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Fridays Child

(23,998 posts)
Sat Nov 9, 2013, 07:02 PM Nov 2013

I removed the Norton trial stuff from my new laptop last night and now I'm bombarded with ads. Help!

I'm even getting ads on this site where I shouldn't see them at all, as a star member. I'm getting double underlined words that create pop up ads, if I accidentally mouse over them; whole page ads that pop up, when I try to go from one DU page to another; ads underneath the new members box on the right side of the Latest Threads page; and ads at the bottom of every page.

Also, I keep getting this pop up page from rvzr-a.akamaihd.net saying "The media content is not shown properly. It is recommended to update your system player now and there's an "Install Update" button for something called "M.Player 9.2"

Can anyone clue me in as to how to stop this?

I tried to download MS Security Essentials last night, thinking that might help but I got a message saying I needed the 64 bit version and I can't find a link to that version.

PS I have Windows Defender turned on but it's not helping.

ETA Even my own post here is generating those stupid double underlined link words! AAARRRGGGHHH!

27 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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I removed the Norton trial stuff from my new laptop last night and now I'm bombarded with ads. Help! (Original Post) Fridays Child Nov 2013 OP
which browser are you using? n/t discntnt_irny_srcsm Nov 2013 #1
Internet Explorer but the same stuff happens with Chrome. Fridays Child Nov 2013 #2
I found this: discntnt_irny_srcsm Nov 2013 #5
So far, AdBlock seems to be working. Fridays Child Nov 2013 #6
Use AdBlock PumpkinAle Nov 2013 #3
Thank you. I'll give it a try! Fridays Child Nov 2013 #4
Nope, no good. Fridays Child Nov 2013 #7
Couple of others you can try PumpkinAle Nov 2013 #8
Another good one is Spybot Search and Destroy: ucrdem Nov 2013 #9
I've used Spybot for years. The free edition is excellent. n/t JimDandy Nov 2013 #23
That's a great idea! Fridays Child Nov 2013 #10
Update: Fridays Child Nov 2013 #11
If you are using Firefox I also recomed to install Self-Destructing Cookies idwiyo Jan 2014 #26
It sounds like you have a virus Denzil_DC Nov 2013 #12
Thank you for the advice. Fridays Child Nov 2013 #13
You're welcome. Norton doesn't intercept every infection. Denzil_DC Nov 2013 #14
I'll do it! Fridays Child Nov 2013 #15
Fifty-seven malicious items that went completely undetected by Windows Defender and AdAware! Fridays Child Nov 2013 #18
Yup! Feared as much. Denzil_DC Nov 2013 #21
How did you remove Norton? My problem is that... TreasonousBastard Nov 2013 #16
That's exactly why I removed it. Norton acts just like the viruses it's supposed to stop. Fridays Child Nov 2013 #17
Well, I didn't think I had an infection but just ran... TreasonousBastard Nov 2013 #19
Keeping my fingers crossed for both of us! Fridays Child Nov 2013 #20
Norton knows its program is such a PITA to remove Denzil_DC Nov 2013 #22
rvzr-a-akamaihd Cron-G Jan 2014 #24
Norton Removal Tool to uninstall your Norton product... Earth Bound Misfit Jan 2014 #25
Message auto-removed Name removed Mar 2016 #27

PumpkinAle

(1,210 posts)
3. Use AdBlock
Sat Nov 9, 2013, 08:21 PM
Nov 2013

it is great - if you like it give the guy a couple of $ because he does it all himself.

Also flashblocker for stopping those annoying self starting videos is a good one to have.

PumpkinAle

(1,210 posts)
8. Couple of others you can try
Sat Nov 9, 2013, 11:51 PM
Nov 2013

Adaware

You can also try the norton free trial again - us.norton.com - and see if it stops it. If it does it may give you time to look/ask around for a better solution.

Good luck.

ucrdem

(15,512 posts)
9. Another good one is Spybot Search and Destroy:
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 12:39 AM
Nov 2013

A few years ago a laptop got infected with a redirect virus and Google help forum recommended this very thorough (as in, takes several hours to scan your drive) malware/spyware/virus detector. Used to be free, now there are several paid flavors, but there's still a free home version here:

Download Spybot 2.2 Free Edition

http://www.safer-networking.org/mirrors/

For day-to-day, it might be more than the OP needs, but it will almost certainly clean up whatever messed up her drive.

Fridays Child

(23,998 posts)
11. Update:
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 04:00 PM
Nov 2013

So far, a combination of AdBlock, Adaware, and the removal (not just disabling) of a malicious adserver add-on seems to be "holding the fort."

Thanks, to everyone who responded with ideas.

idwiyo

(5,113 posts)
26. If you are using Firefox I also recomed to install Self-Destructing Cookies
Sun Jan 5, 2014, 08:52 AM
Jan 2014
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/self-destructing-cookies/?src=api

This add-on will automatically remove cookies after a period of time set by you.


