How to Remove Redirect Virus
The Redirect Virus is actually a type of trojan horse, meaning it gets downloaded to your hard drive in the form of some type of misleading application. It may be a fake system security scan or a spurious alert warning that you are infected with some other malware or even a malicious toolbar program. The redirect virus is also known as the Google Redirect Virus because the primary symptom seems to be that when a user clicks on a Google link, or other well-known search engine, they are taken to a different site from the one they intended to go to. For example, a user may be taken to a gambling or porn site instead of the health site they were expecting. A toolbar app called Zango seems to be one of the culprits harboring the Redirect Virus.
Getting rid of the redirect virus can be difficult; however, it is possible by following these steps:
Go to your Control Panel (Start > Settings > Control Panel or Start > Control Panel) and go to Add/Remove Programs. See if you have any unwanted toolbar programs, such as Zango. If so, uninstall them.
Reboot the computer and go to your Windows Explorer. Look under your C: drive and go to Program Files. See if there is a Zango folder and delete it.
Right-click My Computer, or Computer, Manage > Device Manager, View > Show Hidden Devices and look for something named TDSSserv.sys under Non-Plug and Play Drivers
Disable it by right-clicking. Do not Delete it. Otherwise it re-installs itself.
Check your hosts file (C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts). Right-click the file and Open it using notepad.
Check to see that the only thing listed is 127.0.0.1 localhost. Delete anything else and save and exit.
You should also check your Network settings in Control Panel:
Right-click your network connection > properties > double-click TCP/IP and make sure Obtain DNS Server Address Automatically is selected.
These initial steps will oftentimes remove redirect virus but it is possible your system will need a rootkit scan if it has a severe infestation. To get a free one, check out http://ScanThisComputer.com
Getting rid of the redirect virus can be difficult; however, it is possible by following these steps:
Go to your Control Panel (Start > Settings > Control Panel or Start > Control Panel) and go to Add/Remove Programs. See if you have any unwanted toolbar programs, such as Zango. If so, uninstall them.
Reboot the computer and go to your Windows Explorer. Look under your C: drive and go to Program Files. See if there is a Zango folder and delete it.
Right-click My Computer, or Computer, Manage > Device Manager, View > Show Hidden Devices and look for something named TDSSserv.sys under Non-Plug and Play Drivers
Disable it by right-clicking. Do not Delete it. Otherwise it re-installs itself.
Check your hosts file (C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts). Right-click the file and Open it using notepad.
Check to see that the only thing listed is 127.0.0.1 localhost. Delete anything else and save and exit.
You should also check your Network settings in Control Panel:
Right-click your network connection > properties > double-click TCP/IP and make sure Obtain DNS Server Address Automatically is selected.
These initial steps will oftentimes remove redirect virus but it is possible your system will need a rootkit scan if it has a severe infestation. To get a free one, check out http://ScanThisComputer.com
| For a free Spyware scan and more, check out http://scanthiscomputer.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eric_Alan_Anderson | |
Category:
Antivirus
