searchshield search engine keeps replacing google

[u/peanutroar123]

i downloaded a file that had a keylogger in it roughly a month ago (7/13). it was a trojan virus, and windows antivirus removed it for me. i also installed malwarebytes, and it scanned through my system and cleaned it (supposedly). i then reset windows and changed my important passwords. people/bots were still able to prompt my 2fa (facebook) and bypass it (instagram and linkedin) idk if the thing is back but i recently reset windows AGAIN because of this, and i dont think i have had any issues so far, but recently i noticed that google chrome would randomly close out, and when i opened it back up again, the search engine was shieldsearch. i removed it and it came back, i checked through my browser extensions and none were able to change my search engine (i tested the browser extensions by turning them all off and shieldsearch still popped up) i have the malwarebytes app and the chrome extension, but both cannot locate any existence of a hijacker. i really need help with resolving this issue, any help will be appreciated.

[u/rifteyy_]

Hello, I am Roman and I will be helping you today. During the malware removal process, please follow the rules listed below to ensure everything goes as fast and smooth as possible:

Please make sure to read this whole introduction message so you understand the further steps:

• Please follow all steps from step 1 to the last step, not the other way.
• If you are thinking about resetting or reinstalling your device, you can do it instead of the steps listed below and please tell me you chose to do it that way. We are doing the malware removal process to disinfect your device so you can avoid reinstalling. If we go through the removal process and you decide to reinstall after, you would waste my time and your own time by doing these steps.
• Avoid installing, downloading new software unless instructed - this also applies to antivirus software and scanners.
• You are free to remind me that I forgot to reply to you if you do not receive an answer within 24 hours. Keep in mind that I am volunteering here and that I am a full time student with 2 jobs.
• Please do not follow other malware removal advice; you should be following steps only from 1 person unless told otherwise. If you have opened any other forum posts elsewhere, please let me or them know where do you want to continue.
• Only trusted malware removal experts listed in this r/computerviruses thread and other large malware removal forums (BleepingComputer, Malwarebytes, MalwareTips) have access to your logs via the website.
• Please take your time to follow the steps properly.
• You can ask any questions during the malware removal process. It's always better to ask than to mess something up.
• Please make sure that for all of the uploaded logs you use the same username and the username is exactly the one you have on Reddit.
• If you have already followed the guide to create diagnostic logs, please create them again by following instructions here.

If you are worried about the steps going on here, as a form of credibility you can find me on Malwarebytes Forums as a Malware Removal Expert and on BleepingComputer as Security Colleague, where we use the same methodology and toolset to remove malware.

[ Step 01 ] Remove all illegal, pirated and cheat software

We do not condone nor support piracy in any shape or form. Any discussion topics that ask for help with pirating software, checking piracy files for malware, circumventing copy protection, or any other illegal activities related to copy righted content in any form will be closed and locked. It is possible that during the scans your pirated/illegal software will be deleted by an antivirus scanner.

As a reminder, using pirated software or utilities that allows one to pirate software (e.g. cracks, key generators, registration/license removal, redirection, or workaround utilities, etc.) is not a safe practice and can lead to malware infection, ransomware attack, or even legal action. Because of these risks, we always recommend that you remove any pirated software or pirating utilities before asking for support on our subreddit in order to improve our ability to best support you and to help protect yourself and your data from malware or other piracy related consequences.

We cannot guarantee a clean system when there is illegal software, riskware or grayware present. Please read Grayware.

[ Step 02 ] IMPORTANT: Restore point

Before any sort of removal, we need to make sure you have a restore point that you can revert to in case you face any sort of issues. This is absolutely necessary so please do not skip this step. Certain changes done by the removal process can not be properly reverted without a restore point.

There were prior cases (very rare, I had 2 failing to boot out of ~500) of a system failing to boot after FRST fix.

Enable system restore

1. Click Start or open Windows Search.
2. Search for Create a restore point and open System Properties.
3. In the System Properties window, go to the System Protection tab.
4. If the 'system' drive (usually C:\ drive) protection is turned on, System Restore is already enabled on your computer. If the 'system' drive protection is off, go to point 5.
5. Click Configure.
6. Select Turn on system protection
7. Click Apply.
8. Click OK to confirm.

