"about:blank" http site / virus

[Lance]

Looking for help from anyone... I've somehow contracted
an ugly virus / spyware that will not go away. I've
tried NAV scans, some random spyware software that was
useless, and now MS anti-spyware beta.

Although the MS anti-spyware does detect all kinds of
problems both virus and spyware... it does not seem to
remove it. Despite all its efforts and 'apparent'
removal of the problems... they continue to reoccur. One
of the primary symptoms is the reappearance of the IE
page about:blank... showing only a simple search page
with all kinds of links below to bizzare topics. It pops
up everytime I open IE, regardless of my home page
assignment, and it appears it will change it back
everytime I try to manually delete the about:blank as my
home page.

I can no longer update my NAV virus definitions now, and
MS spyware does not seem to be removing the problem...
just continues to pop-up with detected issues, but never
fully resolving it.

Any advice? similar problems? Thanks you in advance!

-Lance H.

 

[Mikolaj]

Looking for help from anyone...


First of all you can send the Suspected Spyware Report through the Tools
menu in MS AntiSpyware.

Next start the computer in the Safe mode (F8 during boot-up), run Windows
Explorer, go to your profile temporary folders (usually C:\Documents and
Settings\username\local settings\temp and c:\Documents and
Settings\username\local settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5) and
delete all the files in those directories and subdirectories. Then do a full
system scan with MS AntiSpyware (check the proper option under Scan
settings). Scan the computer with the antivirus software that you use. And
also with some other "cleaning" software such as:

Spybot Search&Destroy http://www.majorgeeks.com/download2471.html
HijackThis http://www.majorgeeks.com/download3155.html
CWShredder http://www.majorgeeks.com/download3019.html
Ad-Aware SE Personal http://www.lavasoft.com/software/adaware/
McAfee Stinger http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/

If you run HijackThis you can check the log it prepares - just copy and
paste it to the http://www.hijackthis.de web page and click analyze button.

And protect your system with antispyware, antivirus and firewall software.
Keep this software up to date.
Also KEEP THE SYSTEM UP TO DATE (http://www.windowsupdate.com)


And please respond if this helped or not in your case.

 

[PrivacyZealot]

Looking for help from anyone... I've somehow contracted
an ugly virus / spyware that will not go away. I've
tried NAV scans, some random spyware software that was
useless, and now MS anti-spyware beta.

Lance,
In addition to the good advice from Mikolaj, I would advise
you to download and install both Spyware Blaster and IESpyad.
These aren't scanners. They offer passive protection from
dangerous ActiveX installations, and other threats. Both are
free, but offer very valuable defenses. Neither one runs in the
background, or use CPU resources. They are must haves.
PZ
..

 

[matt]

Hey, i just got done with that nasty little virus. I spent
5 months hitting it with everything, and i mean everything
out there. The only solution i could find was to reformat
the computer. There might be one thing you can do...and
that's to run a scan with HijackThis. But i basically
couldn't remove it despite all the programs and tutorials i
had recieved or used for 5 months. Just remember to have
your driver on a disk so you can update your computer.

 

[Guest]

update everything, disable system restore, restart in safe
mode,run the scan, remove anything thats bad, run another
scan just to be sure, if you want run a
virus/trojan/whatever scan too, restore the settings (MSAS
can do that), then restart in normal mode, make sure
everythings working, and then re-enable system restore.

 

[brett]

i got this virus/trojan horse yesterday. my computer was
opening the browser on startup to the about:blank page
which then tried to give me a virus. i did what you
suggested and it seems that the virus is gone. however,
the browser still opens on start-up, but just to my
normal home page. all the malware seems to be gone. how
do i stop the browser from opening on start-up? it's not
in my start-up programs list, btw.

 

[Guest]

Lance have this same ABOUT BLANK situation as well. If
you find out anything, PLEASE pass the word back to me.
Thanks.