drez54

Hello,

I'm running Windows XP (SP3), and I'm having some problems... using either Firefox or Internet Explorer, I am incapable of opening certain websites or applications... though these sites and applications are very peculiar. Note that I'm currently posting from a different computer.

First and foremost, every anti-virus and anti-spyware program on my computer does not load... I have Spybot, Avast, Ad-Aware, and other programs such as Smitfraudfix, HijackThis!, Malwarebyes. Attempting to execute them does nothing; they just never load. This occurs in both normal and safe mode.

Similarly, accessing anti-virus, anti-spyware, and even tech support sites (including this one) yields "Cannot connect to server" errors. If I try to access avast.com or something similar, I get the same error. Someone suggested I check my hosts file (/windows/system32/drivers/etc), and noticed that many sites were redirecting to 127.0.0.1. They suggested I delete all redirections except for localhost, which I did, though I backed up my copy of hosts elsewhere.

Anyway... outside disallowing access to certain sites, the internet in general runs incredibly slowly for certain sites. If I try to access something like GameFAQs (gamefaqs.com), it takes long to load; if I try to access something like my school's website and other parts of the site (mcgill.ca), it runs normally.

The problem seems to only occur for the administrators on the computer; both myself and my brother have these problems, but my sisters do not, and upon making them admins, they get the same problems we do.

I can't post any HJT logs or anything of the sort since I can't really load HJT or anything of the sort... frustrating to be sure.

Any ideas?

NOTE: The computer is connected via an ethernet cable to my primary computer, which is directly connected to my modem.

Thanks,
-Anthony.

eggBrain

Anthony,
I thought I was going nuts for a second. I'm running into the same problem currently and I'm not even able to execute Spybot S&D to solve the problem. I was browsing security sites to help out a customer. My security sites are being redirected to searchfeed, etc. and all other crazy rogue sites.

I think I'll try the hosts file in the meantime even if it didn't work for you. And I'll try to post back.

I'm using a backup PC at the moment that I just cleaned to get to this site.

If anyone else knows about this problem, this is a grave concern of mine.

eggBrain

eggBrain

Ok, didn't work for me either. Researching now. This is not good.

dm01

It sounds like all of you are infected with a high-grade virus or malware. Report to Security for decontamination immediately.

http://www.techsupportforum.com/secu...oval-help.html

Read all of the steps, then execute them in order. IF you have difficulty downloading the tools, post back in this thread and I will host them on RapidShare under different names to try to get past the malware.