technology

[Dane]

http://www.2-viruses.com/how-to-fix-google-results-hijacker-google-redirect-virus-problem

[Raw]

Thanks Dane, I downloaded Spyware Doctor and the scan revealed threats and infections. To fix them it says I need to purchase the full version. Are there free versions of Spyware Doctor, Spyhunter or Hitman Pro available or do they all need to be purchased?

[Crowzer]

Do you have Microsoft Security Essentials ? It's free and pretty efficient. If you don't want install anything you can try this.

[endorphinz]

srart by examining your "hosts" file

you can DL hijackthis and post the log file. I'm not good at reading them but maybe someone else is... or you can post it on a forum dedicated to reading them.

[lowrey]

hmm, malwarebytes and microsoft security essentials usually pick up almost everything. did you run a full system scan? if not, do that after a fresh reboot.

also it could be rootkit malware, try this: http://support.kaspersky.com/5350

if these don't work, try doing everything above in safe mode.

edit: seems like Dane's link covered as rootkit as well

[Bodique]

DRRRK you'll like it

[Raw]

Update on my situation

All of the spyware programs I tried did a scan and then when they revealed the threats, to fix them I had to have the full version of the programs.

I was able to download a trial version of ESET Smart Security which seems to have solves the google issue.

Thanks again for all the suggestions

[interest1]

First-World inventions. the ipotty
.

[Dane]

It's clever actually...I have no doubt someone will soon invent a contraption for the adult male to electronically read the newspaper on the turlet.

[comedyzen]

I use Firefox as my browser on my Mac now and when it slows, I clear cache/cookies/forms/etc every 2 months. Every 3 months I go on a purge and delete old photos, files, and empty the trash on my computer. I am maxed out on RAM and I do a disk repair maybe every 4-6 months. Usually doing all of this keeps my Macbook Pro running nice and smooth.

But lately the beast has felt bogged down a bit. I have added more files, docs, pdfs, but it should still run smooth. It has been beach balling a lot lately.

I was wondering if anyone has another method of upkeep for their Mac that works well for them that does NOT require purchasing software. Also, do I need to start doing virus/malware checks on my Mac now?

If you do use software, which one and how do you like it?

[Dane]

Have you repaired permissions?

[comedyzen]

Yes. That usually helps a lot too. But still boggy

[Dane]

How much ram do you have installed?

It may be worth looking at the Activity Monitor, sort by memory use and see what's sucking up your juice, ditto for the CPU usage.

I'm not a computer expert by any means, but it's a good place to start to see if there's anything obvious going on.

[comedyzen]

8 GB, and thats my max. Yea, nothing looked off on the Activity monitor. FF is taking the most. Might have to finally do a virus check.

I have been bit torrenting a lot of music lately, so maybe i caught something. ug.

[Dane]

I'd be surprised if you had a virus, but who knows.

Maybe there's some diagnostics software you can try. I'd first try using another browser to see if the beachballing decreases. Also try to keep as few apps running at once as you can.