There are viruses that are almost harmless and invisible, which for the time being (or rather, until a complete serious check) can not even be detected. But there are really dangerous ones. The latter can seriously affect both the operation of the computer as a whole and the performance of its individual functions. Such malicious programs include those that block access to the Internet or to certain utilities.
It happens that an insidious virus blocks antivirus sites so that the user is unable to seek help and eliminate the threat. Also, because of it, the automatic update program stops working at the same time. In many cases, even updating the antivirus program manually does not work. At the same time, it is possible to enter other sites without difficulty, as before.
What to do if the virus blocks sites? The solution to the problem will be to "cure" the computer from this malicious program. Due to the specific action of the virus, this task is greatly complicated. The database of the installed antivirus program may simply not contain information about this pest, and it is unlikely that it will be possible to update it in the usual way. How it will not work and download another antivirus program from the Internet.
Virus blocks antivirus sites: what is the danger?
The problem is that at the moment when the user catches himself and detects problems, the virus already manages to make negative changes in the system. It even happens that the malware has already been eliminated, and its action has not stopped. After all, the changes made by her in the system have not been canceled. Therefore, all restrictions on sites continue to apply until the owner of the computer returns the settings to their original state.
How does a virus block search engine sites?
The most common reason a virus blocks sites is because of changes to the hosts file. It is responsible for mapping host names to IP addresses. Each time you enter a search query, the computer refers to this particular file. And already on the basis of the information indicated in it, it connects or does not connect to the specified site. Thus, the hosts file is a kind of Achilles heel. Any changes in such a file are fraught with malfunctions and disconnection. That is why an insidious virus that blocks sites is aimed at it.
The main goal of such an intervention, of course, is the difficulty of ridding the computer of malware. This is a very common behavior. A record that allows a virus to block sites may look different. For example, as 388.113.44.1 yandex.ru for Yandex - search engines. This is enough to prevent the computer from connecting to the site: it will mistakenly go to the specified wrong address.
Manual problem solving
In order to correct the consequences of malicious interference, as well as to prevent it, you can use several tricks. First, find the hosts file. It is located in the Windows system folder, the full path to which usually looks like C: \ WINDOWS \ system32 \ drivers \ etc. The last folder contains the file to be found, whose properties should be slightly changed. By right-clicking on it, you need to open the corresponding item and cancel the "Read Only" attribute in it. In some cases there is no checkmark, then you can proceed to the next step.
After the changes are made, the file must be opened in notepad or a similar program. The simplest and most universal option is to delete all entries, except for one single one: 127.0.0.1 localhost. You can also view the contents of the file more closely and delete only entries about the addresses of those sites that turned out to be blocked. It is important not to forget to save the changes made and return the Read-Only attribute to the file, otherwise the efforts will be in vain.
Unfortunately, this option does not always work. If the above actions did not have any effect, it is recommended to try the AVZ program. This utility is designed specifically to search for and eliminate such viruses and the consequences of their stay on the computer. By launching it, you need to select the "File", and in it - "System Restore". The points to be noted are 21, 20, 15, 14 and 13, as well as 9, 8 and 6. After a few minutes, the utility will cope with its task.
Upon completion, AVC is strongly discouraged from immediately connecting to the Internet. First you need to do another operation. At the command prompt (“Run”), enter cmd. This will invoke the console in which you need to write the ipconfig / flushdns command. Pressing the enter button starts the process of clearing the cache. But that is not all. The final step is to execute the route –f command. After that, you can safely restart your computer and access the Internet.