IT Professionals

Comcast 24/7?

Posted by on Nov 18, 2008 | 5 Comments

Today, Amy asks:

Hey Matt I need help. Every time I put in any web address in to search for something it directs me to comcast.net. I have no idea why it started. It is on my laptop. I tried to do a DNS flush but it does not work. Please help me with this I am unable to get on the internet at all because it take me directly to comcast.net

Definitely strange. And while you might be tempted to think this is an issue with your HOSTS file, even though it really can’t be the issue. I say this as I bet many people might think it is related. But considering the hosts file would not be able to send you to Comcast.net for all urls, as wildcards are not allowed, it clearly must be one of the following.

  1. Switch to OpenDNS immediately to see if this is infact, a DNS issue. It could be, but it is too early to tell at this point.
  2. Dumb as this will sound, do you have access to a separate browser? If so, try it out. If the same issue persists, verify that this is just a problem with the notebook and not network wide.
  3. Does this happen on other networks? For instance, at a coffee shop, is it Comcast.net yet again? If so, you may have some sort of a malware issue going on.

Being I noticed that you emailed me from a Verizon account, it is safe to assume that this is not a problem with your “Comcast” ISP. My guts says this is something relating to your PC and likely malware related. Whether trying the OpenDNS approach or not, it is a great time for a virus/malware scan…just to be safe. And of course, running with OpenDNS never hurts either.

What say you, Lockergnome community? I would like you to share your advice so that Amy might be able to get her notebook back up to snuff.

Do you have an IT-related question? Perhaps you are just burnt out on writing on the walls with crayons? Whatever the comments may be, drop me a line, and you too can “Just Ask Matt!” Please address comments to the comments section above, my email address is for questions – thanks!

  • http://www.goretsky.com/ Aryeh Goretsky

    Hello,

    When a customer’s system has been hijacked by malware, sometimes their ISP will redirect their web traffic to a “walled garden” where few options are available. It sounds like this might be a variation of this activity.

    Regards,

    Aryeh Goretsky

  • tommy

    Anytime something redirect you its a highjacking.But to do this with every browser you use not right.Must be malware.Use malwarebytes to scan.If this dont solve it reformat.

  • Joey

    Matt,

    Questions for Amy: where are you putting the ‘web address’ into?? & what browser & version are you using?? It would make a big difference if you were using a web-based search (aka Google/Yahoo/…) versus a browser’s built-in searching capabilities.

    I agree with the other browser & possible mal-ware; maybe even another account on the same computer. I do remember some browser’s have a ‘default’ search setting that maybe set to comcast.net for the built-in search features. Also, clearing out the temporary files/cookies would probably help more than a DNS flush.

  • Dee101

    Comcast is rolling out a new “Safe[something]” product. I have heard of some strange redirections where this has occurred. As it hasn’t happened yet in this area, I’ve not a chance to play with it — you might see if it has happened in your area and if Comcast has any particular instructions for setup changes you may have missed.

  • Jeff

    I am not sure it is SPAM. A few months ago, Qwest started giving you their own page on 404 errors. There is a small button on the side of the screen to turn it off. That may be the case with this person, though it could indeed be spyware.