RiverMan said:
I tried searching in the registry for "about blank", it found none. I
then looked for just "blank" and it did find something but it had a
"microsoft subdirectory and was in "program files" which makes me
nervous about deleting it.
I have run spybot, adaware, AVG Virus, Panda Virus, none of found it!
It is still forcing me back to "about blank" as homepage in IE.
This virus is news to me. A couple of thoughts. I have the software, not
freeware, version of AdAware, which includes AdWatch. AdWatch is an active,
real-time program that watches for changes in the registry and system files
and blocks them, until you approve a popup. Among other things, it watches
for changes in your IE home page and search engine settings. It'll block
the change (it's blocked changes to the home page on my system), though it
may be a bit annoying in the process. It can also generate a report that
may tell you what the source of the change is, if it can identify it. Both
the software and freeware versions of AdAware also take some nice
no-extra-charge plug-ins for stubborn viruses and BHOs. I had one that was
hijacking my search engine, and I could not eliminate it through AVG (though
AVG identified it and tried to eliminate it), the standard AdAware, itself,
or manual work in the registry and file system. The AdAware plug-in
(plvx2cleaner.exe) got it out. You may want to take a look at what's
available as plug-ins on the AdAware website.
The second thought is a registry watcher. I used to use one that was
freeware from SysInternals. Other people may have more specific
recommendations. Your home page is stored at
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Start Page
in the registry, and it probably has a value of "about:blank" after
resetting. A registry watcher can watch for changes in the value setting
and report the source of the change. This is what AdWatch does, but you may
be able to find a freeware registry watcher.
Good luck.
Joe Earnest
