2-3 days ago I started getting an Avast pop-up warning of an aborted connection to: clients2.googleusercontent.com because it was infected with Other:Malware-gen [Trj]
It states it was found in chrome.exe process. Snapshot of message attached.
I uninstalled Chrome and reinstalled and pop-ups continued.
I download malwarebytes yesterday before finding this forum and ran 2 scans which found some items but did not appear to be related - 29 items were sent to quarantine. Afterwards, the pop-up occurred shortly after.
Today, before finding this forum, I searched the registry and found 2 values under Chrome Extensions pointing to the url noted. I backed up the registry and deleted the 2 extension values, performed a reset of chrome and searched for harmful files. Confirmed the extensions were also deleted in the WIN 10 folder for Chrome. Rebooted and the pop-up occurred again.
I also searched all files\folders under WIN C and I cannot find any reference to URL>
Found this forum and attaching the suggested documents:
MBAM Search Results 3.tx
First.txt
Addition.txt
I cannot seem to find where such redirects are occurring.
Status is the same. I tried uninstalling Chrome, restarting PC, reinstalled Chrome and I have the same results. It does not happen on Firefox, just Chrome as it referenced in the picture I posted where Avast was able to circumvent the redirect and points to the path of Chrome.exe.
I have tried previously disabling all extensions, include a second pass at removing them completely. That did not work.
I could not find a help number with Avast so I downloaded and installed ZoneAlarm. Although I was planning to use their tool for access monitoring, they also have a virus shield. I ran it and it found 2 extensions where it detected malware. It automatically went into an advanced repair including rebooting the PC. I then did a second scan to complete a full scan and it found 2 other viruses which it also quarantined. After using my pc yesterday evening and off and on today I have not had any additional occurrences. I don’t believe one day is a true test so I will post again in 3-4 days.
That said, each time Avast aborted the connection it would prompt for an upgrade but it never attempted to do a repair - it always asked to click for a paid upgrade. I cannot fault them for wanting a paid subscription as they are not in the business to give everything away for free. I suppose ZoneAlarm will do the same over time. However, since ZoneAlarm found the additional viruses I have decided to trust them more, at least for now. I know everyone speaks highly of Avast Free but it has not served me well. After almost a week of installing and uninstalling many different things, researching the web for how others have solved, I have lost confidence in Avast.