Loading Page Problem Redirecting

Filed: Unix Redirect Output Command @ Fri, 30 Jul 2010 01:10:36 +0100





Solved! The redirect virus was in my router

Our configuration

We have a mix of Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Home, and XP computers. Some of them are Lenovo, but not all. Some are laptops. We have both an ethernet connection and a wireless connection. We were using the Linksys WRT350N router. We use a mix of Firefox and Internet Explorer, but mostly Firefox.

Our Security

We always keep our computers clean and secure with:

  1. Avast Free
  2. Malwarebytes Anti-malware
  3. Spybot
  4. Secunia (on the advanced level)
  5. Windows Defender
  6. Ccleaner
  7. Windows cleanup!
  8. Disk cleanup
  9. Process Explorer
  10. Passworded hard drives on the laptops
  11. Windows update
  12. Lenovo Toolbox tests and updates on our Lenovo computers (equivalent on the others)
  13. Crashplan

Google Redirect Virus and its alternative names

The virus is often referred to as the Google Redirect Virus. It also goes by “search redirect,” “browser redirect,” “tdss rootkit” and probably some others I can’t remember now. It infected all of our computers. These could actually be separate viruses. Remember that once you’re infected with a virus, the door opens for other infections.

More still seems unknown than known about this virus. Generally, you go to a web page, either by means of search or directly, and you see the web page, but then it redirects somewhere else, or to a blank page. Sometimes you see a message about google analytics loading. Other times you might see an inappropriate site or an advertising site.

Curiously, the web is rife with a variety of solutions which only work for some people. It seems like a lot of people find an answer that works for them, which appears to eradicate the virus from their computer.

Our test cases

Three web pages that failed on my computer and which became my test cases:

1. Open www.lenovo.com, look for the support section of links at the bottom of the page, then click on the warranty link. You either get redirected now, or if you successfully reach the warranty page, click on the link for “detect” (if it’s there.) It then fails.

2. Type into google “ehow fix google redirect virus” and then click on the ehow article that comes up at the top of your search results. Give the page some time to load. Either it will eventually redirect, or will do so after you touch your keyboard.

3. Open www.filehippo.com and click on “view more” at the bottom of the right-hand box. It will eventually fail.

We tried

We tried everything we could find pertaining to this virus on one’s computer. In fact, we worked on it for about fourteen people-hours total. Our idea of a good time. The list includes but is not limited to (we can’t remember it all):

  1. Superantivirus
  2. Unhackme
  3. Clear cache, cookies, and history
  4. Remove all browser plug-ins
  5. A TDSS removal procedure
  6. Avast Pro (trial version)
  7. Trojan remover
  8. Some gnarly instructions for mucking with the registry
  9. Combofix (not for the faint of heart)
  10. Unique wep key for the router
  11. Check for bad hard drive sectors

Still no joy.

Time to reinstall?

Then we tried reinstalling Windows 7 on one of our computers, and the virus was back. Exhausted, we concluded (wrongly, it turns out) that this was a hack on the web sites we were visiting, and not in our home.

New Theory — maybe it’s the router

Then we theorized that the virus could be in the router’s operating system. So we tried this suggestion we found on the web for our router: Update the firmware on the router. (The firmware is the router’s operating system.)

Still no joy. We concluded that it must be that the web sites were hacked into — in other words, there’s nothing wrong with the patient.

Then we learned that a router can be hacked, probably by the following means:

The hacker creates a false DNS (domain name server) out on the web, and then stuffs the IP of their fake DNS into your router.

Well, if this is true, then HOW DID THE HACKER GET INTO OUR ROUTER? Probably they got in there because we didn’t change the default password of the router when we got it. This is a lame excuse for sure, but looking back, the reason we never changed our password is because we couldn’t figure out how. (The router password is for changing router settings. It’s not the same as the WEP key.)

So we looked at the IP address in our router, and looked it up on the web. We learned that it’s a Russian IP address, and that it’s malware. Bang.

