Weird occasional search redirect

[Pacfanweb]

Windows 10 using Edge, with Google as the search engine

When I Google something...sometimes, not all the time, I click a link and it'll go somewhere else. It'll be a kind of related site, but not the one whose link I clicked.

I can close it, click the same Google link again, and it'll go to the correct site the second time.

This has been happening randomly for about a month now, I think. Have done the usual clearing of cookies, history, ran deep scan, etc. Nothing found on my PC.

I'm trying to figure out if it's even on my PC, or if it's something on the websites that is causing this?

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'm trying to figure out if it's even on my PC, or if it's something on the websites that is causing this?

Could be either, some major sites get hacked and booby-trapped for visitors from Google, but chances are, it's either your PC, or it could be your router, specifically highjacked DNS lookups.

Try rebooting your router, and seeing if the problem goes away.

Post the model, and age of router, and firmware version. Chances are, you're due for an update (or an upgrade, if no new firmware is available, as is too often the case with many router mfgs.)

I would give your PC a scan with Malwarebytes. (.com) . Download and run, warning, if you have mining software it will be flagged and needs to be excluded from scan. Also, remember to enable scanning for rootkits in the advanced security settings.

A scan with existing A/V software may not pick up advertising / redirect PUPs, as they aren't viruses proper.

Did this start, at the same time that you downloaded or installed some new piece of "free" software? Do you often download "free" software? Stuff like this sort of search redirect often smuggles itself onto your system that way.

Also, scan for and follow guides for removing "conduit" and "conducent" malwares. BleepingComputer probably has a guide, but Malwarebytes is probably easier.

 

[VirtualLarry]

bump for updates

 

[Pacfanweb]

Okay, my router/modem is practically new. Less than a month old from Spectrum. Haven't rebooted it, will try that in a minute.

I have run Malwarebytes. Didn't find anything. I haven't downloaded anything. Definitely not from this PC.
Hardly anyone else in the house uses a PC for surfing, so no idea if anyone's phone or tablet is seeing this or not.
Running Malwarebytes again as well, I don't think I had rootkit checked the first time. So far it's showing 1 "malware.heuristic1001" piece that it's found. Will inspect it when it's done.
The bad news is, it found it in a folder where I used a program to recover stuff off a wiped hard drive, but it was almost a year ago. So that folder doesn't get used, therefore I doubt anything new is in it, but we'll see.

 

[mindless1]

In addition to the above, see if it happens with a different browser. Try a different DNS server(s).

 

[igor_kavinski]

I'm thinking rootkit or something running in the process list masquerading as a Windows system process. Sometimes, you can find them by seeing their executable path with something like Process Explorer.

To be safe, if you don't have anything too important on this Windows installation (like some expensive software that you may have trouble activating later on), backup your important data and format partition/re-install fresh copy of Windows. Malware can be really hard to completely remove once it sinks its hooks in all sorts of undocumented/obscure places in the Windows/Users/Program Files/Recycle Bin folder structure.