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Worm on computer...need help

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by themouser2

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We have a worm or virus on our computer. When trying to get to Google or Yahoo search, we are redirected to "Royal Search" or "Sexpatriot" and it shows as being the Google page in the search bar. It also places itself as favorites sellection and also adds a Porn sites sellection as well. Each time we try to remove the offending sites, once you return to the user, it returns as if never removed.
This has occured for about a week. We have not downloaded anything that would have allowed this malady to get in. We have Hotmail and Yahoo as e-mail services and the Hotmail has a McAfee built in to it.
We need help in removing the offending culpret. We would once again like to use our own seaches and not the Porn ones on these sites. They are very offensive.
Has anyone experienced this and do you know how to get rid of it?
Thanks.

4 replies

by oz_media

You don't have to INTENTIONALLY download anything to be hit by a virus or worm, just your internet presence (especially online email) will do this for you.

This comes back each time you reboot because a registry entry is set to load at startup, this replaces any deleted or changed files or start pages. This is common with an relatively insecure broswer like IE but less so with a more stable browser such as Mozilla.

You most likely have your Active X controls loosely secured.

To fix this: Open your control panel and open Internet Options to the Security tab. In the activex area, disable activex that is not marked as safe and not signed. If they can't sign their own code, you certainly shouldn't run it on your system. For activex marked as safe and signed, set to prompt.

There are many tools to help reduce this type of invasion in the future but anyone can be hit at anytime.

First: ADWARE:- wil remove spyware from your computer. Download is FREE and I'll bet you're quite shocked at what it finds. This will probably fix your explorer page.

ADAWARE: http://www.lavasoft.nu

Secondly: A decent Anivirus program should be used on your local drive, not just your online mail. AVG Free edition is one of the best and it won't slow your computer the way MacAffe or Norton does as it is very resourceful.

AVG ANTIVIRUS: http://www.grisoft.com

Lastly you need some form of hijack preotection for the future. Here's a couple of hijack prevention links for your review:
Hijack Blaster:
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/bhblaster.html

Guard IE:
http://www.guardwall.com

THis should help, but if you still have problems search for Hijacked Internet pages or just post your comments back here.

Good luck,
Almost forgot, next time it's best to post your question to the Technical Q&A section instead of the discussion forum, more answers faster.
OM

by pnmnelson

You might also want to invest in a firewall program. The good ones will give you even further control over active x and other apps like that. Also, it will alert you when someone is "attacking" your computer. ZoneAlarm has a good free one and if you have the money Norton has a good one.

by oz_media

I'd definitely recommend a hardware firewall, MANY routers now come with some form of built in firewall and they are reallly cheap now.

as for ZoneAlarm and Sygate Personal firewall, anytime I've installed to a client PC, they beg me to remove it within a month. Most people simply cannot administer a software firewall and know what all the services are and which to allow/block etc. They are VERY buggy programs, they are resource pigs that slow EVERYTHING down and are generally a major pain in the ass for the common user.

A router with built in firewall, about $100 Canadian and worth every dime.

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