Some kind of Browser hijack, Can't click on anything in Browser

[DougP]

it is as though the mouse is frozen. nothing happens. You can however navigate using up and down arrow keys.
And I figured out you can Alt Tab to another program and then back and part of the browser allows clicking but not all of it. Alt Tab again and back then more of it works. as soon as you come to a new page its back to not working again. Like now I can type and scrol but the back button does not work. It does not happen in a any other program seems to happen in both IE and Firefox.

any ideas?

DougP

 

[DrZogg]

Do you have an antivirus installed? If not download on another computer and install it onto this one.

 

[goombawaho]

1. Download ComboFix onto a USB flash drive from another computer.
2. Boot into SAFE MODE or regular mode (if required) and uninstall your anti-virus software. Yes - remove it.
3. Reboot computer in Safe Mode with networking (hopefully you can attach the PC to a wired/ethernet connection vs. wireless because some wireless will not work in safe mode and you NEED internet).
4. Launch combofix and allow it to do its thing. Follow screen prompts and do what it says to do/NOT to do.
5. When computer has restarted for the last time, check things out.
6. Turn OFF system restore to flush out anything left
7. Reinstall anti-virus and MalwareByte's Anti-Malware. Run a full scan using each (at different times) and see if things are clean.

 

[DougP]

Also since I started using IE 8. it would appear something is stopping the "back" button from working. I can click the tiny arrow next to back and forward and see the history which seems to show more pages than I was at. And in that list the page I am on says "home" or "current page" instead of the site name. I was on anothner comuter tehe the last page you wer says it name not "home". I can however click on something in the history drop down list and go back to it but it seems to take longer than instantaneous moving back.

goombawaho, Will the above fix that to?



DougP

 

[goombawaho]

I make no guarantees because my advice is free, BUT if it doesn't fix your issue you're in trouble (read: format & reload). That IS what I would do if I were encountering this situation in real life.

Follow instructions exactly though and listen to what Combofix tells you (don't restart PC - let it do it, do not launch any programs while it's finishing up).

 

[DrZogg]

Install another browser? IE is the most used & the most jacked. I use chrome, and have in the past used firefox.

 

[goombawaho]

Install another browser? IE is the most used & the most jacked. I use chrome, and have in the past used firefox.

That's NOT a fix if he already has malware on his machine. That's NO guarantee of avoiding malware had he never gotten any malware. Browsers are not the root cause of getting malware.

 

[DougP]

Well I guess SpyBot Search and Destroy found it. I clicked a link in an email or something and Firefox is my default browser. I have been using it without trouble for 15 minutes now.

So I don't know. it seems gone now.



DougP

 

[edfair]

There are also some issues with the graphics chips where your machine locks up. Close exam of the screen will show a less than full contrast. Task manager will come up and when it is closed down there will be a second screen behind. Close it and everything is working again. This is pretty intermittent, maybe a couple of times a day to once every several days.

Also have run across times when FF will hang but you can minimize via the task toolbar then maximize it by the same toolbar and it will be unlocked for another click. A reboot resolves it until it decides to fail again.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[goombawaho]

Regardless of disappearing symptoms, at least do the following and I say it's absolutely necessary. I wouldn't trust Spybot to give me an "all clear" in terms of malware.

Download and run a full scan of MalwareByte's Anti-Malware. It will ask to update itself upon first startup.

 

[DrZogg]

Is it malware or just search engine redirection? Another browser is simply problem identification

 

[goombawaho]

Search engine redirection is a form of malware. Unless it's something specifically that results from a particular browser setting or problem - which I have not yet seen.