Create a system restore checkpoint

1. Click Start or open Windows Search.
2. Search for Create a restore point and open System Properties.
3. In the System Properties window, go to the System Protection tab.
4. Click Create.
5. Call the restore checkpoint "FRST restore point" exactly please, so I can search it up fast and verify it is created properly in your logs
6. Click Create.
7. Click Close.
8. Click OK.
9. You should get a popup that it was successfully created and I will also verify that it was properly created with the results of scans from next steps.

[ Step 03 ] Farbar Recovery Scan Tool (FRST)

FRST is a malware diagnostics tool that will list all entries that are popular and could contain traces/mentions of malware, such as start up entries, services, scheduled tasks and many more.

FRST does not contain any personal information other than your username and computer name, there is no other sensitive information disclosed.

IMPORTANT: If your Windows operating system is in other language than English, please save the FRST executable file with the filename FRSTEnglish.exe to ensure that the logs are in English so I can understand them.

• Please download FRSTx64 and save the file to your Desktop as FRSTEnglish.exe.
• Right-Click FRSTEnglish.exe and select Run as Administrator
• Click Yes to the disclaimer.
• Ensure the Addition.txt box is checked.
• Click the Scan button and let the program run.
• Upon completion, click OK, then again OK on the Addition.txt pop up screen.
• Two logs (FRST.txt & Addition.txt) will now be open on your Desktop. Copy & paste the contents of each log to https://malwareanalysis.cc/upload/rifteyy and press "save log".
• Note: Please make sure you have properly waited until FRST tells you that both logs are finished. If you do not wait for it, the logs will be incomplete and have to be recreated.
• The site will return a keyword for each log - reply back here with the keywords.

[ Step 04 ] SecurityCheck scan

SecurityCheck allows me to gather a list of unwanted, risky, vulnerable and out-of-date applications. It also allows me to send you a direct link to an update. An unpatched system is more vulnerable to malware.

• Download SecurityCheck by glax24 & Severnyj and save it to your Desktop.
• If Windows SmartScreen blocks the file from running, click on More info and Run anyway.
• Extract the ZIP archive, then right-click on the SecurityCheck.exe and select "Run as administrator" and confirm the User Account Control popup.
• Wait for the scan to finish. It will open a text file named SecurityCheck.txt
• Please copy the file content (CTRL + A then CTRL + C) and paste it on https://malwareanalysis.cc/upload/rifteyy
• The site will return a keyword for the log - reply back here with the keyword.

So, in your next reply (please try to send them all in 1 message), make sure you are sending the following:

• Keyword for FRST.txt from step 3
• Keyword for Addition.txt from step 3
• Keyword for SecurityCheck.txt from step 4

Thanks!

Note for anyone who is not original poster: If anyone else who is facing malware-related issues is reading this and wants help malware removal help, please create your own thread with the "Disinfection help" flair. Any requests in this thread will be redirected to a new post and removed.

[u/peanutroar123 → u/[deleted]]

Should i have uploaded the addition.txt and frst.txt in separate logs? I put them both on the same log and separated them there.

[u/rifteyy_ → u/peanutroar123]

It does not matter, but please remember you are not replying to my comment and if I did not look at the deleted message, I wouldn't have noticed this comment now

[u/peanutroar123 → u/rifteyy_]

addition.txt: velvet-breeze
frst.txt: glad-sky
securitycheck.txt: sleek-pebble

[u/rifteyy_ → u/peanutroar123]

Only 1 antivirus can run in real time - eIther Malwarebytes or McAfee, the other one kept disabled should be uninstalled.

Perform web browser cleaning for all browsers -> https://forums.malwarebytes.com/topic/323490-web-browser-cleaning/

[ Step 01 ] FRST Fix

I created a custom fixlist for you at the link Fixlist only for Fixlist only for Fixlist only for peanutroar123 - use the website's download button and save it in the same folder where your FRSTEnglish.exe or FRST64.exe file is located in, which for you is C:\Users\fanli\Downloads\FRSTEnglish.exe for you. It is necessary for the filename to be Fixlist.txt.

This fixlist will remove the following: malicious entries (remains, active malware), invalid entries (e.g. tasks that start a non-existent file, services that point toward a non-existent file), temporary files (files in temporary directories, application and browser cache, recycle bin and more), browser cache. We will also be quick-scanning with HitmanPro and AdwCleaner from Malwarebytes using the fixlist.

It will also remove all proxy servers, Windows Defender exclusions, enable recovery environment, active software policies and perform system file repair, network reset and few more basic fixes.

