Win32 Virus Removal

Q. For the past couple of months, I’ve been able to get sound with everything online except for YouTube videos. I’ve checked my PC’s sound and there’s no problem. What happened?

Google says your YouTube sound may be affected by volume controls on other video programs you use such as QuickTime, RealPlayer or Windows Media Player, so check those settings.

If those adjustments don’t work, download a newer version of the Adobe Flash Player software. (See http://www.tinyurl.com/2789kh for tips on how to configure Adobe Flash Player.)

Q. I had a photo-enhancing program called “Picture It” on my old Windows 98 PC, but I’m told it’s not available on my newer Windows Vista PC. I liked a feature that allowed you to “cut out” figures from photos and save them to insert into other images. Do you know of any other Vista-compatible programs that offer that?

Microsoft no longer offers Picture It software, but I found two photo editing programs that include the cut-out feature and are compatible with Windows Vista. Try Picture Cutout Guide 2.1 (free to try, $45 to buy), at http://www.tinyurl.com/4tgrhvk, or kjClipper Photo Editor 1.25 (free to try, $29.95 to buy), at http://www.tinyurl.com/4s3jkbr.

Q. Is there a way I can have MSN.com as my homepage and not have Bing, which takes too long to load?

You can avoid using Bing, but you can’t avoid having the Bing search box appear on the MSN home page. I suggest switching from Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser to the Firefox browser (download it at http://www.tinyurl.com/w22sw), which includes the Google search engine box in the upper right corner.

Q. My four computers all get redirected when we use them for Google searches. The search takes me to a Google page with lots of items, but when I click on one I’m redirected to an alternate website. When I close the redirected website and click my original item, I’m then taken to the correct site. I know this is caused by malicious software, but my Norton security software and the Malwarebytes program you recommend can’t find anything.

Your PCs have been infected with what’s commonly called the Google redirect virus. Symantec, which sells Norton security software, says it’s a Trojan horse, a malicious program that masquerades as a useful one. The Trojan, which Symantec calls “Backdoor.Tidserv,” displays unwanted ads, redirects your browser from legitimate search results to potentially malicious Web pages and makes the PC vulnerable to other harmful downloads. Find Symantec’s explanation and a free removal tool at tinyurl.com/ksmcdu. Click the arrow next to “download removal tool.”