Hi Guys,
Big problem here that I have been unable to sort out hence I am reaching out for help.
I have Avast premier and have had avast for about 4 years or so.
My chrome browser did (and the settings still show) that msn.uk is my default homepage however, I get http://esurf.biz/?ssid=1445297800&a=1008178 showing in my address bar and other random sites appear as well as random sites when I click on other webpages.
My system is rather old, winxp updated to the max with all updates from microsoft, 4 gig of ram, dual core pent 2.4 processor although I feel most of that is irrelevant.
What Happened:
Well I play as a time killer and have for a long time an old game called ‘Red Alert 2’ this was installed from genuine disks that are now unreadable due to age/scratches.
I tried to start the game 3 nights ago and Avast flagged up a threat when the game was started and sent the executable file to quarantine. I restored this file and it would not play with now a message that microsoft has met with some error and do I wish to report this…
So, something has changed on the saved executable file by going to quarantine.
I went online and downloaded the executable file that was scanned and no problems found.
I then tried to play my game but it simply did not start.
After this I went back online to search for issues and found my google chrome browser had been hijacked!
I have tried all sorts to get this put right spybot/spyhunter/emsisoft anti-malware/ccleaner
I have done some searches on http://esurf.biz/?ssid=1445297800&a=1008178 and it recommends using a tool for removal, which unfortunately costs a subscription that I simply cannot afford currently. I have checked google chromes settings as some sites say to change back the homepage but the hompage is still listed as it should be, so something is probably set in the registry. I tried ccleaner to solve this but although it picked stuff up and removed, the ebiz problem is still present.
I have run several complete scans on my system using avast and it picks nothing up at all???
But spyhunter4 picks up tons of problems including trojans/pups and over a thousand suspected cookies… Great I thought, but it will not remove them unless I subscribe.
I assumed that avast would protect my computer especially with having all shields active at all times, and I always scan anything that arrives to pc.
It seems that something has just walked on by and infected my computer.
Does anyone have a cure for this hijacking which is free?