Spam/adware attack

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DerStrom8

Super Moderator
Hey guys.

So I installed a new program today so that I could upload the videos from my new video camera to my laptop, and ever since I've been seeing more and more underlined words on web pages (especially here at ETO) where if you hover over them with your cursor, you get an advertisement. I've run Microsoft Security Essentials and Spybot a few times but it still doesn't seem to be fixing the problem. Anyone have any suggestions for free, very thorough adware-removal tools? I thought Spybot was one of the best ones out there, but it doesn't seem to be doing the trick....

Many thanks!
Regards,
Matt
 
Thanks 3v0. Just tried it and the problem still persists. I restarted my computer, emptied my cache/deleted cookies, and I've still got the same problem.

This type of thing has happened to me before, but never this bad. It's usually taken care of by a single scan. Any other thoughts or suggestions? Anything would be very much appreciated!
 
Check your browser settings. It might be a plug in or an extension to your web browser. And if so, it's running within the browser, not at the level that the adware killers are looking at.
 
Pommie said:
Try superantispyware. Also check that it's not a browser extension. In chrome (you didn't say which browser) goto tools->extensions.

Mike.
Click to expand...

Hey Mike. That was the first thing I checked. There are no unwanted add-ons in Chrome. I just went through my program files and found a few, removed them, went through "computer" and "uninstall programs", restarted, but still no luck. For example, in my first post, "Microsoft Security Essentials" is highlighted. If I hover over it it says "Click to Continue > By Browse to Save". I searched for "browse to save" on my computer and can't find it anywhere, so it must be hiding out under an alias. So far Spybot and Malwarebytes haven't been able to cure the problem. I'll try superantispyware and let you know what happens. Thanks a lot guys!

Matt
 
If all else fails you could always try Chrome->tools->report an issue.

Mike.
 
Well SuperAntiSpyware found 15 problems with "Adware: Tracking Cookie". I'm not sure if this is what I'm trying to remove, or if that's something you get when you, say, tell a site to remember your password. I'm running the scan again and another one just showed up. I'm going to close out chrome this time (probably should have done that the first time) and remove it, and see what happens.

Matt
 
You might check the same sites with IE or Firefox to see if you get the same behavior. That way you could know for sure it it's something in Chrome, or on the computer.
 
ChrisP58 said:
You might check the same sites with IE or Firefox to see if you get the same behavior. That way you could know for sure it it's something in Chrome, or on the computer.
Click to expand...

I'm getting the same thing in both Chrome and IE. It's this "browse to save" thing that's the problem. I'm going to try a google search to see if anyone else has had the problem.

By the way Mike, SuperAntiSpyware has not solved the issue. Thanks for the suggestion though--I think I might keep this one. It seems to be the best I've tried so far!

Regards
 
Do you use gmail ?
I noticed some obvious tracking after opening a gmail account. If I watch a youtube video, it's surrounded by MCM Electronics ads. And it's not just one video it's nearly all of them.
Since it doesn't have an effect on the video I just ignore them. When I first opened the gmail account, a friend sent me an email wanting me to program his Motorola HT1250 radio. Ads for that specific radio and their associated accessories show up in gmail and whenever I search for just about anything.
 

Hi gerty, yes I do have a gmail account. I suppose that could account for the tracking cookie. I had a feeling it was something to do with Google.

I just ran a system restore and it did no good whatsoever. It said the files were not affected, and the problem's still there, so it's most likely based in a file of some sort. The hard part is finding it.

For the time being I'll switch to the Windows 8 partition and see if I have the same problem there. If not, I'll probably do most of my work on Win8 to avoid this, until I can figure out what to do.

Whatever it is, I need to find out how to get rid of "browse to save". That's the current problem. Once that's gone, I think I'm golden. Guess I'll keep going with my google searches, but for the time being I think I'm going to head to bed. It's past 0:12 and I need to get up early tomorrow to get some things done around the house.

But please keep the suggestions coming!

Good night guys.
Matt
 
Quick update before bed--

I switched to Windows 8 and there's not a problem. Looks like I'll hang around here for a while until I can figure out how to fix 7.

Thanks for the assistance guys. If you have any other ideas, please let me know.

Kind regards,
Matt
 
Matt:

I recently got rid of that. It's a royal PITA. I'll need to search for the instructions. Basically there are a whole bunch of applications, about 10 or so, that can get installed when you install other software. You need to deal with these with add/remove programs AND you have to deal with removing the extensions from Firefox or they might get installed again.
The problem is, that it's multiple different names and multiple different names for the Firefox extensions, but they all do the same thing. Irritate. It's important to uninstall the apps and extensions and immediately reboot.

I do have a minor annoying one left though. When I hover over an image, I get "suggestions". I havn't tried to track that down though.

I won't have much time over the next few days, but I'll look. It's on the web somewhere. Malwarebytes or Microsoft Security Essentials won't help.
 
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I found it. I printed out the instructions and it was in a manilla folder. Here they are: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-coupondropdown

@gerty
The ads your seeing is how Google advertising works. Your Google searches trigger targeted advertisements to you. Basically Google ADSENSE. I believe you don't have the issue Matt has. Note that in this forum when you happen to be in a particular thread, you may find advertisements related to that thread. A click on an advertisement causes whoever owns the ad (probably the forum owner in this case), to get a few cents.
 
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Thanks KISS, but I think that's a different program. This one is "Browse to Save", that one's "Coupon Drop Down". I followed the instructions on that page but found none of it on my computer. Guess I'll have to keep looking

As always, your help has been and will be appreciated!

Matt
 
This is really starting to scare me now. I just booted my laptop in safe mode with networking, and I'm even getting the ads there. This must be buried DEEP!
 
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