Fixing the Router

We followed this procedure to update the password in our router:

1. Fix the IP address. We did this by looking up a good DNS server IP address. A place to google is “opendns” where you can find IP addresses that are well known to be safe

2. Open your browser

3. Type in http://192.168.1.1 which will bring up the administration panel of your router

4. Then follow the instructions for your particular router

So we tried that.

JOY! Yay!

But we had to do more

However, just as we suspected, not all our test cases passed the test. The google analytics test still failed, while the others passed.

Then we looked up that particular problem, and found a suggestion to “hardware reset” the router to factory settings, followed by a change in password. That’s the paper clip procedure. Not sure if it’s the same on your router, but here’s what we did on ours:

1. With the router turned on, shove a paper clip into the reset button and hold it for a few seconds.
2. Then run your test case again.

JOY JOY JOY. All three test cases passed after we did the paper clip trick.

And yet one more thing we had to do

However, we lost access to our wireless network after the hardware reset. We’ve heard that “hardware resetting” your router can burn it out, so maybe that’s what happened. Probably the card in the router that controls the wireless connection got fried during the reset. That’s a guess.

So we figured we’d just go out and buy a new wireless router, as a way of seeing if this was so. We could always return it, as we use Best Buy, and they have no restocking fee on small electronics like a router. In the store, we discovered a new kind of router. It’s the Linksys E3000.

Why our new router is better

What’s good about this new router:

1. It has an automated setup for all your computers
2. It comes already uniquely passworded, and with an easier user interface to update the password if you so choose
3. It has a higher level of encryption than our old router (it’s using WPA2 instead of WEP).

However, buying a new router is perhaps not necessary. We only did it because we fried our wireless.

All problems solved

So we set up our newly bought router, and now our wireless works.

The order in which to try and solve the problem

If you think you may have the redirect virus, try these steps in this order, based on what we’ve learned:

1. Try a good anti-virus and anti-spyware first. I don’t want to assume you are all using anti-virus and anti-spyware!
2. Try our router suggestions second. All of them.
3. In between first and last, try all the other suggestions you find on the web dealing with anti’s for the.
4. Leave combofix for second-to-last.
5. Reinstall your OS last.

Our new Linksys router acknowledges the hacker vulnerability

Yes indeed folks. There was a label covering the CD drive on our new router. It says it all.

Creating an email newsletter is one of the best ways to get long-term traffic to your website and make money online. Any guru will tell you this.

Unfortunately what they don’t tell you is the exact process to use. It’s not as simple as “go make an email list”.

There are many steps involved in correctly setting up an email newsletter. Below I have outlined the steps I’ve used to set one up.

To start with I want to show you a simple flowchart:

This simple flowchart gives you a high-level view of what goes on when someone signs up for your email list.

Now let’s jump into the nitty-gritty details.

1. Need an autoresponder

You are going to need an autoresponder. I highly recommend Aweber. It’s what I use and it’s affordable.

Whatever autoresponder you choose make sure you use double optin for your email list. When you use double optin someone will sign up for your email list and then they are sent an email asking them to confirm their subscription to your email list. This ensures that you have fewer spam complaints.

2. Use an email address that you check

Whenever you send out a message to your email list there is a “reply to” email address that is sent along with the message. This way if any of your subscribers have a question they can simply hit the reply button and send a message to you.

You must make sure that this reply to email address is one that you check on a regular basis.

There been a few times when I sent out a message with a link to my website that didn’t work. I didn’t know about it until one of my subscribers hit the reply button and notified me of this. If I didn’t check the email address on a regular basis I would’ve never known.

3. Create a free short report

Identify a common problem that your readers have and write a report showing people how to fix this problem. The report doesn’t have to be very long; three to five pages should do the trick.

Just make sure that it solves a specific problem that your readers have.

Once you have it written you need to save it in PDF format. If you’re not sure how to do this are a lot of free tutorials on the Internet that will show you exactly how.

