Homepage becomes about:blank

[Brad]

Everytime I close Internet Explorer, my homepage changes
to about:blank. I got spy sweeper, and it come up
everytime I open or close a web page, or even when I open
some folders and tells me that the web page is trying to
go back to about:blank. I constantly have to tell it to
keep Yahoo as my home page. please help! Thanks.

Brad

 

[mike]

Same problem. I ran Ad Aware and it identified it and
told me where to find it. I went to Start, then Run, then
typed "regedit" which took me into Registry Editor and I
found it at Root Key HKEY_CURRENT_USER, then
Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main and the value
is Start Page Reg S_Z about:blank. I tried deleting it
but every time I open Explorer and reset the Home Page it
goes right back again to about:blank. This problem is
explained in the third article listed on the Microsoft
website under Support\Internet Explorer. The article
explains how to resolve it but it didn't work for me and
I'm not skilled enough (or brave enough) to fool around
with registry editor other than what I did. Having
located it, however, there has to be a way to get rid of
it.

 

[Brad]

I found that too, but since I set my homepage to yahoo,
and blocked it from changing to about:blank with spy
sweeper, it says www.yahoo.ca. meaning that only shows
the homepage, and the likely assumption is that there is
something in the computer that rewrites that key to
about:blank instead of the current homepage. This is
driving me NUTS

 

[Jan Il]

Hi Brad

You have a coolwebsearch infection that uses a hidden dll to reinfect. You
*MUST* follow all instuctions carefully to be sure to clean the system
properly, or the variant will continue to replicate itself and return over
and over again. It is one of the worst, and hardest to clean variants.

"This variant does everything in its powers to redirect you to a domain
owned by 1-se.com. IE is hijacked to it, the hosts file is replaced to
redirect about 100 porn and CWS domains to 1-se.com, and a randomly named
stylesheet is dropped that redirects to 1-se.com when certain keywords
appear in webpages."

<<<<BE SURE TO FOLLOW ALL INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY>>>>

CAUTION!!!!!
Before you try to remove spyware using any of the programs below, download a
copy of LSPFIX from any of the following sites:
http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm
http://www.spychecker.com/program/winsockxpfix.html (if your OS is Win2k or
XP) The process of removing certain malware may kill your internet
connection. If this should occur, this program, LSPFIX, will enable you to
regain your connection.

Also, get a copy of WINSOCKFIX available at:
http://www.spychecker.com/program/winsockxpfix.html

RUN ALL PROGRAMS OFF LINE IN SAFE MODE AND SHOW HIDDEN FILES. THEN REBOOT
AND RUN THEM AGAIN TO BE SURE ALL FILES ARE ACCESSED, DELETING ALL ITEMS
DISPLAYED IN RED IN SPYBOT

HOW TO Restart in Safe Mode
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2001052409420406

HOW TO Enable Hidden Files
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2002092715262339

For the earlier variant of about: blank, running CWShredder,
AdAware, and Spybot in Safe Mode resolves the issue.

CWShredder
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html
or
http://www.aumha.org/downloads/cwshredder.zip)

Removing the AboutBlank Virus
http://www.akadia.com/services/about_blank_virus.html

If that does not work then try the following:

New about:blank cleaners:
http://www.atribune.org/downloads/AboutBuster.zip
or
http://tools.zerosrealm.com/AboutBuster.zip

SpyBot Search & Destroy: Free
http://download.com.com/3000-8022-10289035.html?tag=lst-0-2

AdAware: Free
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/
HOW TO: Reconfigure Ad-aware for a Full Scan
http://forum.aumha.org/viewtopic.php?t=5877

HiJackThis:

Unzip the Download file in a NEW FOLDER that you can create before you start
the download.
DO NOT install in your Desktop folder.
DO NOT use any of the TEMP folders that are presently in your computer.
Double-click "HijackThis.exe" and Press "Scan".

Go to:
http://computercops.biz/downloads-cat-14.html ,
or
http://www.aumha.org/a/parasite.php#hjt
(If you get a 404 error or Access denied, try:
http://216.180.252.218/~spywareinfo.com/downloads/tools/hijackthis.zip)

and download HiJackThis to the new folder. Unzip to a folder other than your
Desktop or the Temp folder, doubleclick HiJackThis.exe, and hit "Scan".

When the scan is finished, the "Scan" button will change into a "Save Log"
button. Press that, save the log some place you remember where it is.
Most of what it lists will be harmless or even required, so DO NOT fix
anything yet.

Open the copy of your log in NotePad and make a copy. Then you can go to one
of the following to post your log:

<<PLEASE DO NOT POST YOUR LOG FILE TO THIS NEWSGROUP>>

Spyware and Hijackware Removal Support, here:
http://216.180.233.162/~swicom/forums/

or Net-Integration here:
http://www.net-integration.net/cgi-...86d536d57b5f65b6e40c55365e;act=ST;f=27;t=6949

or Tom Coyote here:
http://forums.tomcoyote.org/index.php?act=idx

You will need to register to open a new thread to post you log. It is free,
and no one will Spam you, it is one of many that provides this service. Once
registered, go to the HiJackThis section on the forum list and click to
open. Then start a new post and post your log. The experts there will
analyze the log and report back the results. Please allow at least a few
hours or a days time for a response, depending on when you post the log

Remember, you must return to the HJT site to get your answer. It is a good
idea to click the "Notify" box so that you will get an electronic
notification by e-mail to let you know when a response has been posted.
But, you must still return to the site of your answer

HJT Tutorial
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?showtutorial=42


Hope this helps.

Jan

Smiles are meant to be shared,
that's why they're so contagious.

Please reply to the newsgroup so others may benefit.
Replies are posted only to the newsgroup for the benefit or other readers.

How to make a good newsgroup post:
http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm