84d02d26b54f26a989.html

hope this helps.

Jeff