Computer confusion - help

[Red Dog]

Ok, this may seem odd but long story short, my internet history is coming up with sites that I have not visited. Nothing dodgy, thankfully, but random stuff like fashion and cooking sites. It is like my computer has been taken over by some old spinster. My mrs is categoric it is not her, and stuff has been added overnight when we have both been in bed. I think I am posting this to confirm I am not going mad to be honest. But I cannot work out why this is. I am a bit paranoid someone is hacking me but then if so, why are they then logging into sites about which truffles to buy, it is bizarre. Someone please advise!

[Grimario]

Assuming you use Chrome...

Have you set up a phone for your mother/sister/cousin and used your gmail account to log in? If so, you may find that you are syncing to whatever they are viewing on their phone as part of your history.

[G-Fresh]

It's a plot by the UPS man to get ya'll to buy stuff online so he can fuck your wife. Maybe even you.

[Red Dog]

Assuming you use Chrome...

Have you set up a phone for your mother/sister/cousin and used your gmail account to log in? If so, you may find that you are syncing to whatever they are viewing on their phone as part of your history.
No it is IE. It is also my work laptop so I rarely use it for browsing stuff anyway, just here really. I don't have gmail. This is what is confusing me.

In the past 20 minutes I have deleted the history and a load more random stuff has appeared. Again, nothing dodgy but stuff on new years outfits and recipies. I don't get it!

[Grimario]

Using IE is your problem.

[Red Dog]

Why?

Just seen another site added now for the best Asian noodles. Bit freaked out by this now. Should I delete IE? I am using AVG if that makes any difference? Is there a better anti virus/malware thing to use?

[turdpower]

Sounds like a malware issue to me. Not sure what the best software is for removal of that nowadays.

Spybot Search and Destroy used to be good.

EDIT: I guess our own website would be a validity check: https://forums.rajah.com/showthread.php?140266-Ed-s-quot-MUST-HAVE-SOFTWARE-quot-List-v2-0

[The_Mike]

Yeah my guess would also be malware, something in there is loading up sites in some network probably to generate hits. Unless you installed some kind of browser extension for IE that mimics Chrome and Firefox's sync capabilities?

[Red Dog]

Yeah my guess would also be malware, something in there is loading up sites in some network probably to generate hits. Unless you installed some kind of browser extension for IE that mimics Chrome and Firefox's sync capabilities?
No definitely don't have any browser extension.

so how concerned should I be about this? Had a quick look and malware bytes seems to be a popular one to use. If I run that should it fix it? Is it safe? Anything else I should do? Sorry for all the questions this isn't really an area I know much about! Cheers

[Red Dog]

Sounds like a malware issue to me. Not sure what the best software is for removal of that nowadays.

Spybot Search and Destroy used to be good.

EDIT: I guess our own website would be a validity check: https://forums.rajah.com/showthread.php?140266-Ed-s-quot-MUST-HAVE-SOFTWARE-quot-List-v2-0
Cheers for this - it's 2010 though will this all still be in date?

[Grimario]

The versions listed won't be current but the latest versions should be fine and free for personal use.

[Red Dog]

Ok cheers. I downloaded malwarebytes and the scan brought up 5 issues which have now been deleted so touch wood it appears to be working now with no issues. It was a Trojan Clicker like The_Mike said.

I am still interested why I shouldn't be using IE though? I am not precious about it so am just keen to know why it isn't very well liked.

[turdpower]

Historically it's because it was quite slow, a hog on resources and didn't have the functionality that other browsers had.

That was years ago, so I'm sure IE is now probably fine to use to be honest. I imagine Microsoft have improved it.

Chrome or Firefox are normally suggested alternatives. I've been using Chrome for a while now, although I do find it uses a lot more resources than it used to.

[turdpower]

Also, I'd suggest booting your computer in "safe mode" before running the malware scan.

Press F8 as your computer boots up (works for most Windows versions), and you will then get an option to boot in safe mode.

You might find this picks up other issues you didn't see before.

[The_Mike]

IE's a lot better than it used to be but it carries its bad reputation and the fact it was the market leader by a massive margin for a very long time means that a lot of exploits for it were uncovered over time. It's decent enough now, but Chrome and Firefox (or Palemoon wooo!) still offer better features.

And yeah I'd definitely do a safe mode scan to make sure everything's cleaned out and nothing's hiding. Good call turdy.

[Judas Iscariot]

What features does Palemoon have?

I'm a Firefox man myself for years now.

[The Rogerer]

I think IE suggests websites as you're typing into the address bar, are you sure it's not just doing that? Doesn't sound like it though, maybe you've got a weird rootkit virus or something.

[The_Mike]

What features does Palemoon have?

I'm a Firefox man myself for years now.

It's very similar to Firefox without the new Australis interface and with some extra security and speed tweaks under the hood. www.palemoon.org