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I am having the weirdest fucking issue with Internet Explorer. For the last 3 or so days, clicking links produces random results.
Sometimes it will actually take me to the website I'm trying to get to, most of the time however, it will take me to some random banner/advertising webpage (which is different every time). I will literally go back to my original google search or whatever, click the same link 3 times, and get 3 different mother fucking results.
I have no idea what could be causing this.
Should I just say "fuck it" and switch to firefox? Because this is some weird annoying crap.
I am having the weirdest fucking issue with Internet Explorer. For the last 3 or so days, clicking links produces random results.
Sometimes it will actually take me to the website I'm trying to get to, most of the time however, it will take me to some random banner/advertising webpage (which is different every time). I will literally go back to my original google search or whatever, click the same link 3 times, and get 3 different mother fucking results.
I have no idea what could be causing this.
Should I just say "fuck it" and switch to firefox? Because this is some weird annoying crap.
From the sound of it, you done got yourself a them there virus or trojan of some sort. As much as I dislike IE in any form, it cannot possibley by sending you to random links on its own. The fact that its sending you to ads is a dead give away your computer is infected
Also, I'm 99.9% sure that you've had many trojans and spyware over the years, but this is the first one you've noticed. If you're surfing without protection of any kind, you will get something, it just may be a non-invasive type of spyware.
Neither is going to help most likely. Try malware bytes, spybot, tcpfix, and hijackthis. When you are done, be sure to clear out any leftover proxy settings. Dont' forget to change every password you've used and throw ie in the trash, where it belongs. Then shell out a whopping 25$ for a year of Nod32.
That's a load of BS. Not only is IE8 is proven to be safer than Firefox it's a moot point now. Malicious/Hijacked websites & web servers now attack the system OS directly after identifying the OS from the header info. Flash games/videos have also been seen trying to install malware/adware in the background. This is why people need to leave UAC or similar function running. On XP systems I use Spybot SD's Tea Timer or Comodo's system guard in their free Security suit.
Also +1 for NOD32. If you want free then try Comodo or PC Tools if you only want an AV.
As popular as it is to hate on IE, this has nothing to do with IE.
This sounds like a 'hijacker' virus or bug of some sort. I had one that, ironically enough, hijacked FF. Google was the only site that worked, and every search result led to the same 'Antivirus' site. AVG's updates were blocked, as was Windows itself.
Unless you fix it, it's probably just a matter of time before the hijacking bug affects FF as well.
I'll suggest what fixed it for me: Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware. Despite the rather odd name, it's probably one of the best cleaners out there. Deleted the modded registry entries that were causing the redirection. Had to download it on another PC and move it there, but once it was installed and running, it worked.
That's a load of BS. Not only is IE8 is proven to be safer than Firefox it's a moot point now. Malicious/Hijacked websites & web servers now attack the system OS directly after identifying the OS from the header info. Flash games/videos have also been seen trying to install malware/adware in the background. This is why people need to leave UAC or similar function running. On XP systems I use Spybot SD's Tea Timer or Comodo's system guard in their free Security suit.
Also +1 for NOD32. If you want free then try Comodo or PC Tools if you only want an AV.
IE8 also breaks compatibility for countless sites and has a tendency to completely hose the system if you have to uninstall it for that reason. (Rollout on automatic updates for xp has kept me busy for days now due to compatibility issues that are far beyond what should be normal) It's highly doubtful he was using either ie8 or uac to get infected. Otherwise, the comment was harsh, but the op asked for an opinion.
Speaking of "WTF IE" It seems when I try to go to google in IE it redirects to Bing.
Oh this brings me back to my youth days when i said "I don't need no AV program"...so everytime i went on certain websites i would get redirected all over the place.
Sounds like virus or at the least some spy/adware.
Speaking of "WTF IE" It seems when I try to go to google in IE it redirects to Bing.
Oh this brings me back to my youth days when i said "I don't need no AV program"...so everytime i went on certain websites i would get redirected all over the place.
Sounds like virus or at the least some spy/adware.
I thought it was rather hilarious that a Microsoft product redirected me from Google to the Brand New! Microsoft search engine.
That's a load of BS. Not only is IE8 is proven to be safer than Firefox it's a moot point now. Malicious/Hijacked websites & web servers now attack the system OS directly after identifying the OS from the header info. Flash games/videos have also been seen trying to install malware/adware in the background. This is why people need to leave UAC or similar function running. On XP systems I use Spybot SD's Tea Timer or Comodo's system guard in their free Security suit.
Also +1 for NOD32. If you want free then try Comodo or PC Tools if you only want an AV.
IE8 also breaks compatibility for countless sites and has a tendency to completely hose the system if you have to uninstall it for that reason. (Rollout on automatic updates for xp has kept me busy for days now due to compatibility issues that are far beyond what should be normal) It's highly doubtful he was using either ie8 or uac to get infected. Otherwise, the comment was harsh, but the op asked for an opinion.
You know IE8 has a compatibility view button, right?
That's a load of BS. Not only is IE8 is proven to be safer than Firefox it's a moot point now. Malicious/Hijacked websites & web servers now attack the system OS directly after identifying the OS from the header info. Flash games/videos have also been seen trying to install malware/adware in the background. This is why people need to leave UAC or similar function running. On XP systems I use Spybot SD's Tea Timer or Comodo's system guard in their free Security suit.
Also +1 for NOD32. If you want free then try Comodo or PC Tools if you only want an AV.
