immediate trovi.com infestation after clean install

I'm helping a friend with a new Windows 8 notebook, a Samsung NP270E4E. When I first went to help her, I noticed the computer was filled with adware, and her homepage had been hijacked by trovi.com. I made a few attempts to clean the adware, but it had deeply corrupted her internet settings so I ended up just doing a factory image clean install from the recovery partition.

The next thing I did was (1) run something that appeared to be from Samsung called the "SW Updater", (2) download Avast Free, (3) uninstall the included Norton Security, (4) and without rebooting installed Avast and did the initial scan. Then I rebooted. Upon launching IE, the trovi.com hijack was back!

Anyone know how it could be infesting her computer? How do I block it?

There is one other computer on the WiFi network in the house; I wonder if it's infected, although she says they have no trouble with it. I think it's a Windows 7 computer.

Trovi.com it’s technically not a virus, but it does exhibit plenty of malicious traits, such as rootkit capabilities to hook deep into the operating system, browser hijacking, and in general just interfering with the user experience. The industry generally refers to it as a “PUP,” or potentially unwanted program.

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Start with running TDSSKiller to be sure your PC isn't infected with a rootkit.

When running TDSSKiller, launch the program, click on the blue text "Change Parameters" & check the box marked "Detect TDLFS File system." Click OK & then run the scan.

Next, have a look at this page for removal instructions.

Remove Trovi.com redirect (Virus Removal Guide)

If you wish to do a Refresh or a Reset Windows, see these tutorials.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2302-reset-windows-8-a.html?ltr=R

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2293-refresh-windows-8-a.html

If you do not have a Windows disk, see this tutorial:

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/18052-refresh-reset-windows-8-without-installation-disk.html

As suggested, run malware software such as malewarebytes etc. These are designed for pups - better than Avast alone.

Actually, as you've tried to get rid of it, it may be just the simple thing of resetting the home page on the browser!