Borrowed from Jim (MVP)
You've apparently gotten infected with the QHosts trojan. Read here for
information:
http://www.sarc.com/avcenter/venc/data/trojan.qhosts.html
http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=description&virus_k=100719
http://www3.ca.com/virusinfo/virus.aspx?ID=37191
Try the following:
1. Be sure that you install hotfix 828750 which fixes the exploit that this
virus uses:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/critical/828750/default.asp
2. Update and run a complete Anti-Virus software check of your system. Most
of the major AV companies have updated their latest signatures to detect
this virus (for Network Associates, be sure to get the EXTRADAT.exe update
from the above page as well as your regular update).
3. If running your AV doesn't clean it up, go to this page, read the
directions CAREFULLY (particularly about the Restore option) and download
and run the removal tool:
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/trojan.qhosts.remova
l.tool.html
If that still doesn't clean it up (and a number of people are reporting that
it did not), then follow the Manual Removal instructions there. The
following is courtesy of Mike Burgess:
"Does a HOSTS file still exist in Windows\Help?
Trojan Qhosts hijacks the HOSTS file, however unlike normal redirectors,
this one hides the HOSTS file in the "Windows\Help" folder. It then
creates entries that redirects all major search engines to a website.
Note: this website has now been removed, thus the DNS errors.
[more info]
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm (bottom of page)
Run the beta version of HijackThis (link on Hosts page)
--
Regards,
Ramesh [MS-MVP]
AIM: SRamesh2k
~ Please reply to newsgroup ~
For the last few days, I get a 404 error everytime I use a
search engine - MSN, Yahoo. I cannot even access Google as
I get a Page does not exist message. Any ideas as to what
this could be caused by? I can use a search engine within
a site (ebay for example) but no MSN/Yahoo. Others on my
connection have no difficuties.
I am using IE6 SP1 with the latest updates on a Win2K Pro
OS.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
