banner ads hijacking my browser
seriousads.net when i open a bookmarked page banner ads imbed at top of page and when i click a link on that beginning page i am sent to an address like this but the browser page is blank and frozen:
the banner ads have "SmartSuggestor" tag on lower right. Usually two ads the same, one above the other
I have run several malware programs, disabled or removed all extensions and plugins but still cannot stop this hijacking. It started about two or three days ago. Also present in IE and Chrome but Firefox is my preferred and most used browser where it started. Help!! My computer is infected with something that I can find no solution for. I have put up with several invasive ads on my Firefox pages which I think you should give us a way to block, but this is the first time that my browser gets froxen.
Alle Antworten (7)
Smartsuggestor was and is not in my programs list. I would have already uninstalled it if it were there. I ran the reg cleaner you included in your solution but the problem remains:
I get the banner ads with the small Smartsuggestor tag as before. When I click on a page link I still am hijacked to a blank page with the address prefaced with sdns.seriousads.net and my browser - firefox - is frozen. As far as I can tell nothing has changed. My firefox is still infected by something the only clues are the banner ad blocks which are loaded into the top of starting page of the bookmark when it comes up and then the sdns.seriousads.net hijacking firefox when I try to go to a page link.
Have you also scanned with MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware? Different tools can pick up different things so its a good idea to run more than one application.
Can you try Firefox Safe Mode to see if the problem goes away. Firefox Safe Mode is a troubleshooting mode that turns off some settings, disables most add-ons (extensions and themes).
If Firefox is open, you can restart in Firefox Safe Mode from the Help menu:
- Click the menu button
, click Help 
and select Restart with Add-ons Disabled.
If Firefox is not running, you can start Firefox in Safe Mode as follows:
- On Windows: Hold the Shift key when you open the Firefox desktop or Start menu shortcut.
When the Firefox Safe Mode window appears, select "Start in Safe Mode".
If the issue is not present in Firefox Safe Mode, your problem is probably caused by an extension, and you need to figure out which one. Please follow the Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems article to find the cause.
To exit Firefox Safe Mode, just close Firefox and wait a few seconds before opening Firefox for normal use again.
When you figure out what's causing your issues, please let us know. It might help others with the same problem.
Do a malware check with several malware scanning programs on the Windows computer. Please scan with all programs because each program detects different malware. All these programs have free versions.
Make sure that you update each program to get the latest version of their databases before doing a scan.
- Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware:
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php - AdwCleaner:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/Removal-Tools/AdwCleaner.shtml - SuperAntispyware:
http://www.superantispyware.com/ - Microsoft Safety Scanner:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/en-us/default.aspx - Windows Defender:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/using-defender - Spybot Search & Destroy:
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html - Kasperky Free Security Scan:
http://www.kaspersky.com/security-scan
You can also do a check for a rootkit infection with TDSSKiller.
- Anti-rootkit utility TDSSKiller:
http://support.kaspersky.com/5350?el=88446
See also:
I have run all these malware programs and scans. Even the Kaspersky says I am OK. However I still get the banner ads jamming onto the top of many web pages I have bookmarked as common sites I use everyday. I see the Smartsuggestor tag next to the ad and when I click to a link on my page that has been moved below the banner ads I get the spns.seriousads.net addressed page that is blank and my browser is frozen unless I click the goback to the previous page where the ads are again loaded at the top of the page. Only if I can click on the real original page link before the ads are loaded can I actually get to the intended link. It usually takes several tries if at all.
Try taking a look at your Firefox shortcut's target line. Right click the Firefox shortcut and select Properties. Check for any suspicious text after "firefox.exe" in the Target field under the "Shortcut" tab - if there is any delete it and that is likely what is causing the problem.
Also have you run in safe mode and confirmed that an extension isn't causing the ads?
Here is my properties:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
I have run in safe mode but still get the same conditions with the hijacking. I have run with no extensions and with the three that are there normally, ID_SS_NAME, McAfee Security Scan and Microsoft.Net Framework Assistant. All my plugins say ask to activate.
Why do you (firefox) and other browsers allow these screen invading ad windows anyway - I know the money. The screen source code gets embedded with adware code so that my control of the screen get subverted. If I were managing my browser and its code for users/clients, I would have mechanisms to bar that from happening, in spite of how advertisers support the browser company. Once a page is loaded there should be blocking mechanisms both for the client (me) and you - firefox to prevent hijacking. I appreciate your help, but I would like to solve this problem which has been going on now for several days. Where is this "Smartsuggestor" ad generator coming from? It is not in my program files list when I go there from control panel. Does it have different program names / aliases? Is there a list somewhere with possible source names. Where in my registry is it hiding ? I have run two or three reg cleaners but to no avail.