why am I getting redirected to junk sites after my google search?
when I have done a google search and click on my selection I seem to frequently get redirected to what I will call spam sights, for example, http://www.monstermarketplace.com/searchw50.asp?q=painting+new+stucco&ref=64436-97569
This seems to only have happened as of late. Thanks
URL of affected sites
http://
Chosen solution
Do a malware check with a few malware scan programs. You need to use all programs because each detects different malware. Make sure that you update each program to get the latest version of the database.
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php - Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware http://www.superantispyware.com/ - SuperAntispyware http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html - Spybot Search & Destroy http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php - Ad-Aware Free http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/defender/default.mspx - Windows Defender: Home Page .......... See also "Spyware on Windows": http://kb.mozillazine.org/Popups_not_blocked
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Hello Rob.
This is probably what you need:
http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Searches+are+redirected+to+another+site
If it isn't, you may be having a problem with some extension or plugin that is hindering your Firefox's normal behavior. Have you tried disabling all add-ons (just to check), to see if Firefox goes back to normal?
Chosen Solution
Do a malware check with a few malware scan programs. You need to use all programs because each detects different malware. Make sure that you update each program to get the latest version of the database.
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php - Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware http://www.superantispyware.com/ - SuperAntispyware http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html - Spybot Search & Destroy http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php - Ad-Aware Free http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/defender/default.mspx - Windows Defender: Home Page .......... See also "Spyware on Windows": http://kb.mozillazine.org/Popups_not_blocked
If you have an extension called Xulrunner 1.9.1 installed and "enabled", try "disabling" it. I figured this out today by trial and error. It worked for me. Its quick and easy to try.
In my case, the key to eliminating the XUL Runner 1.9.1 was in finding the registry entry:
HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-4084633196-3991238857-972333920-1000/software/mozilla/firefox/chrome. The “chrome” folder contained two files and a sub-folder named “content”. The Chrome folder contained the files “chrome manifest” and “install.rdf”. The content sub-folder contained the files “cfg.js” and “overlay.rdf”.
I found this path thanks to another poster here who tipped me off to the fact that the problem might be being caused by a Firefox extension. Then I was able to stop the problem by selectively disabling my extensions one by one till I found the one causing the redirections. I still wanted to uninstall the extension.
Finding the registry path was strictly hit-or-miss because I didn’t know the name of the files I was looking for. If someone else comes up with this problem, I’d suggest searching the registry for “cfg.js” and/or “overlay.rdf”. This should reveal the registry entry and enable them to eliminate it. Before I deleted the registry key, I took the precaution of saving the files and registry entries in a newly created file in My Documents in case whoever wrote this crap found a way to disable my computer if they were missing from the location where he stuck them.
It's not all that confusing. Open "regedit", open "find", put in "XUL Runner". If it's there, delete it. Worked for me. What a pain in the butt. I was copying and pasting URL's for half the stuff I looked for.