4. Packaging your report

If you link to the report in pdf format then when people click on the link to the pdf it will automatically load the pdf in the browser.

If instead you link to a zipped file (which contains the pdf) they will be forced to download it to their computer, making it easier for them to read anytime.

In the zip file also include a file that links to your website.

To do this open a new file in NotePad and save it.

An example filename might be Traffic_Tricks_Blog.htm

Be sure that the filename contains no spaces, is something that gets the viewers attention, and ends with .htm

Inside the file type the following:

<HTML><HEAD>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="refresh" content="0;URL=http://www.nickstraffictricks.com">
<TITLE></TITLE></HEAD><BODY></BODY></HTML>

What this chunk of HTML code does is tell the browser to immediately redirect to:
http://www.nickstraffictricks.com

Simply replace http://www.nickstraffictricks.com with your own url and then save.

Be sure to test your redirect!

Now everyone unzipping the file will see a the htm file and when they open it they will be sent to your site.

You can do this for affiliates stuff too.

In fact you could have two of these files inside the zip. One would redirect to your website and another would be an affiliate offer. This is a great way to make a little extra money on the backend.

Just don’t abuse it.

5. Create a “thank you” page

After a person enters their name and email to subscribe to your list they will be sent to a thank you page.

The purpose of this page is to thank the person for signing up and inform them that they need to check their email and click on the confirmation link that has been sent to them.

You may also put an advertisement on this page.

The form of this page is relatively simple and if you want you can just copy one that I have used in the past:
http://free–web-traffic.com/thank_you.php

6. Create a “sign-up is complete” page

After a person has confirmed their email address their sign-up is complete and they are sent to a “sign-up is complete” page.

In addition to page tells them that their free report has been emailed to them.

I recommend putting an advertisement on this page.

If you would like you can copy the one I use:
http://free–web-traffic.com/thank_you_after_email.php

7. Create the first message

After someone confirms their email the first follow-up message will automatically be sent to them. In this message you need to have a link to the free report for them to download.

In a message you can also introduce yourself to the reader and invite them to follow you on twitter or subscribe to your RSS feed.

8. Get an ecover

Your free report is not really complete until it has some sort of ecover which is just a graphic cover for your report.

Here’s an example of the cover that I frequently use for my Nick’s Traffic Tricks ebook:

There are some ways the you can create them for free and you can find free tutorials on the Internet. But if you have a little extra cash and time is short then I recommend finding someone to create one for you.

Simply go to Google and search for: ecover design

9. Place the signup immediately after content on your website

You want to place your sign-up form in a prominent location where people can see it.

For me this works best by placing my sign-up form immediately after my main content block all my blog.

10. Experiment with popups and lightboxes available with Aweber

One way to increase the conversion rate and get more people to sign up is to experiment with different types of pop-ups and light boxes.

Some website owners have reported a fivefold increase in the number sign ups.

With Aweber trying different types is easy.

11. Whenever you post to blog or website you send an email to you email list and get guaranteed traffic

To get instant traffic simply send a message out to your email list every time you post new content on your blog. This will be dramatically more effective if the content that you post is always high quality. Read 6 Reasons Quality Content Receives More Traffic And Makes More Money

12. Don’t forget to test

Lastly you need to make sure that you test this entire process. There are a lot of steps and you want to make sure that each piece is set up correctly.

I recommend going through the following checklist to ensure that everything is set up.

  1. Go to the page with the sign-up form and sign up with your name and email.
  2. Were you taken to the “thank you” page and asked to confirm your email?
  3. Did you receive the email asking you to confirm it?
  4. Now click on the confirmation link.
  5. Were you taken to the “signup is complete” page?
  6. Did your advertisement display correctly on that page?
  7. Do you receive the email with the link to your download?
  8. If you hit reply to the email does it send to you?
  9. Does the link to the download actually work?
  10. Can you unzip the file and open up the PDF?
  11. Do the other files that you may have included work correctly?