Hi, every time I try to get on google I get a page come up saying "Are you trying to get to google? You’re seeing this page because your computer is trying to send you to a website that is pretending to be Google. Over the past few weeks, you may have seen a website that looks like Google, but launches pop-up windows and does not work like Google. That page is not affiliated with Google in any way and is intended to deceive you” It then goes on to tell you how to remove it this the steps it tells you to do; “The first step is to remove the entry for Google from your hosts file. This entry is telling your computer where to send your computer instead of to Google. In Windows, open the Notepad program. You can do this by going to the Start menu in the lower left of your screen, selecting “Programs,” then “Accessories,” then “Notepad.”In the Notepad menu, click on “File,” then “Open.” You will see a new window asking which file to open. You may need to change "Files of type" to "All Files" instead of "Text Documents". The actual file to open is listed below: If your computer is running Windows XP, Window NT, or Windows 2000, the file is located in the folder found by following this path: My Computer >Local Disk(C) >Windows >System32 >Drivers >etc >hosts Once you have opened this file, remove entirely any line of text that contains “google.com”, “www.google.com” or other Google domains (such as “google.co.uk”). To remove the text, highlight it by dragging your pointer across the line while holding down the mouse button. Once the text is highlighted, hit the Backspace or Delete button, then save the file by going to the File menu and clicking “Save.” You can now exit Notepad. What shall I do? I am not shore if this is a hoax virus or what I have ran Norton’s Spybot - Search & Destroy & Ad-aware 6.0 they picked up nothing. Thanks for your help, Matt

Not heard of this before, but I would treat it as genuine. The message u get about ur hosts file is correct, a rogue entry here WILL send u to the wrong url. A typical hosts file has NO entries whatsoever. GoodLuck

It's not a hoax. Edit you hosts file as it asks. Adaware will remove the program that caused the problem but it won't fix the mess it left in your hosts file. The hosts file is very easy to understand. It gives an IP address and a site it wants associated with that address. Your Adaware Ad-blocker will associate all Ad sites with your computer 127.0.0.1. That way ads are never fetched from the net (Horra!). If you spot a site with an IP other than 127.0.0.1 check to see if it is a Windows site or such that doesn't belong in hosts, and delete it if it is. Remember hosts is now used as a Sin Bin for adware(not its original function). Only bad sites belong there. When you save hosts after editing it ensure the automatic txt extension is NOT present; it doesn't need any extension, and won't work with one.

I did what it told me to do and now google working. WTF was that all about never had any thing like that before, and I have not been on any sites that are unsafe. Thanks for your help, Matt

well its pritty easy. something you dl'ed or a site you went to stuck it on there. and the google page that you DID get send to (earlyer) was an even more adware.

With Java and ActiveX enabled all websites are unsafe (so is crossing the road :-) ). If you disable these functions then the net becomes a pain in the ass, (its a bit like always having to cross at the lights). Most sites will ask you before they can run an unsafe Java App. Click [No], unless you really trust the site it is coming from. We are all going to get caught out by the next Web Page carried hack method, so just grin and bear it. All you can do is keep your OS, Firewall, Ad-blocker, virus scanner, browser and Media PLayer patched, and keep the web away fom your important data. Reading a site like this will give you plenty of warning about what to watch out for (because other people have got caught out) and how to fix it. Hope for the best and plan for the worst, it's all you can do.

I had the exact same thing happen on a Windows 2000 Pro CPU, and the solution that worked on XP also worked on Win2K. It was important to remove the .txt extension when saving, and I also found that the hosts file was marked as Read-Only, so I had to change that as well before saving. Thanks to everyone who offered help on this topic.