IE8 also breaks compatibility for countless sites and has a tendency to completely hose the system if you have to uninstall it for that reason. (Rollout on automatic updates for xp has kept me busy for days now due to compatibility issues that are far beyond what should be normal) It's highly doubtful he was using either ie8 or uac to get infected. Otherwise, the comment was harsh, but the op asked for an opinion.
You know IE8 has a compatibility view button, right?
Now just a button, IE maintains an actively updated site list of to render in compatibility (IE7 legacy) mode. If these people don't want to update/recode their websites then they just have to add one line of code to their templates. This will tell IE to automatically render the site in compatibility mode.
Yeah I downloaded the Avira and Malwarebytes combo and they worked beautifully. That seems to have fixed the issue.
Thanks guys for all the help.
Not to knock Avira, but I have a sense that Malewarebyte's did the trick.
Given that I had the same problem (but for FF), I can't help but feel a little self-satisfied. Glad it worked out for you.
Since it was browser hijacking, I would imagine the antispyware took care of it too yes.
Avira is our first pass for virus cleanups on our linux network scans and works pretty good, ClamAV follows it up.
I would have stuck with Avira, if it wasn't for the huge amounts of false positives it was giving me. I'm sure that was correctable, but I was kind of in the 'trying' mood, so I switched between a couple different options.
On the subject of computer protection, what firewall do you guys use, if any? I've been using Comodo Personal Firewall for quite some time and have found it to work great, alerting me when stuff tries to connect to my computer as well as get out.
The built-in Windows firewall is perfectly fine. Things like Comodo are certainly nice, but I'm not convinced they're really all that useful. Any malware that might try to get out could simply disable the firewall. As far as I'm concerned a software firewall is only useful for blocking "trusted" apps from making outbound connections (for example, to check for updates), and I'm not sure why you'd want to do that, really.
I have a hardware firewall so I just use the Windows Firewall on my systems. For others whom I know need the extra help I install Comodo. I really like the free Comodo Internet Security suit. The fact that it works in Vista with UAC enabled without issues is a god send.
Just don't use ZoneAlarm. That thing is so goddamn slow.
Ugh, I had quite a fun episode of "Fix the Parent's computer" getting ZoneAlarm and McAffee off of one of their laptops. The thing just plain ran so slow from being loaded down with crap it was a real chore.
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From the sound of it, you done got yourself a them there virus or trojan of some sort. As much as I dislike IE in any form, it cannot possibley by sending you to random links on its own. The fact that its sending you to ads is a dead give away your computer is infected
Anyone able to recommend a good (free) virus removal tool?
You should also run adaware and spybot. Also have windows defender installed if you don't already.
Actually, yes, can't believe i missed that point. I use Avira personally.
That's a load of BS. Not only is IE8 is proven to be safer than Firefox it's a moot point now. Malicious/Hijacked websites & web servers now attack the system OS directly after identifying the OS from the header info. Flash games/videos have also been seen trying to install malware/adware in the background. This is why people need to leave UAC or similar function running. On XP systems I use Spybot SD's Tea Timer or Comodo's system guard in their free Security suit.
Also +1 for NOD32. If you want free then try Comodo or PC Tools if you only want an AV.
This sounds like a 'hijacker' virus or bug of some sort. I had one that, ironically enough, hijacked FF. Google was the only site that worked, and every search result led to the same 'Antivirus' site. AVG's updates were blocked, as was Windows itself.
Unless you fix it, it's probably just a matter of time before the hijacking bug affects FF as well.
I'll suggest what fixed it for me: Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware. Despite the rather odd name, it's probably one of the best cleaners out there. Deleted the modded registry entries that were causing the redirection. Had to download it on another PC and move it there, but once it was installed and running, it worked.
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php
It's also good for handling smaller things, like cookies, trackers, etc.
IE8 also breaks compatibility for countless sites and has a tendency to completely hose the system if you have to uninstall it for that reason. (Rollout on automatic updates for xp has kept me busy for days now due to compatibility issues that are far beyond what should be normal) It's highly doubtful he was using either ie8 or uac to get infected. Otherwise, the comment was harsh, but the op asked for an opinion.
Oh this brings me back to my youth days when i said "I don't need no AV program"...so everytime i went on certain websites i would get redirected all over the place.
Sounds like virus or at the least some spy/adware.
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I thought it was rather hilarious that a Microsoft product redirected me from Google to the Brand New! Microsoft search engine.
You know IE8 has a compatibility view button, right?
Now just a button, IE maintains an actively updated site list of to render in compatibility (IE7 legacy) mode. If these people don't want to update/recode their websites then they just have to add one line of code to their templates. This will tell IE to automatically render the site in compatibility mode.
Best free protection combo.
I've already recommended Malwarebyte's, that being said.
The program had some "Engrish" the last time I checked, which put me off a bit...but it worked.
Thanks guys for all the help.
Not to knock Avira, but I have a sense that Malewarebyte's did the trick.
Given that I had the same problem (but for FF), I can't help but feel a little self-satisfied. Glad it worked out for you.
Since it was browser hijacking, I would imagine the antispyware took care of it too yes.
Avira is our first pass for virus cleanups on our linux network scans and works pretty good, ClamAV follows it up.
I would have stuck with Avira, if it wasn't for the huge amounts of false positives it was giving me. I'm sure that was correctable, but I was kind of in the 'trying' mood, so I switched between a couple different options.
Ugh, I had quite a fun episode of "Fix the Parent's computer" getting ZoneAlarm and McAffee off of one of their laptops. The thing just plain ran so slow from being loaded down with crap it was a real chore.