Google: Your computer appears to be infected
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on (updated)
What is Google: Your computer appears to be infected?
If you receive the Google message "Your computer appears to be infected" above your Google search results, your computer is infected with malware, sending fake search traffic to Google using proxy servers. Remove this malware as soon as possible.
If you receive this message when trying to search for something on Google, your computer is infected by a specific type of malware that uses a number of proxy servers to send fake traffic to Google's search engine.
It is unsafe for your computer to remain infected with this malware, since it is not only capable of sending fake traffic to Google, but can also steal your personal data, delete files on your computer, or slow the browsing experience significantly.
Google describes this problem on the official Google blog
Although you should not notice this malware generally on your computer, you will see the Google message appear above your search results, reporting that your computer appears to be infected:
Your computer appears to be infected
"It appears that your computer is infected with software that intercepts your connection to Google and other sites. Learn how to fix this."
Use this removal guide to remove this malware that intercepts your connection to Google.
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Quick menu:
- What is Google: Your computer appears to be infected?
- STEP 1. Remove Google: Your computer appears to be infected using a removal software.
- STEP 2. Remove Google: Your computer appears to be infected using host file fixer.
- STEP 3. Remove Google: Your computer appears to be infected manually by editing host file entries.
- STEP 4. Uninstall adware applications using Control Panel.
- STEP 5. Remove adware from Internet Explorer.
- STEP 6. Remove rogue plug-ins from Google Chrome.
- STEP 7. Remove adware-type extensions from Mozilla Firefox.
- STEP 8. Remove malicious extensions from Safari.
- STEP 9. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.
Automatic Google: "Your computer appears to be infected" malware removal:
NOTE: If installation fails, you can try downloading the customized installer built by our technicians to bypass major spyware and malware infections. Your browser may report that this file is unsafe.
Please ignore these warnings. Download customized installer
Some spyware can block the downloading of spyware removers. If You cannot download it using the default location, try one of the alternative download locations below:
- Location 1 (the file is renamed to "iexplore.exe", since most spyware does not block this file)
- Location 2
Remove malware, intercepting or redirecting your connection to Google manually
This malware, intercepts your connection to Google and modifies your computer's Hosts file, adding lines to continually redirect the google.com domain to a malicious dedicated server. Follow these steps to fix your Hosts file and remove the malware that is intercepting your connection to Google.
Step 1
The Hosts file is used to resolve some canonical names of websites to IP addresses. When it is changed, the user may be redirected to a malicious site, despite observing a legitimate URL in address bar.
When the Hosts file is modified, it is very difficult to determine if the site if legitimate. To fix this, please download the Microsoft FixIt tool, that restores your Hosts file to the Windows default.
Run this tool when downloaded and follow the on-screen instructions. The download link is as follows:
Step 2
Some variants of this spyware modify system proxy settings so that you cannot access the Internet, or website addresses are redirected to malicious or phishing websites. To reset the proxy settings to the default, download and run this tool:
Step 3
Restart your computer and the Google message reporting that your computer appears to be infected should be gone.
It is recommended, however, that you scan your computer for malware, since after taking these steps, malicious processes able to change your Hosts file and proxy settings may remain running in the background. We recommend to scan your system with Antivirus software.
Editing your Hosts file manually to remove malware redirecting your connection to Google:
If something goes wrong using automatic or manual removal, you may want to edit your Hosts file manually:
Where is Hosts file located?
In Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME:
C:\Windows\hosts
In Windows NT, Windows 2000:
C:\WinNT\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
In Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7:
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts.
By default, your Windows hosts file should look like this:
For Windows XP:
# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 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.
#
127.0.0.1 localhost
For Windows Vista:
# Copyright (c) 1993-2006 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.
#
127.0.0.1 localhost
::1 localhost
For Windows 7:
# Copyright (c) 1993-2006 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.
#
# localhost name resolution is handle within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost
When you've located your Hosts file, right click on it, select Open with.. and choose Notepad. You can replace the contents of this file to those of one of the Hosts files shown above, depending on your operating system (be sure to do a backup of this file as a precaution).
Alternatively, you can try to delete EVERY line that begins with this text: 74.125.45.100
After doing this, restart your web browser. The Google warning message should now be gone.
Just in case:
Open Internet Explorer, click Tools and select Internet Options. Select "Connections".
