Use this registry fix:
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/RepairTabs.reg
1) Restores the missing Tabs in IE (usually spyware related)
2) Unlocks the grayed-out Home Page section
3) Removes the Administrator message in Internet Options
After that, get Ad-Aware 6.0, Build 181 or later, here:
http://lavasoft.element5.com/support/download/
Update and run this regularly to get rid of most "spyware/hijackware" on your machine. If it has to fix things, be sure to re-boot and rerun AdAware again and repeat this cycle until you get a clean scan. The reason is that it may have to remove things which are currently "in use" before it can then clean up others.
Another excellent program for this purpose is SpyBot Search and Destroy available here:
http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=download
I recommend using both normally.
After fixing things with SpyBot S&D, be sure to re-boot and rerun SpyBot again and repeat this cycle until you get a clean "no red" scan. The reason is that SpyBot sometimes has to remove things which are currently "in use" before it can then clean up others.
Once you get this cleaned up, you might want to consider installing the SpywareBlaster and SpywareGuard here to help prevent this kind of thing from happening in the future:
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
Prevents malware Active X installs.
SpyWare Blaster is not memory resident ... no CPU or memory load - but keep it updated.
The latest version as of this writing will prevent installation or prevent the malware from running if it is already installed, and it provides information and fixit-links for a variety of parasites.
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html
Monitors for attempts to install malware.
Both very highly recommended.
Zee
