Can't search

[Michael Howarth]

Hi

I posted yesterday about a sudden problem I was having with my browser that
kept on detecting the proxy settings, well, I've sorted that out now but
another problem has arisen. I can't search and I can't find Google!

When I type www.google.co.uk or www.google.com I'm directed to a site
called 'Cpanel'.

When I go to www.yahoo.co.uk or www.yahoo.com and try and search, I get
"page not found" errors.

I can connect to normal sites such as the BBC by typing in the URL manually,
but anything to do with searches just doesn't work.

I have updated my Internet Explorer, and tried repairing the instalation to
no avaiul, I have also tried both checking my system for viruses and spyware
(which turned up nothing) but I still can't search at all.

This problem is really wierd and has me totally stumped.

Thanks in advance for anyone who might have any suggestions.

Michael Howarth

 

[Michael Howarth]

My appologies, I can see all the other similar messages
from the web based NNTP browser, for some reason I can't
view this newsgroup properly in Outlook, it keeps freezing
when I try to read messages. Ho hum, another problem to
overcome.

Anyway, I'll give all these other suggestions about
Spyware a shot as it seems AdAware won't pick up this
particular nusance.

Cheers anyway.

 

[siljaline]

Hi

I posted yesterday about a sudden problem I was having with my browser that
kept on detecting the proxy settings, well, I've sorted that out now but
another problem has arisen. I can't search and I can't find Google!

When I type www.google.co.uk or www.google.com I'm directed to a site
called 'Cpanel'.

When I go to www.yahoo.co.uk or www.yahoo.com and try and search, I get
"page not found" errors.

I can connect to normal sites such as the BBC by typing in the URL manually,
but anything to do with searches just doesn't work.

I have updated my Internet Explorer, and tried repairing the instalation to
no avaiul, I have also tried both checking my system for viruses and spyware
(which turned up nothing) but I still can't search at all.

This problem is really wierd and has me totally stumped.

Thanks in advance for anyone who might have any suggestions.

Michael Howarth

http://www.sarc.com/avcenter/venc/data/trojan.qhosts.html [? ]

If your A-V scanner comes up empty, run SpyBot and Ad-aware
from this link: http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm

Please post back with your findings -

HTH

--

siljaline MS MVP IE/OE


"Arguing with anonymous strangers on the Internet is a sucker's game
because they almost always turn out to be -- or to be indistinguishable from
-- self-righteous sixteen-year-olds possessing infinite amounts of free time."
- Neil Stephenson, _Cryptonomicon_

 

[rhonda]

Michael,

If you have received the solution to this problem I would
appreciate the knowledge. I am experiencing the same
issue with my computer. I can't search anything no
matter which search engine I try to use. Please forward
the solution if you have it.

Thanks,
Rhonda Allain

 

[Michael Howarth]

I've fixed it! Thanks for the link Siljadine.

The hosts file had been edited somehow, I replaced my
hosts file with this one:
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.txt

Siljaline's link was very helpful with regards to the
hosts file, I'd suggest giving that a read and following
through the instructions there:
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm

Cheers

Michael Howarth

 

[pierre]

Has anyone fixed this problen as I am experiencing the
same thing!

-----Original Message-----

Hi

I posted yesterday about a sudden problem I was having with my browser that
kept on detecting the proxy settings, well, I've sorted that out now but
another problem has arisen. I can't search and I can't find Google!

When I type www.google.co.uk or www.google.com I'm directed to a site
called 'Cpanel'.

When I go to www.yahoo.co.uk or www.yahoo.com and try and search, I get
"page not found" errors.

I can connect to normal sites such as the BBC by typing in the URL manually,
but anything to do with searches just doesn't work.

I have updated my Internet Explorer, and tried repairing the instalation to
no avaiul, I have also tried both checking my system for viruses and spyware
(which turned up nothing) but I still can't search at all.

This problem is really wierd and has me totally stumped.

Thanks in advance for anyone who might have any suggestions.

Michael Howarth

http://www.sarc.com/avcenter/venc/data/trojan.qhosts.html [? ]

If your A-V scanner comes up empty, run SpyBot and Ad- aware
from this link: http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm

Please post back with your findings -

HTH

--

siljaline MS MVP IE/OE


"Arguing with anonymous strangers on the Internet is a sucker's game
because they almost always turn out to be -- or to be indistinguishable from
-- self-righteous sixteen-year-olds possessing infinite amounts of free time."
- Neil Stephenson, _Cryptonomicon_

.