Denzil_DC

(7,182 posts)
12. It sounds like you have a virus
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 05:15 PM
Nov 2013

The software tools you're using may be holding its effects at bay, but you need to clean up your system,

A Google search for rvzr-a.akamaihd.net shows many results of people having similar problems to yours. It seems that this domain is legitimately used to serve ads, but some malware propagators have latched on to it and are redirecting browsers to make money from the traffic generated.

Take a look at this thread from the Norton forums, where another Norton user was having the same problem: http://community.norton.com/t5/Norton-360/rvzr-a-akamaihd-net-Pop-up-Virus/td-p/1032957

There's a few solutions offered there, but I've no idea whether they'll work for you, so don't follow them blindly.

If I had your problem, I'd use HiJackThis to identify and eliminate it, but you need to know what you're doing with that program, so you'd need help, online or otherwise.

Malwarebytes is a great antivirus program that you can install alongside other anti-virus programs and just run to do a scan when you have a problem (the free version at that link works fine). It may remove this problem on its own, but I've no idea as there's a variety of infections out there.

Here's a link to a thread on the Malwarebytes forum which shows you what somebody else with the same problem had to do (using HiJackThis), with help, to try to get rid of it: https://forums.malwarebytes.org/index.php?showtopic=133964

If you sign up there and describe your problem, they should be able to help you. If you decide to do this, read the pinned entries at the top of the forum here first and do as they direct: https://forums.malwarebytes.org/index.php?showforum=7

Beware that if you hunt around Google at random for solutions, some links may deliver you to scammers who could offer you solutions that might make your problems even worse. The sites linked above are reputable.

Fridays Child

(23,998 posts)
13. Thank you for the advice.
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 05:51 PM
Nov 2013

I have that domain on my restricted sites list, now. If it doesn't solve the issue, I'll probably have to remove it completely, so I'll keep your links handy, just in case. Another one that I had to remove completely was called wedownload manager.

It seems like removing Norton must have unleashed some potentially malicious ad servers.

Denzil_DC

(7,182 posts)
14. You're welcome. Norton doesn't intercept every infection.
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 11:39 PM
Nov 2013

Really, no antivirus software will perform 100%, and Norton's performance is way below that. It's possible Norton let the virus through but stopped it doing anything noticeable until you uninstalled it.

I'd highly recommend downloading Malwarebytes from the link above, installing it and letting it update, then do a full system scan. It won't do any harm, and it's possible you have other infections that you don't know about. I've been amazed in the past what it's managed to discover on supposedly clean computers. Although I've got very effective AV (Kaspersky), I still keep Malwarebytes on my system in case I ever need it.

Fridays Child

(23,998 posts)
18. Fifty-seven malicious items that went completely undetected by Windows Defender and AdAware!
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 03:49 AM
Nov 2013

Thanks for the Malwarebytes tip!

Denzil_DC

(7,182 posts)
21. Yup! Feared as much.
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 06:25 AM
Nov 2013

Not all of those are likely to have been really harmful (some might just be tracking cookies etc.), but even so ...

You're very welcome, Fridays Child. Stay safe!

TreasonousBastard

(43,049 posts)
16. How did you remove Norton? My problem is that...
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 03:10 AM
Nov 2013

I thought I removed it with Revo Uninstaller, but one folder of Norton is still there and can't be deleted because it's running in the background but I can't find out where. And I keep getting popups reminding me that I have to buy the POS because I am now unprotected.

Fridays Child

(23,998 posts)
17. That's exactly why I removed it. Norton acts just like the viruses it's supposed to stop.
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 03:46 AM
Nov 2013

I went to my control panel and uninstalled every Norton entry from Programs and Features. But that's when the problems started. I finally got rid of the malicious ad servers and other crap but it took time and a lot of assistance from fellow DUers who responded to my panic-stricken pleas for help in this thread.

TreasonousBastard

(43,049 posts)
19. Well, I didn't think I had an infection but just ran...
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 04:50 AM
Nov 2013

malwarebytes and AVG anyway and over 900 bugs showed up-- looked like all of them came with the computer and were part of the "free" games packages, but who knows.

None said symantic, or anything close, but after I deleted the whole mess the problem seems to have been solved and the zombie Norton files are gone! Things run a lot faster, too.

We'll see if it lasts.

Denzil_DC

(7,182 posts)
22. Norton knows its program is such a PITA to remove
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 06:39 AM
Nov 2013

that it even issues its own special uninstaller, the Norton Removal Tool!

See here: https://support.norton.com/sp/en/uk/home/current/solutions/kb20080710133834EN_EndUserProfile_en_us

I've no idea whether it'll work now since it sounds like you've already uninstalled elements of the program, but they claim it'll deal with "a failed installation or a damaged Norton product."

Starting your computer in Safe Mode will usually get around problems like a program being in use when you try to remove it: Safe Mode doesn't load non-operating system programs at startup, making it possible to get rid of them.

Response to Fridays Child (Original post)

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