"http://xn--2e0b0k/" in IE address bar...is this a Virus?

[nowstime]

Hi!

I'm using Windows 7 Ultimate English version but with Korean localization. When I type a Korean word in the IE address bar (google search default), the address bar displays "http://xn--********" (for a few seconds) then loads the Korean google search page I was typing.

Is this a virus or malware? If so how can I get rid of it?

I really don't want to reinstall Windows...

Any input will be appreciated...

(I tried combofix but it doesn't support Windows 7 64bit)

[qviri]

"xn--2e0b0k" is punycode (a way of encoding non-ASCII text into ASCII) for "구글", or Google.

Putting whatever you're searching for in the address field as a "URL" seems to be the default, but confusing, behaviour of IE8. I typed in "testuję" and the browser for a moment claimed to be opening http://xn--testuj-14a/ (the corresponding punycode) before loading the default search engine (Bing for me) with the phrase searched for as expected. Same with typing in "test", except it was http://test/ (no punycode since the search text was ASCII-only). I am fairly confident my system is clean.

[nowstime]

Thank you!!!