Google - hardcore porn portal?

[James]

Hi

Just did a search on "Outlook Express Message Folders". Innocent enough I thought.

Look at results 2, 3 and 4.

I am beginning to wonder if I have got some kind of virus on my PC which is spoofing the Google site and delivering this rubbish.

Can you run the same search and see if you see the hardcore porn links?

I am in the process of reformatting my C drive by the way as I suspect my PC is in poor health!

http://www.websitearchitecture.co.uk/barker/forum/hardcoregoogle.gif

[francis]

Nope fine with me, although I got about a different number of results back (231,000)

Web Results 1 - 10 of about 231,000 for outlook express message folders. (0.18 seconds)

253474 - OLEXP: HotMail Messages Disappear in Outlook Express ...
... OLEXP: HotMail Messages Disappear in Outlook Express Folders. View products
that this article applies to. This article was previously ...
support.microsoft.com/?kbid=253474 - 11k - Cached - Similar pages

OLEXP: Mail Folders, Address Book, and E-mail Messages Are Missing ...
Outlook Express mail folders, e-mail messages, and Address Book are missing
after you upgrade to Microsoft Windows XP. This behavior ...
support.microsoft.com/kb/313055 - 12k - 16 Oct 2004 - Cached - Similar pages
[ More results from support.microsoft.com ]

How to Share Outlook Express in Windows XP
... There appears to be and Outlook Express message already in the folder you
have chosen. Do you want to switch to using that store? ...
www.duxcw.com/faq/win/xp/oeshare.htm - 14k - Cached - Similar pages

Outlook Express backup - backing up Outlook Express is safe and ...
... Find (and restore) messages in the backup which are not in the current Outlook Express
(OE) message folders. This allows you to synchronize OE message folders. ...
www.ajsystems.com/ea7.html - 26k - Cached - Similar pages

Outlook Express recovery tool - OE-Mail Recovery
... OE-Mail Recovery extracts and saves e-mails from .dbx files in which Microsoft
Outlook Express stores messages and folders on the local drive. ...
www.oemailrecovery.com/outlook-express-recovery.html - 17k - Cached - Similar pages

Repair Outlook Express - repair Outlook Express folders step-by ...
... express mail folders repairing outlook express mailboxes repairing outlook express
mbx files repairing outlook express message folders repairing outlook ...
www.oemailrecovery.com/repair-outlook-express.html - 32k - Cached - Similar pages
[ More results from www.oemailrecovery.com ]

DBX extract - How To Get At Those Emails!
... When a message is deleted from the deleted items folder (that has not yet been
compacted), then Outlook Express removes the first 4 bytes of each piece, so it ...
www.updatexp.com/tip23.html - 17k - Cached - Similar pages

User to User Solutions from PC Magazine: Update on Outlook Express ...
... If you're transferring a message folder that doesn't yet exist on the target machine,
you create a message folder in Outlook Express whose name matches the ...
www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1659335,00.asp - 81k - 17 Oct 2004 - Cached - Similar pages

Outlook Express Recovery Software
... folder in Outlook Express. Outlook Express won't start anymore. How can I
repair Outlook Express and recover all my message folders? ...
www.mailnavigator.com/outlook_express.html - 7k - Cached - Similar pages

321505 - OLEXP: Outlook Express E-Mail Messages Are Missing from ...
... Express, the contents of your Inbox folder may be missing. The contents may be replaced
with a new first run "Welcome to Microsoft Outlook Express" message. ...
ask-leo.com/d-40328a - 15k - Cached - Similar pages

[Phil]

my search is fine, too.

sounds like you've been Browser HiJacked (http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/hijacked/)

reformatting your HD is one way of solving it.

i'd thoroughly recommend AdAware SE (http://www.lavasoft.de/) though Spybot search and destroy (http://www.safer-networking.org/?page=download) consistently gets good reviews.

these spyware scanners *always* find something they want to remove - some harmless, some not so harmless.

[James]

Thanks for that Phil.

I use Spybot but it doesn't detect anything.

What is clever about this hijack is that the homepage setting in Tools > Options shows the correct address (google.co.uk) and even the URL in the screen shot appears correct.

This explains why I am still getting links to awful web directories too when I use Google.

This is more than a browser hijack, it's a slur on Google, theft of their copyright etc. I wonder if Google is aware of this problem? It's defamation. I have been saying for ages that they have sold out when in fact I've been conned!

Francis will be delighted to hear that when I use Google in Firefox it works fine.

I am being plagued with pop ups and stuff and press the big red button to reformat my hard drive tomorrow.

I'm going to tool myself up with SP2, a virus scanner and firewall. Shock horror! - I'm going to buy the latter two!

[Phil]

cheapest price for Norton Internet Security I've found is £21.56 from Scan (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=144956)

OEM so you have to buy any old piece of hardware with it.

[francis]

Originally posted by James Barker@Oct 18 2004, 7:31 pm
Francis will be delighted to hear that when I use Google in Firefox it works fine.
Mustn't. Say. Anything. Smug...

Seriously, getting hijacked isn't good, but I've never had it, even after running IE for several years. I ran Adaware for the first time in while last week and it brought up nothing, which surprised me. Not a single cookie, not nuffink.

Anyway, it's nearly party time (http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/gerv/archives/006693.html) as both FF and the very lovely Thunderbird approach version 1.0. Also of interest (probably only to me) is that the Thunderbird engineers are working on GMail-like virtual folders (http://www.deftone.com/blogzilla/archives/gmaillike_labels_coming_to_thunderbird.html). Sounds sweet.

Get something with a popup blocker, whether it me your AV/Firewall program, IE under SP or a better browser. Blocking those babies will stop a lot of your problems.

Whilst typing this I ran Adaware again - two cookies is all I got, which is still pretty good.

[David]

That's nasty James. My search was fine too - I guess that this is one of the problems with "always on" broadband and a fixed IP address. I would thoroughly recommend you get hold of a broadband modem/router next time you need to upgrade your modem. They're not much more these days and there's a certain feeling of security you get from having a hardware firewall between your PC and all those dodgy sites out there.

[James]

I did a search at found this - looks like it's a case of DNS hijacking on my PC!

http://www.spysweeper.com/cpanel-google.html

I have just bought a new broadband modem as my original modem was installed by BT and the microfilter is still in the wall of my old house! I am going to buy Norton Internet Security 2005 which should keep me safe (there is a 15 day trial version available so I can check its performance).

Cheers