I can't access google

March 9, 2013 7:46 PM

I can't connect to Google and if I try to search askmefi it says Loading after I type in the search terms and press return.

I am using firefox and when I try to connect to google (and 100 search engines) it says "The proxy server is refusing connections - Firefox is configured to use a proxy server that is refusing connections. I have checked firefox options and this is not the case.

I then tried searching ask and it just said Loading... and gave no results.

Can anyone please help?

posted by marienbad to technology (13 answers total)

Have you scanned for virus/malware?
posted by RustyBrooks at 7:51 PM on March 9

I installed Avira but it was terrible so uninstalled, it took so long to scan I stopped it. What is a good free virus/malware checker?
posted by marienbad at 7:58 PM on March 9

I and many that I know use Microsoft Security Essentials. I used AVG a while ago but switched and have been very pleased. My 2 cents.
posted by forthright at 8:13 PM on March 9

90% chance you have one or more viruses. See what happens with other browsers.
posted by empath at 8:31 PM on March 9

The 2 you want to try are probably Malwarebytes and Spybot: Search and Destroy

Some malware actively prevents you from trying to download these - it's often easiest to find them on another computer and transfer via usb stick or something. I keep a copy of them on my phone for such things.
posted by RustyBrooks at 8:34 PM on March 9

I downloaded and ran spybot S&D and still no joy. will try AVG. Alsp, at shutdown, it hangs for ages with a blank black screen and the mouse pointer. I can move the pointer, and eventually it shuts down, are the two issues related?
posted by marienbad at 9:37 PM on March 9

ok, I binged, and it is on Mozilla - strangely if you change settings to "Auto- detect proxy settings for this network" it works, although I am on a standalone machine and all the other sites I have visited were fine, only google, ask search and 100 search engines (well I could get there but it wouldn't load the results.)

I think avira did something to my computer or browser, anyone else had bad experiences with it?
posted by marienbad at 9:44 PM on March 9

I'll bet you had a second anti-virus running along with Avira. Avira works fine unless you also have a second antivirus running at the same time.
posted by Obscure Reference at 6:51 AM on March 10

No second anti-virus running. Downloaded AVG and scanned, nothing found.
posted by marienbad at 9:54 AM on March 10

I have loyally used Avast as my free antivirus for years. Works great. I found AVG unimpressive. I also use Spybot and Malwarebytes when I am being thorough, but I find them unneccessary. You can't have two antivirus programs at the same time so completely uninstall before installing a new one.

Have you tried Internet Explorer and Chrome? You should. If they have problems too, it's definitely a virus or malware. If not, it's probably Firefox.

Maybe try starting Firefox in safe mode with add-ons disabled and see if that fixes it. If not, maybe clear all your preferences/set Firefox back to default. And if all else fails, completely uninstall Firefox and reinstall it. But if you have some sort of malware that hijacks your searching, it'll still be there when you reinstall. Just make sure you save your user profile so any saved passwords/usernames and bookmarks are saved. Google can explain how to do these things.
posted by AppleTurnover at 10:08 AM on March 10

I had a similar problem a while back, and a friend mentioned the "Google Redirect Virus" (or some similar name). Really annoying.

Since you can't search google, try these links:

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/security/battling-the-google-redirect-virus/8860

http://www.2-viruses.com/how-to-fix-google-results-hijacker-google-redirect-virus-problem

http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/939017

It took my several tries to completely remove it, but it *did* eventually work.

Good luck.
posted by NYC-BB at 8:54 PM on March 10

Thanks NYC-BB - on one of the links there is a link to a program called Gooredfix which seems to have done the trick!
posted by marienbad at 11:54 AM on March 11

OK, it didn't fully work - it worked, then after restart it started happening again, although only on google, so I used another search engine and found this page which (seems as of restarting just now) to have done the trick

Remove google redirect virus - it actually works!

The two best programs were Rogue Killer and Hitman, Rogue Killer seemed to be the one which found it and deleted it.
posted by marienbad at 12:40 PM on March 12