MSN hijacking

[Guest]

I downloaded the shredder mentioned in the other posts about getting
hijacked. I will run it shortly. I would like to report that my homepage is
getting hijacked by MSN.COM is this a similar spyware program? I run WinXP
Pro service pack 2 with Adaware (paid version) and Spybot to check for
spyware as well as Norton Utilities. I just downloaded a new definition for
the Spybot program and had to restart my system because of an AV update, when
I went back online MSN had taken over the IE. I am not happy, but would like
to know if this problem is related to the others. I am getting increasingly
frustrated with simple research online because of this problem and the change
that also occured to the way I search. I am ready to back to a library and
search open stacks versus fighting with a computer. I know how to change
settings and even build computers. I am reluctant to change my registry, but
will should I need to.

Thanks. Wonder if MS knows of this hijack?

 

[Jan Il]

Hi Lizred

In what way is the MSN.com taking over your homepage? Are you changing it to
your real homepage and it is changing back each time you open IE? Have you
tried troubleshooting why it won't stay? Just so that we know that it is
being hijacked, and not just a problem with the change not holding. This can
happen without being hijacked. You might check out the following and see if
it will help, if it not truly hijacked.

Home Page Setting Changes Unexpectedly,
or You Cannot Change Your Home Page Setting
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=320159&product=ie

And also work through the information here:

Dealing with Unwanted Spyware and Parasites:
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
What You Should Know About Spyware
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/devioussoftware.mspx

Hope this helps

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

Replies are posted only to the newsgroup for the benefit or other readers.
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[Guest]

Jan Il,
Thank you for your reply. I was able to change the homepage back to my
choice but the change wouldn't stick. Then I did another full system scan
with Norton AV (after my daily check for updates), ran Spybot, Adaware SE and
also ran the additional little program CW Shredder. None of the scans
indicated a problem except DSO exploit showed up as a problem on Spybot and
the explanation blames Microsoft for the hole. Deleting this problem
sometimes causes difficulty booting, but sometimes doesn't cause it. DSO
Exploit did show in Spybot and I did allow the progam to "fix" the problem.

After running CW Shredder and the other scans, I changed the homepage to my
preference applied the change and rebooted and am now back where I wanted to
be.

My curiosity is peaked because the scans all showed no problems except in
Spybot, but now my MSIE ver 6 is behaving itself.

Appreciate your assistance. I am very reluctant to visit many websites and
really watch my system even with updates from other software companies.
Surfing isn't the fun it used to be! I mainly visit academic sites,
government sites and a few cartoonist's personal homepages. I tend to avoid
most sites if they require cookies...even had to change my settings to get to
post on this page.

Is DSO Exploit a spyware program? Could this have caused the change?

This board is invaluable!

Liz

 

[Jan Il]

Hi Lizred

Jan Il,
Thank you for your reply. I was able to change the homepage back to my
choice but the change wouldn't stick. Then I did another full system scan
with Norton AV (after my daily check for updates), ran Spybot, Adaware SE
and
also ran the additional little program CW Shredder. None of the scans
indicated a problem except DSO exploit showed up as a problem on Spybot
and
the explanation blames Microsoft for the hole. Deleting this problem
sometimes causes difficulty booting, but sometimes doesn't cause it. DSO
Exploit did show in Spybot and I did allow the progam to "fix" the
problem.

After running CW Shredder and the other scans, I changed the homepage to
my
preference applied the change and rebooted and am now back where I wanted
to
be.

My curiosity is peaked because the scans all showed no problems except in
Spybot, but now my MSIE ver 6 is behaving itself.

Appreciate your assistance. I am very reluctant to visit many websites
and
really watch my system even with updates from other software companies.
Surfing isn't the fun it used to be! I mainly visit academic sites,
government sites and a few cartoonist's personal homepages. I tend to
avoid
most sites if they require cookies...even had to change my settings to get
to
post on this page.

You're very welcome! Glad to hear you were able to resolve your problem.
Good job!

I agree that 'surfing the net' is not as much fun as it used to be, but, it
can still be livable if your system is fully updated and you pracitce Safe
Hex while on the Internet. Here is some further information on how to
protrect your machine while on the Internet that you might like to review.

In order to protect yourself a bit more form the various perils of the
Internet, you might like to install the IESpyad. You can read more about it
here and decided if it might help:
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ehowes/www/main.htm
and also good information for safer Internet use:
Defending Your Machine

http://defendingyourmachine.blogspot.com/

Is DSO Exploit a spyware program? Could this have caused the change?

I doubt that you actually had the spyware, it is more likely a hijacker,
which your AV, spyware (SpyBot)or adware (AdAware) scan programs can not
detect, as they are not programmed with definitions to detect or remove
hijackers. A program such as HiJackThis is good to seek them out. But, even
then, with some types, they can only be detected while in Safe Mode.

Here is an explanation for the DSO Exploit
http://www.dso-exploit.com/
and here is a fix for the SpyBot S&D DSO Exploit bug,
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4392.html

This board is invaluable!

Liz

If you need further assistance on this issue, or further information, just
post back here

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