Frakking Babylon (malware)

[JLTucker]

Through negligence, I managed to install the Malware known as Babylon. What it does is take over the search and home page features of browsers and other shit. I uninstalled it and managed to get rid of it. However, doing so rendered it impossible to install Chrome and actually use it. When I install it, the shortcut insists that the program location is not there. Program Files shows it isn't there as well.

To make sure Babylon was actually gone, I scanned my system using MSE and Malware Bytes. Both returned absolutely nothing. What is going on? How can I rectify this? I really, really don't want to perform a clean install of Windows 7. It's a pain in the balls doing this because it will take hours to back up my data and then transfer it back.

Please don't tell me to use another browser. My Android devices are linked through my Google account. I do not care about IE or Firefox.

[Dominus Atheos]

Use system restore to go back to a point before you got the malware.

[JLTucker]

I tried that and there isn't one available.

[JLTucker]

Fuck it. I'll do a fresh install.

[Stark]

What actual functionality would you lose by just not using Chrome?

[JLTucker]

What actual functionality would you lose by just not using Chrome?

The only things I'll lose are my bookmarks, passwords, and history.

I did not have to do a fresh install. I created a new user account and it installs perfectly. I just deleted my old one while retaining the documents.

[Tolya]

Chrome is a funny piece of crap. While it seems to work well, it does block some other processes from starting. I once started FIVE instances of a game which was not working - when I turned Chrome off they all started instantly.

I would recommend Maxthon, which is heavily customizable, full of nice features (like gestures), quite fast (if you don't overload it with google docs that is) and built on Internet Explorer.

[JLTucker]

I would recommend Maxthon, which is heavily customizable, full of nice features (like gestures), quite fast (if you don't overload it with google docs that is) and built on Internet Explorer.

Please don't tell me to use another browser. My Android devices are linked through my Google account.

[Tolya]

JL, you just painted yourself a huge target for a "not using Android" joke. It's gotten old though so I'll let that go

[The Infidel]

Just a little tip to people who had malware on their systems. Check that the hosts file is OK. Lots of malware try to edit the hosts file so that traffic is being redirected to other sites of their liking, usually to sites that will re-install the shit.

You can read a bit about it here.

The hosts file should usually look like this:

Code: Select all

# Copyright (c) 1993-2009 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
#      102.54.94.97     rhino.acme.com          # source server
#       38.25.63.10     x.acme.com              # x client host

# localhost name resolution is handled within DNS itself.
#	127.0.0.1       localhost
#	::1             localhost

If you find a lot of mapped IP-addresses at the bottom, it is an indication that you hosts file might be infected. I think this file is a hidden system file, so you must be able to view them before you try.