I have a search-engine virus. This affects all search engines I have tried -- google, Yahoo, MSN -- and both Firefox and IE. It appears to be redirecting to another site. Search results come up but the websites are random unrelated sites. I have run full scans on McAfee anti-virus 8.0, also CCleaner programs and registry, Spybot S&D and AdAware Anniversary Edition (both fully updated), but these did not find the problem.
Please help, thanks!
try malwarebytes and then do a bootscan using avast free, that should help. Some HELP in posting on Computing.net plus free progs and instructions Cheers
The first program, Malwarebytes, didn't find anything.
The avast boot scan found two items, which I moved to the chest:
1. C:\Program Files\Online Services\Netscape Online\NSsetup.exe -- don't think this would be the problem.
2. A0166513.exe
C:\System Volume Information\_restore{8F7A5040-9305-48DA-A5EE-E7EE68E6A938}\RP1472After booting up, Avast listed the following file as a possible problem:
C:\Windows\System32\wdmaud.sys
type: rootkit: hidden processIs this a valid system file, or should it be deleted? I said to ignore, since I wasn't sure.
Even with those two files in the avast Chest, I still have the search redirect problem. What else do you recommend?
I googled and found this:
Important: Some malware camouflage themselves as wdmaud.sys, particularly if they are located in c:\windows or c:\windows\system32 folder. Thus check the wdmaud.sys process on your pc whether it is pest.Here is more insight, I think avast was right:
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6142_10...Some HELP in posting on Computing.net plus free progs and instructions Cheers
Thanks! I told Avast to delete that file, also followed its suggestion to reboot and scan. That fixed the problem.
Thanks for posting back & I'm glad your problem is resolved! Happy surfing! Just for your own piece of mind, you may want to run HJT and then post the file in:
http://hijackthis.de/It is pretty straight forward and it's easy to google any suspicious entries.
That should let you know that all is clear.
Thanks again for replying...OH, and I would suggest using winpatrol too...it's free and lets you know what is running on your PC...a great piece of software.Some HELP in posting on Computing.net plus free progs and instructions Cheers