 

[Amanda]

I have the same problem! My browser was detecting the
proxy settings, and once I fixed that problem, I couldn't
search either. I ran a virus check and came up with
nothing also. If you can find a fix for this problem,
please let me know. Thanks! Amanda

 

[Andy Graybeal]

Hey folks, I don't know if it matters or not ... for me it turned up
to be something slightly different.

my dns entries were changed to 66.. something or another.
and i couldn't search on any search engine that i could think of to
search.
my hosts file was a normal old hosts file with the only entry being
127.0.0.1 localhosts.

the one thing i did find that i haven't seen anyone post yet (and it
makes no sense to me.. ) that there was a hosts file in the
c:\winnt\help folder.

here is the contents of that file:

88.88.88.88 elite
207.44.194.56 www.google.akadns.net
207.44.194.56 www.google.com
207.44.194.56 google.com
207.44.194.56 www.altavista.com
207.44.194.56 altavista.com
207.44.194.56 search.yahoo.com
207.44.194.56 uk.search.yahoo.com
207.44.194.56 ca.search.yahoo.com
207.44.194.56 jp.search.yahoo.com
207.44.194.56 au.search.yahoo.com
207.44.194.56 de.search.yahoo.com
207.44.194.56 search.yahoo.co.jp
207.44.194.56 www.lycos.de
207.44.194.56 www.lycos.ca
207.44.194.56 www.lycos.jp
207.44.194.56 www.lycos.co.jp
207.44.194.56 alltheweb.com
207.44.194.56 web.ask.com
207.44.194.56 ask.com
207.44.194.56 www.ask.com
207.44.194.56 www.teoma.com
207.44.194.56 search.aol.com
207.44.194.56 www.looksmart.com
207.44.194.56 auto.search.msn.com
207.44.194.56 search.msn.com
207.44.194.56 ca.search.msn.com
207.44.194.56 fr.ca.search.msn.com
207.44.194.56 search.fr.msn.be
207.44.194.56 search.fr.msn.ch
207.44.194.56 search.latam.yupimsn.com
207.44.194.56 search.msn.at
207.44.194.56 search.msn.be
207.44.194.56 search.msn.ch
207.44.194.56 search.msn.co.in
207.44.194.56 search.msn.co.jp
207.44.194.56 search.msn.co.kr
207.44.194.56 search.msn.com.br
207.44.194.56 search.msn.com.hk
207.44.194.56 search.msn.com.my
207.44.194.56 search.msn.com.sg
207.44.194.56 search.msn.com.tw
207.44.194.56 search.msn.co.za
207.44.194.56 search.msn.de
207.44.194.56 search.msn.dk
207.44.194.56 search.msn.es
207.44.194.56 search.msn.fi
207.44.194.56 search.msn.fr
207.44.194.56 search.msn.it
207.44.194.56 search.msn.nl
207.44.194.56 search.msn.no
207.44.194.56 search.msn.se
207.44.194.56 search.ninemsn.com.au
207.44.194.56 search.t1msn.com.mx
207.44.194.56 search.xtramsn.co.nz
207.44.194.56 search.yupimsn.com
207.44.194.56 uk.search.msn.com
207.44.194.56 search.lycos.com
207.44.194.56 www.lycos.com
207.44.194.56 www.google.ca
207.44.194.56 google.ca
207.44.194.56 www.google.uk
207.44.194.56 www.google.co.uk
207.44.194.56 www.google.com.au
207.44.194.56 www.google.co.jp
207.44.194.56 www.google.jp
207.44.194.56 www.google.at
207.44.194.56 www.google.be
207.44.194.56 www.google.ch
207.44.194.56 www.google.de
207.44.194.56 www.google.se
207.44.194.56 www.google.dk
207.44.194.56 www.google.fi
207.44.194.56 www.google.fr
207.44.194.56 www.google.com.gr
207.44.194.56 www.google.com.hk
207.44.194.56 www.google.ie
207.44.194.56 www.google.co.il
207.44.194.56 www.google.it
207.44.194.56 www.google.co.kr
207.44.194.56 www.google.com.mx
207.44.194.56 www.google.nl
207.44.194.56 www.google.co.nz
207.44.194.56 www.google.pl
207.44.194.56 www.google.pt
207.44.194.56 www.google.com.ru
207.44.194.56 www.google.com.sg
207.44.194.56 www.google.co.th
207.44.194.56 www.google.com.tr
207.44.194.56 www.google.com.tw
207.44.194.56 go.google.com
207.44.194.56 google.at
207.44.194.56 google.be
207.44.194.56 google.de
207.44.194.56 google.dk
207.44.194.56 google.fi
207.44.194.56 google.fr
207.44.194.56 google.com.hk
207.44.194.56 google.ie
207.44.194.56 google.co.il
207.44.194.56 google.it
207.44.194.56 google.co.kr
207.44.194.56 google.com.mx
207.44.194.56 google.nl
207.44.194.56 google.co.nz
207.44.194.56 google.pl
207.44.194.56 google.com.ru
207.44.194.56 google.com.sg
207.44.194.56 www.hotbot.com
207.44.194.56 hotbot.com


i renamed this, tried to go to google.com and it still didn't work..
so just out of nothing really coming to my head to do.. i restarted
the machine, and tried google, and it worked ! ... so i don't know
how any of this stuff works or if i really fixed it.. but that was my
experience.

