Hi Mike,
Thanks for your post.
My understanding on this issue is that there is a Yahoo browser hijacker
on
your computer and it is through Adobe Reader. Now if you mistype a URL,
instead of the Microsoft error msg suggesting an alternative URL, you get
Yahoo's search engine. If I have misunderstood your concern, please feel
free to let me know.
Based on my experience, you can perform the following steps to remove the
traces of Yahoo search:
Step 1: delete related entries from registry
Note: Before changing the registry, you need to backup the registry first.
1. Start-> Run-> enter "regedit"
2. Go to Edit-> Find-> enter " yahoo"
3. Delete the related entries
Step 2: let's delete all the cookies, temporary files, downloaded objects
and plug-ins to see if it helps.
Deleting Cookies
============
1. Click Start, click Search and click For Files or Folders
2. Type "Cookies" (without the quotation marks) and click Search Now
3. Delete files in the cookie directory
Deleting Temporary Files
==================
1. Open Internet Explorer
2. Click Tools, click Internet Options and click Delete Files button in
the
General tab
Deleting Downloaded Objects
=====================
1. Open Internet Explorer
2. Click Tools, click Internet Options and click settings button in the
General tab.
3. Press View Objects.
4. Remove all the Objects there.
Removing Plug-Ins in Internet Explorer
==============================
1. Close all Internet Explorer windows.
2. Open a Windows Explorer window by right Click My Computer and choose
Explore.
3. Locate the following folder:
C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\PLUGINS
4. Remove all the files in this folder.
If the problem is still exists, please follow these steps to troubleshoot
the issue:
Step 3: Refer to the following article to perform a Clean Boot
======================
310353 - How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310353
The main steps are as following:
Please follow this suggestion to narrow down this problem:
1. Click Start, click Run, and then in the Open box, type "MSCONFIG"
(without the quotation marks). Click OK.
2. In the System Configuration Utility (MSConfig) window, click to select
the Selective Startup button.
3. Click to clear the check mark from the "Load startup items" below
Selective Startup.
4. Click the Services tab, click to check the "Hide All Microsoft
Services"
box, and remove all the check marks from the remained Non-Microsoft
Services. *note that please make sure that you do not uncheck the
Microsoft
services.
5. Click OK to close the MSConfig window. Click Yes when you are asked to
restart your computer in order to enable the changes.
6. After restarting, please check whether this issue will reoccur.
If this issue does NOT reoccur following the Selective Startup, please
continue these steps to find the exact cause:
1. Click Start, click Run, in the Open box type "MSCONFIG" (without the
quotation marks), and click OK.
2. In the System Configuration Utility (MSConfig) window, click the
Startup
tab or the Services tab.
3. Add one check mark at a time to the entries under the Startup tab or
the
Services tab, and then restart each time to see if the additional entry
reproduces the original problem.
Step 4: Remove all suspicious items from the registry
===============================
WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that
may require you to reinstall Windows. Microsoft cannot guarantee that
problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be
solved.
Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
1. Find and delete the following registry key.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browse
r Helper Objects
2. Find and delete the all the sub keys in the following registry key
(don't delete the following registry key).
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Plugins\Extension
Step 5: Clean Adware/Spyware
================================
Please download and launch at least two tools below to remove
Adware/Spyware again to make sure that there won't be any Spyware/Adware
on
the system. (Please launch these tools under Safe Mode)
Ad-Aware:
http://www.lavasoft.de/software/adaware/
Spybot:
http://www.spykiller.com/index4.asp?ref=2400
HijackThis direct Download:
http://download.softpedia.com:8080/ANTIVIRUS/hijackthis.zip
CWShredder direct Download:
http://209.133.47.200/~merijn/files/CWShredder.exe
Note: The third-party product discussed is manufactured by a vendor
independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise,
regarding this product's performance or reliability.
Step 6: Uninstall Acrobat Reader
===========================
You mentioned:
After installing Adobe Reader 7, I noticed it also installed the Yahoo
toolbar.
Yahoo is hijacking browsers through Adobe Reader (Acrobat).
Therefore, if the issue persists after performing the above steps, I
suggest that you uninstall Acrobat Reader and check the issue again.
I understand the steps above may be a little bit complicated and
time-consuming. Please taking your time in trying my suggestions and let
me
know the result at you earliest convenience. If anything is unclear,
please
feel free to let me know. I will be glad to help.
Thanks & Regards
Amanda Wang[MSFT]
Microsoft Online Partner Support
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