IE-6 hijacked by malware???

My wife's laptop seems to have been hijacked by a malware attack. She was
browsing a gardening website last night and when she clicked on a link the
computer was internet explorer was redirected to a different website pushing
an anti-virus scan stating that her computer had several viruses on it. I
have tried to get the sytem to work but evrytime ai enter certain thingsa
into the address bar it either redirects the browser or it produces a 404
error. I tried to scan it with its anti-virus software and the software was
prevented from intiating. I downloaded the anti-virus software from my
computer to a portable hard drive and reinstalled it from the hard drive onto
my wife's computer. After the re-install I was able to get some
functionality back by denying some resources when requested. I also went
online to microsofts online malware scanner and tried to run it but it
wqouldn't load on her computer so I ran it remotely from the ms website and
the resuts was that the computer was clean but it still refuses to go to many
websites but now it just gives a 404 error instead of redirecting the
browser. How do I get rid of this problem. I tried upgrading her computer
to IE-7 which I use on mine and all I get are 404 errors. Should I remove
IE-6 from her computer and download IE-7 to the protable hard drive and run
it on her computer????

"Charles" <Charles@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:0FBDAE14-8D4A-4FB1-8F47-236B46928A3A@microsoft.com...
My wife's laptop seems to have been hijacked by a malware attack. She was
browsing a gardening website last night and when she clicked on a link the
computer was internet explorer was redirected to a different website pushing
an anti-virus scan stating that her computer had several viruses on it.

================================================== ====

Upgrading a web browser while you are having issues will not fix the
problem. You need to fully clean off the infections. You can't uninstall IE6
and if you have upgraded to IE 7 and then uninstalled that and reverted back
to IE6 you can have problems. Do the scans below and once they are all
completed re-install IE7. Check for updates afterwards.

I would suggest these programs:

Malwarebytes [Free] http://www.malwarebytes.org
Super Antispyware [Free] www.superantispyware.com
a-squared Free 3.5 http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/download/

Download these programs onto your portable hard drive, install on your
wife's computer, update each program, do not run them yet. Shut down the
computer, restart your wife's computer in safe mode.

How to start in safe mode:
a.. If the computer is running, shut down Windows, and then turn off the
power
b.. Wait 30 seconds, and then turn the computer on.
c.. Start tapping the F8 key. The Windows Advanced Options Menu appears.
If you begin tapping the F8 key too soon, some computers display a "keyboard
error" message. To resolve this, restart the computer and try again.
d.. Ensure that the Safe mode option is selected.
e.. Press Enter. The computer then begins to start in Safe mode.
f.. When you are finished with all troubleshooting, close all programs and
restart the computer as you normally would.
courtesy of: http://www.pchell.com/support/safemode.shtml

See if you can turn off your anti-virus program while these scans are being
done as it can become confusing because as the spyware remover programs are
scanning and touching on files if one is recognized by the AV program it
will pop up a warning and want to remove or quarantine it which can upset
the scanning process. Let the anti-spyware program find and remove any
infection it finds they are usually better at removing the files anyway. Run
each program to clean off infections. Depending on severity of infection the
computer may have to be rebooted to finish the deletion process. Reboot back
to safe mode run the next program. After all the scans are done, update your
anti-virus program and run a full scan.

Once the computer appears infection free you need to turn off System Restore
to delete any infections still sitting in restore points. Then turn it back
on and it will create a new clean restore point or you can create one
yourself and give it a name so you know when this process occurred.

Steps to turn off System Restore
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310405
Reverse the process to turn it back on.

Steps to create a Restore point
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...emrestore.mspx

--
Regards,
Touch Base
Report back on the results, good or bad so others may benefit

"There's an old story about the person who wished his computer were as easy
to use as his telephone. That wish has come true, since I no longer know
how to use my telephone."
(Bjarne Stroustrup)

Posted by PA Bear MS MVP -Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
AumHa VSOP & Admin; DTS-L.net


<snip>

Unexplained computer behavior may be caused by deceptive software
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827315

Run a thorough check for hijackware, including posting your hijackthis log
to an appropriate forum.

Checking for/Help with Hijackware
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=5878
http://wiki.castlecops.com/Malware_R...:_Introduction
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/data/prevention.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/tshoot.html
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm
http://defendingyourmachine2.blogspot.com/
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...moving_Malware

When all else fails, HijackThis v2.0.2
(http://aumha.org/downloads/hijackthis.exe) is the preferred tool to use (in
conjuction with some other utilities). HijackThis will NOT fix anything on
its own, but it will help you to both identify and remove any
hijackware/spyware with assistance from an expert. **Post your log to
http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30,
http://forums.spybot.info/forumdisplay.php?f=22,
http://castlecops.com/forum67.html, or other appropriate forums for review
by an expert in such matters, not here.**

If the procedures look too complex - and there is no shame in admitting this
isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a local, reputable and
independent (i.e., not BigBoxStoreUSA) computer repair shop.

<end snip
--
Peter

Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.

"Charles" <Charles@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:0FBDAE14-8D4A-4FB1-8F47-236B46928A3A@microsoft.com...
> My wife's laptop seems to have been hijacked by a malware attack. She was
> browsing a gardening website last night and when she clicked on a link the
> computer was internet explorer was redirected to a different website pushing
> an anti-virus scan stating that her computer had several viruses on it. I
> have tried to get the sytem to work but evrytime ai enter certain thingsa
> into the address bar it either redirects the browser or it produces a 404
> error. I tried to scan it with its anti-virus software and the software was
> prevented from intiating. I downloaded the anti-virus software from my
> computer to a portable hard drive and reinstalled it from the hard drive onto
> my wife's computer. After the re-install I was able to get some
> functionality back by denying some resources when requested. I also went
> online to microsofts online malware scanner and tried to run it but it
> wqouldn't load on her computer so I ran it remotely from the ms website and
> the resuts was that the computer was clean but it still refuses to go to many
> websites but now it just gives a 404 error instead of redirecting the
> browser. How do I get rid of this problem. I tried upgrading her computer
> to IE-7 which I use on mine and all I get are 404 errors. Should I remove
> IE-6 from her computer and download IE-7 to the protable hard drive and run
> it on her computer????