Bogus spyware 'threat' detection

[John Courtney]

When I change the home page in MSIE (from MSN to another
page) on Server 2003, SP1, MS AntiSpyware identifies the
change as a rather serious-sounding threat: 'Possible
Browser Hijack'.

Can we convince MS AntiSpyware that we do not WANT to see
MSN when we open our browsers thus avoiding this spurious
error and without otherwise disturbing the functionality
of this software?

 

[Bill Sanderson]

You can convince it of this yourself. In fact, a wizard should have given
you an opportunity to do so somewhere early in your use of the product.

Tools, advanced tools, browser hijack restore settings.

Put your desired home page settings in here, and perhaps search page
settings as well.

The defaults, as listed, will be the defaults for your OS as shipped. They
may reflect MSN, for Retail installs, or perhaps a Dell page, for example,
for an OEM machine. They have to pick a default, and using the default for
the OS as shipped seems reasonable, doesn't it?

I find the way this feature works very confusing and problematic
myself--don't read me as defending it please--in fact, it has resulted in a
lawsuit in Europe, which Microsoft settled.