We've all had those pesky website re-directions when attempting to browser for today's news. Usually I'll end up (not intentionally) on xxx hardcore donkey punching porn dvd online stores after just a simple click on news.com It would get to the point where no matter what you do it keeps taking you back to that delightful site. When you get odd things like this starting to happen, you definitely know you have what we call, a browser hijacker'. They can be very easy to contract' & can be almost impossible to remove if you have little idea of what needs to be done. Hopefully this article will help someone through their dark times (or white times).
Start off with a virus scan to remove viruses, but chances are if you have a browser hijacker you probably have something else. If you are having trouble running a scan or even downloading & installing the software there are ways around this! There are online scanners & even Windows Safe Mode' that will allow us greater control over our machines. Generally if you cannot install software you will only have to rename it to something simple to get around this problem. Ie. You download Mbam-13.6' & cannot install it due to viruses/malware blocking simply rename the file to anything of your choosing & try again. Perhaps go for something simple like cheese'. I know I've never had a problem with good old cheese.
If the above has not worked, most Windows versions have what we call safe mode'. We can start the computer into safe mode, which is basically a light copy of Windows. This will start the Windows Operating System into a mode where we have greater control & that is mostly unaffected by viruses. You can start into safe mode by turning the computer off then back on, tapping F8 as soon as it's turned back on. If you are having trouble getting the computer to switch off, you will need to hold in the power button for about 4 to 5 seconds until the screen goes black. (never yank out the power cable)
I have had browser hijackers still function when the computer has been in safe mode so it's probably best to run a heavy duty program like combofix' if they're still causing havoc. This program combofix should be used as a last resort however as it can destroy your copy of Windows (not to worry, computers can be restored with various methods see System Restore & re-installing Windows) If the issue is software related it can always be fixed.
Now that we've got the computer functioning after a virus scan, we will want to look through the registry. Be very careful when in the registry as you can cause the computer to stop functioning, the only way to fix it would be restoring back to factory defaults with either System Restore or a Re-install/repair of Windows.
Load computer back into normal mode (turn off & turn back on) you should now be browser hijack free! Computer Virus Removal is easy!