-andy

 

[Thomas Oldham]

Hello! I scanned with Symantec, checked the registry, reinstalled IE SP
1,scanned with Spy Sweeper all to no avail. Saw your post here and tried
Spybot....no luck. The registry settings are identical to a working machine
based on the list given below.

What a way to spend the day!

More suggestions?

Hi

I posted yesterday about a sudden problem I was having with my browser that
kept on detecting the proxy settings, well, I've sorted that out now but
another problem has arisen. I can't search and I can't find Google!

When I type www.google.co.uk or www.google.com I'm directed to a site
called 'Cpanel'.

When I go to www.yahoo.co.uk or www.yahoo.com and try and search, I get
"page not found" errors.

I can connect to normal sites such as the BBC by typing in the URL manually,
but anything to do with searches just doesn't work.

I have updated my Internet Explorer, and tried repairing the instalation to
no avaiul, I have also tried both checking my system for viruses and spyware
(which turned up nothing) but I still can't search at all.

This problem is really wierd and has me totally stumped.

Thanks in advance for anyone who might have any suggestions.

Michael Howarth

http://www.sarc.com/avcenter/venc/data/trojan.qhosts.html [? ]

If your A-V scanner comes up empty, run SpyBot and Ad-aware
from this link: http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm

Please post back with your findings -

HTH

--

siljaline MS MVP IE/OE


"Arguing with anonymous strangers on the Internet is a sucker's game
because they almost always turn out to be -- or to be indistinguishable from
-- self-righteous sixteen-year-olds possessing infinite amounts of free
time."
- Neil Stephenson, _Cryptonomicon_

 

[medgirl]

Hello! I scanned with Symantec, checked the registry, reinstalled IE SP
1,scanned with Spy Sweeper all to no avail. Saw your post here and tried
Spybot....no luck. The registry settings are identical to a working machine
based on the list given below.

You've got to find the messed up hosts files. Search for files with "hosts"
in them - it won't be hosts.sam or lmhosts, but probably in another file
named hosts. There are posts and links on this forum which explain how to
do it.

m

 

[J Man]

I fixed mine. Delete the fake host file that the Andy spoke of. Mine
was under C:\windows\help. Then do a ipconfig /flushdns from the
command prompt to clear your cache. you can check it's clear by
running ipconfig /displaydns from the command prompt.

good luck!!
J-MAN

 

[Thomas Oldham]

Medgirl: Thanks for the additional information. However, it did not help
either. I now have SpySweeper, Spybot Search and Distroy and the mvps.org
search. The last one said the "hosts" file was ok. I keep looking.

Tom

 

[H Leboeuf]

It's this trojan.

http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/delude.shtml

NAME: Delude
ALIAS: Trojan.BAT.Startpage.a
Delude is a trojan that is available on a web page. The web page contains a
code that uses a vulnerability in the Internet Explorer (MS03-032) to
execute.
More information about the vulnerability, including a fix, is available from
Microsoft at:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/security_bulletins/ms03-032.asp
VARIANT: Delude.A
The HTA code available on a web page downloads a file "partyboy.exe" from an
ftp site and runs it. This file is is packed with UPX. It is a batch file
which was compiled to executable binary (".exe") using a BatToExe tool.
When executed, it changes the Internet Explorer start page to find-now.info.
It prevents access to the most major search engines such as Google, Yahoo,
Lycos, MSN and AltaVista. To do this it replaces the following file:

More:
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/trojan.qhosts.html
http://vil.nai.com/vil/content/v_100719.htm
http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/analyses/trojqhosts1.html

 

[medgirl]

Medgirl: Thanks for the additional information. However, it did not help
either. I now have SpySweeper, Spybot Search and Distroy and the mvps.org
search. The last one said the "hosts" file was ok. I keep looking.

Did you manually search for your hosts files? Find _all_ files called
"hosts" and open them with notepad to see what's in there. If the file
contains a long list of search engines, that is the one you have to delete.
I didn't use any special program for this - just did it from
Start/Find/Files or Folders. There are hosts files in different places - I
even found messed up files in an old version of AOL that I don't even use.

 

[Jim]

I had the same problem and I did the search for the Hosts file (see
the message above on this topic) and deleted it. Now things are back
to normal.

Jim

 

[Url]

I have found seeral issues where the Qhost virus, even after being
cleaned, has users still unable to use any search engine

I have resolved all of them so far.

the solution I have found with these users, who after goinf through
all the steps to clean the virus and then finding they still connot
use seasrch, is to do the following.

Go to C:\windows\help

there you should find a 4k Hosts file and inside it you will find
entires for every known search engine.

NOTE - Searching for HOSTS does not show the one in the Help
directory at least on the machines I worked on.

Delete or rename this file.

Now goto C:\i386 and copy the 1k (730 byte) HOSTS file
Or copy one from another PC

Now paste the 1k (730 byte)Hosts file over the
C:\windows\drivers\etc\hosts file. the Hosts file in that directory
will be 1k (734 bytes) and modified recently

After doing this, My users who had cleaned the qhost but still had
the search problems where all fixed... at least so far