I…think I’ve got a virus on my computer. Every time I go online, it replaces the regular banner ads on websites with ads for porn sites, viagra, etc. I’ve tried scanning for viruses and trojans repeatedly, and have found a few, but none of them seem to correct this problem. I’ve looked online, but found no situations that match this.
Is there any way to get rid of this damn thing? Or am I forced to use my nearly-destroyed laptop for the rest of eternity?
You know, something similar happened to me on Wikipedia the other day.
The “Featured Article of the Day” was about Puerto Rico, so I decided to check it out. But when I reached the related page, instead of a picture related to the topic, as you’d expect, it had the Newgrounds logo!
My first though was, “Wikipedia is allowing ads now?” As far as I know it still runs on donations. Of course, I wouldn’t mind it if decided to allow ads- but not placed where the article’s pictures are supposed to go!
Just to make sure, I clicked on the picture. It wasn’t a banner; it took me to the page that hosts the Image for Wikipedia. It said the image was included for the purpose of being used on Wikipedia’s article on Newgrounds, which makes sense.
So why was it displayed on the Nutrition Assistance for Puerto Rico article? I clicked back to that article and, sure enough, the Newgrounds logo was still there.
Then I wondered if maybe it was some kind of intrusive ad, sneaking onto my PC like a virus. I decided to refresh the page, and- POOF! the logo was gone and in its place was the right picture.
It hasn’t happened again since. I still have no idea if it indeed had been a virus, or a glitch on Wikipedia, or somebody’s idea of a joke. (And before you ask, no, I haven’t been to Newgrounds in a long time, so I doubt I have any of its cookies left in my PC, I’ve cleaned them up several times since.)
Anyone had a similar experience?
Probably just vandalism.
What browser are you using? Does it happen in any other browser? Did you run ad-aware and Spybot?
I use FireFox. I’ve tried IE as well, and I get the same problem. It seems to be happening across all browsers in general.
I’ve ran ad-aware and spybot. Both found malware, and subsequently deleted them, but the problem still persists. It seems to be a virus or trojan, but my scans still have yet to find the cause of the problem.
Try CWShredder: http://us.trendmicro.com/us/products/personal/CWShredder/index.html
Also if you get it fixed make sure you immunize your system with Spybot.