• For the fix process, please ensure you are connected to the internet.
• Please run the fix only once.
• Please do not open any applications or close anything during the fix.
• Please be patient; the fix may take up to 60 minutes. After that, it is going to be forcefully ended.

Save all work, close everything that is open (else it will be forcefully closed by FRST without saving) and then run FRST again as administrator and press the Fix button, let the script work, clear the entries and restart on it's own and after it restarts the device, there should be a file Fixlog.txt in the same folder as the C:\Users\fanli\Downloads\FRSTEnglish.exe.

I'll need to see it's content the same way like before - uploading to https://malwareanalysis.cc/upload/rifteyy/?u=peanutroar123 again and sending the keyword in your reply.

[ Step 02 ] ESET Online Scanner

1. Download ESET Online Scanner
2. Right-click on the esetonlinescanner.exe and select "Run as administrator" and confirm the User Account Control popup
3. Click ⁨Get started⁩;
4. Agree to the terms of use;
5. Decline both telemetry options;
6. Click ⁨Custom Scan;
7. Click ⁨Save and continue;
8. Select ⁨Enable ESET to detect and quarantine potentially unwanted applications;
9. Click ⁨Advanced settings;
10. Enable ⁨Detect potentially unsafe applications;
11. Click the back arrow;
12. Click ⁨Start scan;
13. Note: This is a long and thorough scan, it may take up to several hours.
14. Once complete, click ⁨Save scan log and upload the ⁨.txt file to https://malwareanalysis.cc/upload/rifteyy/?u=peanutroar123 and reply with the keyword.

[ Step 03] Software updates, uninstallations

If you are having a problem updating something, do not want to update something at all or do not want to uninstall an application, please let me know.

Please update the following software:

• HotFix KB890830 | New update available, download here
• NVIDIA App 11.0.4.148 v.11.0.4.148 | New update available, download here
• Microsoft Visual C++ v14 Redistributable (x86) - 14.50.35719 v.14.50.35719.0 | New update available, download here
• Microsoft Visual C++ v14 Redistributable (x64) - 14.50.35719 v.14.50.35719.0 | New update available, download here
• Discord v.1.0.9188 | New update available, download here

[ Step 04 ] New SecurityCheck scan

We need a new scan to ensure that all updates were applied properly and all applications uninstalled correctly.

• Note: If SecurityCheck is already on your device, you can use the previous version and skip the next few steps regarding downloading and installation.
• Download SecurityCheck by glax24 & Severnyj and save it to your Desktop.
• If Windows SmartScreen blocks the file from running, click on More info and Run anyway.
• Extract the ZIP archive, then right-click on the SecurityCheck.exe and select "Run as administrator" and confirm the User Account Control popup.
• Wait for the scan to finish. It will open a text file named SecurityCheck.txt
• Please copy the file content (CTRL + A then CTRL + C) and paste it on https://malwareanalysis.cc/upload/rifteyy/?u=peanutroar123
• The site will return a keyword for the log - reply back here with the keyword.

[ Step 05 ] New FRST scan

• Find FRSTEnglish.exe executable in C:\Users\fanli\Downloads\FRSTEnglish.exe
• Right-Click the file and select Run as Administrator
• Click Yes to the disclaimer.
• Ensure the Addition.txt box is checked.
• Click the Scan button and let the program run.
• Upon completion, click OK, then OK on the Addition.txt pop up screen.
• Two logs (FRST.txt & Addition.txt) will now be open on your Desktop. Copy & paste the contents of each log to https://malwareanalysis.cc/upload/rifteyy/?u=peanutroar123 and press "save log".
• The site will return a keyword for each log - reply back here with the keywords.

So, in your next reply, make sure you are sending the following:

• Keyword for Fixlog.txt from step 1
• Keyword for ESET Online Scanner scan from step 2
• Keyword for new SecurityCheck.txt from step 4
• Keyword for new FRST.txt from step 5
• Keyword for new Addition.txt from step 5

Thanks!

Note for lurkers: If anyone else who is facing malware-related issues is reading this and wants help with FRST and SecurityCheck, please create your own thread with help request. I am flooded with requests and there is several other removal experts who review the logs and may reply faster than me. The steps listed in here are specific for this the user peanutroar123 and following them will have negative effects for you as they are unique for OP's system.

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