Computer knowledgeable folks... Halp?

[DrZoidberg]

So I come back from school for spring break and connect to my wireless network, and I get a message supposedly from comcast/xfinity/whatever the fuck they are now saying there is some sort of bot messing around. It was a popup in the browser, chrome for me, and it was on every page. But not like your typical pop up ad, it was sightly transparent and all official/really well executed fake looking. They're calling it this

Multi_CriminalFinancial_SearchHijackerMo

I'm no longer seeing the message, on my mbp or my mother's dell. Apparently it's a dns changer related to google search results, and that you need to be superuser to install it. I went here http://www.dcwg.org/ and it says neither computers have an issue. So this is all a bit suspicious. There's not much else about it, it seems.

I'm trying to do some digging around. I don't know what it is with adults and computers. My parents said my mothers laptop was getting all these virus issues. I was just gonna wipe it, but they don't know where the install disks are or if they even have any. So I'm about to wipe it and dump ubuntu on it. I'm just trying to avoid messing up my computer by using my own internet at this point... Anybody ever see anything like this? Can I just login as root and kill this on the windows computer?

 

[funk~]

First off, the whole problem sounds like it has less to do with the network and more to do with the individual computers.

The warning you were getting sounds very much like a virus, unless Comcast has a policy about static IPs, in which case they would be restricting internet use if you have a dynamic IP (the purpose of a DNS changer.) I don't see any advantage to an exploiter installing a DNS changer on your laptop, except for the fact he would get moderate control over your IP.

Some basic suggestions - do a full scan of your computer, and your mothers computer with a reliable AV like Avast. I really doubt your mom's computer needs to be wiped. I remember hearing the similar story from my parents constantly, but a quick root/system av scan fixed most of the problems.

Are you referring to "instal disks" as the directory on which the OS is installed? Or the physical disks you use to install an OS?

 

[Arabian]

hit F2 as your computer is booting and login to safe mode with command prompt. Then, from prompt, run explorer.exe. From there, install the relevant software. Next, wipe your harddrives, and put the computer in a place where you can't get to it, because you clearly shouldn't have a computer if you don't know what you're doing with it.