IE6 SHUTTING DOWN WHEN ENTERING A GOOGLE SEARCH

[Maurice]

When entering some (not all) searches in Google (e.g. Kaspersky), IE6 shuts
down. This also happens with Firefox.

I am also having difficulty opening set up files from Windows Explorer--when
requesting 'run' from the file within W.E.the set up screen appears briefly
and then disappears before I am able to activate it. The same happens when I
attempt to activate a set up file from disc.

The XP version is Professional SP3 and has just been loaded and is totally
alien to me, but seems to be something associated with the XP settings.

Can anyone please help?

 

[Alex Clark]

This is classic malware behaviour.

It detects keywords relating to anti-virus and prevents you from searching
for them. Let me guess, it also closes down when you search for "avg" or
"norton" too?

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Chances are that you're seeing the affects of a hijackware infection (cf.
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=37919).

1. See if you can download/run the MSRT manually:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx

2. Run this online scan (in safe mode w/networking, if need be):
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/center/howsafe.htm

3. Run a /thorough/ check for hijackware, including posting the requested
logs in an appropriate forum.

Checking for/Help with Hijackware
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=4075
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/data/prevention.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/tshoot.html
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

**Post your logs to
http://spywarehammer.com/simplemachinesforum/index.php?board=10.0,
http://forums.spybot.info/forumdisplay.php?f=22,
http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30, or another appropriate forum for review
by an expert in such matters, not here.**

If the procedures look too complex - and there is no shame in admitting this
isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a local, reputable and
independent (i.e., not BigBoxStoreUSA) computer repair shop.