4.Click LAN settings, if 'Use a proxy server for your LAN' is checked, uncheck it and press OK.
Adware removal:
Windows 11 users:
Right-click on the Start icon, select Apps and Features. In the opened window search for the application you want to uninstall, after locating it, click on the three vertical dots and select Uninstall.
Windows 10 users:
Right-click in the lower left corner of the screen, in the Quick Access Menu select Control Panel. In the opened window choose Programs and Features.
Windows 7 users:
Click Start (Windows Logo at the bottom left corner of your desktop), choose Control Panel. Locate Programs and click Uninstall a program.
macOS (OSX) users:
Click Finder, in the opened screen select Applications. Drag the app from the Applications folder to the Trash (located in your Dock), then right click the Trash icon and select Empty Trash.
In the uninstall programs window, look for any potentially unwanted applications, select these entries and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".
After uninstalling the potentially unwanted application that causes ketintontrat[.]info redirects, scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components or possible malware infections. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.
Remove adware from Internet browsers:
Video showing how to remove potentially unwanted browser add-ons:
Remove malicious add-ons from Internet Explorer:
Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". Look for any recently-installed suspicious browser extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the google malware notification, reset your Internet Explorer settings to default.
Windows XP users: Click Start, click Run, in the opened window type inetcpl.cpl In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.
Windows Vista and Windows 7 users: Click the Windows logo, in the start search box type inetcpl.cpl and click enter. In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.
Windows 8 users: Open Internet Explorer and click the gear icon. Select Internet Options.
In the opened window, select the Advanced tab.
Click the Reset button.
Confirm that you wish to reset Internet Explorer settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:
Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More tools" and click "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons and remove them.
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the google malware notification, reset your Google Chrome browser settings. Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Click the Advanced… link.
After scrolling to the bottom of the screen, click the Reset (Restore settings to their original defaults) button.
In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Google Chrome settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
Remove malicious plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox:
Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), select "Add-ons". Click "Extensions", in the opened window, remove all recently-installed suspicious browser plug-ins.
Optional method:
Computer users who have problems with google malware notification removal can reset their Mozilla Firefox settings.
Open Mozilla Firefox, at the top right corner of the main window, click the Firefox menu, in the opened menu, click Help.
Select Troubleshooting Information.
In the opened window, click the Refresh Firefox button.
In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Mozilla Firefox settings to default by clicking the Refresh Firefox button.
Remove malicious extensions from Safari:
Make sure your Safari browser is active and click Safari menu, then select Preferences...
In the preferences window select the Extensions tab. Look for any recently installed suspicious extensions and uninstall them.
In the preferences window select General tab and make sure that your homepage is set to a preferred URL, if its altered by a browser hijacker - change it.
In the preferences window select Search tab and make sure that your preferred Internet search engine is selected.
Optional method:
Make sure your Safari browser is active and click on Safari menu. From the drop down menu select Clear History and Website Data...
In the opened window select all history and click the Clear History button.
Remove malicious extensions from Microsoft Edge:
Click the Edge menu icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Extensions". Locate any recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons, and remove them.
Change your homepage and new tab settings:
Click the Edge menu icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Settings". In the "On startup" section look for the name of the browser hijacker and click "Disable".
Change your default Internet search engine:
To change your default search engine in Microsoft Edge: Click the Edge menu icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Privacy and services", scroll to bottom of the page and select "Address bar". In the "Search engines used in address bar" section look for the name of the unwanted Internet search engine, when located click the "Disable" button near it. Alternatively you can click on "Manage search engines", in the opened menu look for unwanted Internet search engine. Click on the puzzle icon near it and select "Disable".
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the google malware notification, reset your Microsoft Edge browser settings. Click the Edge menu icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge) and select Settings.
In the opened settings menu select Reset settings.
Select Restore settings to their default values. In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Microsoft Edge settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
- If this did not help, follow these alternative instructions explaining how to reset the Microsoft Edge browser.
Summary:
A browser hijacker is a type of adware infection that modifies Internet browser settings by assigning the homepage and default Internet search engine settings to some other (unwanted) website URL. Commonly, this type of adware infiltrates operating systems through free software downloads. If your download is managed by a download client, ensure that you decline offers to install advertised toolbars or applications that seek to change your homepage and default Internet search engine settings.
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