http://www.fjsmjs.com/IE/homepage.htm
Some ISP's provide a customized version of IE. Some Web pages will also
reset your home page and do this. One of the customizations they might make
is to disable the ability to change the home page, so that you are forced to
use their home page. You can re-enable this by making a small change in the
Windows registry.
In Regedit, navigate to this key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Control
Panel
In the right-hand pane, right-click the "HomePage" value, then select
Modify.
Change it to: 00 00 00 00
Also change either or these to zero 0 instead of 1 if present:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
- DWORD "NoSetHomePage"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet
Explorer\Restrictions] - DWORD "NoSetHomePage"=dword:00000001
If you don't have this key, browse to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
and in the right hand pane, double click "Local Page" and set equal to
"C:\WINDOWS\System\blank.htm" (no quotes) which will hopefully set your Home
Page to blank and then allow you to subsequently modify it using Internet
Options.
Exit regedit and reboot.
Startpage Guard
http://www.pjwalczak.com/spguard/
You may also have some spyware/scumware on your computer. Try these tools to
clean it up.
Programs:
http://www.lavasoftusa.com (Free)
Ad-aware is a free multi spyware removal utility that scans your
memory,registry and hard drives for known spyware and scumware components
and lets you remove them safely. It is updated frequently.
Download and install it, MAKE SURE YOU UPDATE IT, and then run it following
these directions:
Ad-Aware 6 comes pre-configured with default options that are already ON
(green checkmark) ... do not change them. The following are changes that you
will need to make to prepare the "Full" custom scan that is recommended for
the first look into your computer (instead of a red "x", you will make them
a green "checkmark"):
Launch the program, and click on the Gear icon at the top of the start
screen to access the preferences/setting window.
Click the "Scanning" button.
Under Drives & Folders, select "Scan within Archives".
Click "Click here to select Drives + folders" and select your installed hard
drives.
Under Memory & Registry, select all options.
Under "Cleaning Engine", select the following:
"Let Windows remove files in use after reboot."
Click on 'Proceed' to save these Preferences.
Now update to the latest reference file. They update these constantly.
When you are finished, you will be using the Custom Scan with Memory and
Both registry scans ON. Please make sure that you activate IN-DEPTH scanning
before you proceed.
After you have set up these options, be sure to choose "Custom Scan" not
"Smart Scan" and choose next.
Let it remove all finds. It will put these in quarantine to back up later if
necessary.
REBOOT
http://www.lurkhere.com/~nicefiles/ (Free)
SPYBOT SEARCH AND DESTROY : Searches your system for so-called spyware,
adware and similar threats to your privacy and security. If such threats are
found, it can give you some information about the interloper and remove it
from your system; creating a backup beforehand. Download and install it,
MAKE SURE YOU UPDATE IT before running it.
http://www.scosoft.com/remove-toolbar-buddy.htm
Remove Toolbar Buddy is a essential utility to delete unwanted toolbars and
other Internet Explorer add-ons such as buttons, menus and browser helper
objects.
Remove Toolbar Buddy backups configuration data so you can roll back all
changes at any time.
http://www.wilderssecurity.net/spywareblaster.html (Free)
SPYWAREBLASTER doesn't scan and clean for spyware - it prevents it from ever
being installed. How? By setting a "kill bit" for the spyware ActiveX
controls, it prevents the installation of any of them from a webpage. You
can run Internet Explorer with Active-X enabled, but you will never even get
a "Yes/No" box popped up, asking you to install a spyware Active-X control
(Internet Explorer will never download or run it!). All other Active-X
controls or plug-ins will work fine. The SpywareBlaster database contains
information on these known spyware Active-X controls. Make sure you run the
Check For Updates feature frequently to get the latest database! (And make
sure you check the new items to protect your system against them!)
A wealth of information on many of the spyware items that SpywareBlaster
protects against can be accessed here:
http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/This
site can also check any scum/spyware you might have acquired, in most cases
unknowingly, in trips around the internet.
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html (Free)
SpywareGuard: Provides a real-time protection solution against spyware that
is a great addition to SpywareBlaster's protection method.
An anti-virus program scans files before you open them and prevents
execution if a virus is detected - SpywareGuard does the same thing, but for
spyware! And you can easily have an anti-virus program running alongside
SpywareGuard.
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/bhblaster.html (Free)
BROWSER HIJACK BLASTER protects your system from browser hijackers and
spyware that alters your Internet Explorer settings. Running silently in the
background, Browser Hijack Blaster only springs into action when an attempt
is made. It watches and protects the following items: IE Homepage, IE
Default Page, IE Search Page, BHOs. Whenever one of the above items is
changed, or a BHO is added, you are immediately provided with information on
the item, along with the option to keep the change, or revert to your
previous settings.