# Google hijacking...



## canadaclub (Oct 19, 2006)

Interesting problem started yesterday. Everytime I google a topic I get a list of several sites pertaining to my inquiry. When I select one, or all, of the sites I keep getting redirected to what seems to be another search engine...usually for sales.

Example: I googled "Indira Gandhi" looking for the names of her sons. (I'm a crossword nut..lol) Google gave me numerous options but each one directed me to flight sales and tourism for India. Each time I click, I get different places but still all sales ads.

I updated AVG and ran it...no threats found. I ran Ad-Aware...no threats found.

I restored the PC back to a month ago and the problem persists.

Also, my PC is running horribly slow now taking about 5 minutes to reboot.

Any suggestions?


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

> Any suggestions?


shoot the devils machine now before it causes any more problems in your life. :laughing:



> I updated AVG and ran it...no threats found. I ran Ad-Aware...no threats found.


I have found that once in awhile I will delete AVG and download Avast. Then run that for awhile and then go back to AVG. For some reason, each time I do that, the new install seems to pick up some things the old one left. Don't know why but it is what it is..



> Example: I googled "Indira Gandhi" looking for the names of her sons. (I'm a crossword nut..lol) Google gave me numerous options but each one directed me to flight sales and tourism for India.


Be careful what you ask for. Have you heard about the guy in England that was looking for onager when the clue was apparently "a wild Asian ass". Boy was he surprised when he Googled wild Asian ass.


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

Google also now has the responses at the top as "paid advertising"
So in some cases the tope "results" are fake, just ads that have been paid for
I usually get the sponsored ads on the right & they are labeled as sponsored
But not always


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## poppameth (Oct 2, 2008)

I've worked on a few computers lately that have had a pretty nasty rootkit infection. One of the big symptoms was search engine redirection. Every time I tried to google for info on how to fix it, I'd end up with completely unrelated search results usually trying to sell something. I got most of the problem cleaned up but never could fix the redirection issue. A rootkit is located below the kernel level of the OS and is very hard to see, much less get rid of. If you do have a rootkit, you are better off reformatting that taking a chance on using the infected machine after a cleanup.


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## canadaclub (Oct 19, 2006)

Thanks all for your replies:thumbsup:

I have always wanted to format but I have either lost or damaged the installation discs for some of my software, including my windows disc. 

I did, however, delete AVG and ran Avast. It found 5 HIGH threats and 1 Med. Funny how AVG and Windows Defender missed them. There were actually 5 Trojans. Where they came from all of a sudden is a mystery. I don't visit unscrupulous sites and my email downloads are from the same people who have been sending them for years!

Anyhow, things seem to have improved except my boot time so thanks again all


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

canadaclub said:


> my email downloads are from the same people who have been sending them for years!
> )


there are a lot of viruses that actually mail themselves to others in your address book so that is a all too common source of viruses.


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## canadaclub (Oct 19, 2006)

I created an email contact with an address of [email protected]. Someone told me a while back that if I get a virus like that, I would receive a daemon mail replying that the IP address is not valid and I would know right away something is wrong.


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