Search engine problems

  • Thread starter Thread starter Todd Miller
  • Start date Start date
T

Todd Miller

I am having problems getting google or yahoo to work. I
noticed on the "bar" at the bottom of the IE6 window that
it was tacking a ".net" onto the address. I think it was
trying to open www.google.com.net. It also went
thru .org, .edu etc... I haven't encountered any other
sites that do this. I read some of the previous posts, but
I have not downloaded any ad or pop up blockers. This
problem occured right after I set up my new DSL account
this last weekend ( I previously had d-up). Reading thru
the Microsoft site, I think this may be due to improper
connection settings or something of that sort. Has anyone
else encountered this?
 
Todd,
I have the same problem and have not been able to solve
it either. It started to occur when I installed the
latest Windows update. Thanks Bill!!!

Check the question posted by Keith Quigley on Oct. 7th.

Ken
 
Same here. When I try to search for something using
Yahoo, I always get "Page could not be found." When's it
going to be fixed?
 
Borrowed from Jim (MVP)

You've apparently gotten infected with the QHosts trojan. Read here for
information:

http://www.sarc.com/avcenter/venc/data/trojan.qhosts.html
http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=description&virus_k=100719
http://www3.ca.com/virusinfo/virus.aspx?ID=37191


Try the following:

1. Be sure that you install hotfix 828750 which fixes the exploit that this
virus uses:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/critical/828750/default.asp

2. Update and run a complete Anti-Virus software check of your system. Most
of the major AV companies have updated their latest signatures to detect
this virus (for Network Associates, be sure to get the EXTRADAT.exe update
from the above page as well as your regular update).

3. If running your AV doesn't clean it up, go to this page, read the
directions CAREFULLY (particularly about the Restore option) and download
and run the removal tool:

http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/trojan.qhosts.remova
l.tool.html

If that still doesn't clean it up (and a number of people are reporting that
it did not), then follow the Manual Removal instructions there. The
following is courtesy of Mike Burgess:

"Does a HOSTS file still exist in Windows\Help?
Trojan Qhosts hijacks the HOSTS file, however unlike normal redirectors,
this one hides the HOSTS file in the "Windows\Help" folder. It then
creates entries that redirects all major search engines to a website.
Note: this website has now been removed, thus the DNS errors.
[more info]
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm (bottom of page)
Run the beta version of HijackThis (link on Hosts page)

--
Regards,
Ramesh [MS-MVP]
AIM: SRamesh2k


~ Please reply to newsgroup ~


I am having problems getting google or yahoo to work. I
noticed on the "bar" at the bottom of the IE6 window that
it was tacking a ".net" onto the address. I think it was
trying to open www.google.com.net. It also went
thru .org, .edu etc... I haven't encountered any other
sites that do this. I read some of the previous posts, but
I have not downloaded any ad or pop up blockers. This
problem occured right after I set up my new DSL account
this last weekend ( I previously had d-up). Reading thru
the Microsoft site, I think this may be due to improper
connection settings or something of that sort. Has anyone
else encountered this?
 
Corrupt or compromised HOSTS file.

Search for the file named HOSTS (just that, no extension).

Open it with any text editor (Wordpad, Notepad, etc.),
delete everything, save the blank document. If you're
skittish about what might happen, save a copy on your
desktop before you clear it out.

Restart your machine.

All should be well.

Matt
 
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