about:blank home page

[Al]

At some point ie6 has picked up a default
homepage "about:blank" I am unable to permanently remove
this through properties as it comes back when I next log
on. This page brings up a large pop up ad for spyware
detection software, this ad now occaisionally appears when
I use my webmail address book.

Has anyone had this and were you able to get rid of it?

 

[PA Bear]

Check your system for "hijackware":

Dealing with Hijackware
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://www.mvps.org/inetexplorer/Darnit.htm#tshoot
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm

CoolWebSearch Chronicles & CWShredder
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/cwschronicles.html

Run in this order:

1. CWShredder (fix all)

2. Ad-Aware (fix all)

3. Spybot (generally, fix all in red)

Important: You *must* seek updates for Ad-Aware, Spybot, etc., before each
and every use, even "right out of the box". But even they can't catch
everything, 24/7. When all else fails, HijackThis
(http://www.merijn.org/files/hijackthis.zip) is the preferred tool to use.
It will help you to both identify and remove any hijackware/spyware. **Post
your files to http://forums.spywareinfo.com/ or
http://forum.aumha.org/viewforum.php?f=30 for expert analysis, not here.**

[Alternate download pages for many of the above tools may be found at
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm.]

Also update your virus definitions and then run a full system scan. From
now on, do both daily.

So How Did I Get Infected Anyway?
http://boards.cexx.org/viewtopic.php?t=957
--
HTH - Please Reply to This Thread

~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE), AH-VSOP

AumHa Forums
http://forum.aumha.org

Protect Your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect

 

[Guest]

ABOUT BLANK

Courtesy of Mike Maltby, MS MVP

You've been hijacked, quite possibly by a variant of the CoolWebSearch
parasite.
Possibly the CWS.Aboutblank variant
(http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/cwschronicles.html#aboutblank)

Download and run CWShredder
(http://www.zerosrealm.com/downloads/CWShredder.zip or
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/cwshredder.zip) which is the best
way of getting rid of the many forms of the CoolWebSearch hijacker details
of which can be found at
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/cwschronicles.html
and also http://www.pestpatrol.com/pestinfo/c/cws.asp..

This would be a good time to download yourself a copy of the free Ad-Aware
6.0 from Lavasoft (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/) and also
SpyBot Search & Destroy (http://www.safer-networking.org/) and use them to
check
your system for other commercial parasites remembering that they are only as
good as when you last updated their reference files. I also use a program
called BHODemon (http://www.definitivesolutions.com/bhodemon.htm that checks
for
unwanted Browser Help Objects and SpywareBlaster
(http://www.wilderssecurity.net/spywareblaster.html) which can help prevent
some parasites getting a grip on your PC.
________________________________________________________________
Be sure to Download and run Spybot and Ad-aware. Even if CWS kills your
spyware, it is possible that you may have other spyware/malware. Best to
clean everything.

SPYWARE INFO-HELFUL LINKS
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/slowcom.htm
http://www.pestpatrol.com/
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://www.aumha.org/