need some help with internet explorer from all you techies

A

apathrev

Guest
When I woke up this morning, for some reason there was some new adware installed on my computer, a progam called 1800 search assistant. Of course I did not download this or even authorize it to be downloaded. So I removed it and some other program from my computer. Now they're gone, but half the time when I type in a web page it gives me its own 404 error and takes me to its search page, when the site should connect. How can I fix this?

And don't tell me to get Firefox, I've tried FF with my computer and it doesn't work with my comp.
 
Get spy program to clean it out ad ware is one of them that you can use But best to have few different kind of spy program to clean out because sometimes each program clean out that other program missed...

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

It would make the computer run bit better after it clean out and reboot Which I always do that.
 
okay then try scan with virus program I know you probably already did huh? if dont then do it and also go in add/remove program and see if you can remove 1800search and other odd programs that you know you didnt add.
 
Already tried all of that. My anti-virus is outdated, so it really does no good. Any thing else?
 
Its still doing it, and its starting to drive me more nuts. I'm about to go crazy.
 
Um... Obvious question: Why doesn't Firefox work on your computer? If you're using Windows (and as no sane non-Windows user would use IE regularly, I'll assume so), it should work perfectly.

Also, have you tried another browser (besides Firefox) like Opera?
 
This sounds like a BHO (Browser Hijack Object) much similar to CoolWWWSearch and some other BHOs that takes over your web browser and manipulate everything you do by redirecting you to their site. It is malicious and you need to remove it with such tools like CWShredder and HiJackThis. CWShredder has been successful at removing malicious BHOs such as the infamous CoolWWWSearch. However, HijackThis will display what your computer have and what your browser is using and when you look at the potential malicious BHOs, and by potential, not all BHOs are malicious. You know Google's toolbar, Yahoo's toolbar and more, they are good BHOs, but such as 1800Search, CoolWWWSearch and more, are bad BHOs. Anyways, in order to use HijackThis, you must have some working knowledge on how to remove files and programs from your computer, be able to decipher the HijackThis report and determine which one is malicious and what not. Adaware, Spybot and some other ad-ware cleaning program may not be successful at cleaning out the problems. You have to get your hands dirty and clean the computer yourself. The HijackThis program can help you delete such entries like BHOs and you may have to search for the folder that's causing the problem.

Download HijackThis. Once you download it, create a folder like this, C:/HJT (you have to make the folder yourself, by naming it HJT on C:/, not C:/Program Files or anywhere else, but on C: only, for the log file needs to be saved in that folder). Extract the program into C:/HJT and run the program. Post the logfile here if you wish, or post it on http://forums.spywareinfo.com/, these dudes there are VERY helpful! I have had one computer filled with junk and such and some won't go away so I inquired the fellows there and they told me some things I never knew and I got the problems fixed.

HijackThis download link

Remember, when removing an entry in HijackThis, you should know what you are doing. That's why I am suggesting you post your log file here for us "techies" to read and tell you what we know, or go to that link at spywareinfo.com and post it there and you should get a reply in less than 24 hours!

Hope this helps! :thumb:
 
Also, should this thread be moved to Computer, ISP and Programming or whatever else under Technology? This is computer-related issue.
 
I downloaded the program and at the very top I was able to find a couple of unfamiliar programs that were labelled "startnow" search page, tool bar, homepage, etc, and so I removed them. I still think there is more. So far I haven't seen any evidence that the adware is still on my browser, but here is my log file. Let me know if you see any I should remove.
 

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Teresh said:
Um... Obvious question: Why doesn't Firefox work on your computer? If you're using Windows (and as no sane non-Windows user would use IE regularly, I'll assume so), it should work perfectly.

Also, have you tried another browser (besides Firefox) like Opera?
Click to expand...

I don't know why it won't work. I downloaded it once and it just kept crashing, so I gave up and went back to IE.
 
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