Ad redirect, can-not remove!!

Toyotafanboi

If anyone could help, that'd be great.

just yesterday my laptop started redirecting every web page I open to ridiculous adds. every single web page or web link I click opens a new tab and redirects me to an ad and only when I close that tab does the web page I want open. Running Windows 8 and it happens in Chrome and IE.

At the same time, it started happening on my phone too. any web links I click on Chrome or on the phones factory browser open a new tab full of ads and when I close that tab, it takes me where I want to go. Strangely if I click a Facebook link on the phone it doesn't open the link, but takes me to the google paly store. The phone is Android 4.4.4

I've tried spybot, avast, avg, malwarebytes on both the phone and the laptop and they have found nothing. I've tried avast on the laptop too which has found nothing.

both the phone and the laptop are only a few weeks old so I did a factory reset on both the phone and laptop (because I hadn't much data to lose) and the factory reset didn't get rid of the problem either. I know that is probably the virus removal equivalent of turning something off and on again and expecting a fix, but if someone could give me some tips on what to do next, that'd be great

Toyotafanboi

it probably doesn't help but the ads are all crap like telling me I need to update my java or adobe or telling me how to earn $10000 in one day and what cash building tips worked for washed up celebrities... then they all make sure to ask "am I sure I want to leave their webpage".

Pov06

Open up the link chrome://extensions on your laptop. Delete dodgy looking extensions.
Open up the link chrome://settings make sure the search engine is set to Google and remove any dodgy looking ones.

If you click a Facebook link on your phone it's quite normal to be offered to download the Facebook app from Google Play.

GvidoR

That's strange. Since you said you don't really have any data to lose, I'd do a full recovery on the laptop which is on the hidden partition. It's usually accessed by F11 or whatever, depending on the laptop as you're booting it up. It might be accessible in the settings too given it's Windows 8 or 10.

Toyotafanboi

Pov06 wrote: »

Open up the link chrome://extensions on your laptop. Delete dodgy looking extensions.
Open up the link chrome://settings make sure the search engine is set to Google and remove any dodgy looking ones.

If you click a Facebook link on your phone it's quite normal to be offered to download the Facebook app from Google Play.

it's more like if I click a link to a story posted by say, the ever classy "Lad Bible", a page I've liked. When I click the link it just takes me to random **** in the play store like really obscure games or media players etc, you know it's not right like.

UnknownSpecies

Have you installed anything lately? The fact it's happening on both IE and Chrome suggests that issue was brought in by a program installed on your laptop. Check your installed programs in control panel and sort by date installed. See if anything strange comes up.

Also, open Chrome in incognito mode and try to replicate the issue. If you can replicate it, you can (almost) rule out dodgy extensions in Chrome.

Toyotafanboi

dorgasm wrote: »

Have you installed anything lately? The fact it's happening on both IE and Chrome suggests that issue was brought in by a program installed on your laptop. Check your installed programs in control panel and sort by date installed. See if anything strange comes up.

Also, open Chrome in incognito mode and try to replicate the issue. If you can replicate it, you can (almost) rule out dodgy extensions in Chrome.

Yeah, that's the thing, the laptop and phone are essentially brand new, both maybe a fortnight old. there isn't even a restore point to go back to on the laptop.

literally installed nothing on the laptop at all and only some very legitimate things on the phone, aib mobile banking, facebook, whatsapp.

just tried an incognito tab in chrome and the problem persists there too. i took out my old laptop to write this reply and now the old laptop (that definitely never had any problems) has it too and the only site i've visited is here.

plot twist: my mothers smart phone also has it. could this be through out broadband router somehow?

Toyotafanboi

Ok, so everybody in the house has this problem, ad redirects on every device.

Soif I turn off WIFI on my phone and use my cellular 4G instead, the ads are all gone from every browser. So this surely narrows it down to the modem?

So I reset the modem with the little pinhole button at the back and now it doesn't ****ing work at all. The little LED's show that the modem is connected to the internet and my devices are definitely connected to the modem but all I get now are "webpage is not available" messages?

biko

What modem is it?

Toyotafanboi

It's a tp-link brand but it's in such a way that I cant easily remove it to flip it and check the model. It'l take a bit of work tomorrow!

biko

Have a read of this
http://forum.tp-link.com/showthread.php?75547-DNS-Redirect-Issue