W
William B. McShane
About 2 weeks ago I got the Windows XP Service pack 2 via
automatic download. That same day, or maybe the next, my
IE home page was hijacked by a redirector URL
----- http://vbs.searchwww.com-----
I was able to get my home page back, but I kept getting
hits from this redirector, even after I'd blocked all the
combinations of the URL on the Norton firewall AND every
where else I could find to block it.
I called Microsoft three different times, and did
everything three different tech agents told me to do,
including downloading and running AdAware (I already have
Spy Bot) and uninstalling several applications, mostly
those associated with Wild Tangent...no big deal, since I
never used them anyway.
This didn't stop the problem. Microsoft told me to call
HP, and HP told me to call Microsoft.
So, yesterday (Monday 9/6) I uninstalled the service pack
and then ran the anti spyware programs again......AdAware
found something called a "data miner" in one of the
registries (had the name "alexa" on it) and SpyBot found
something related to Wild Tangent.
It's been almost 24 hours since I uninstalled the
service pack,with my IE browser open the entire time, and
I haven't been hit by the redirector since then.
automatic download. That same day, or maybe the next, my
IE home page was hijacked by a redirector URL
----- http://vbs.searchwww.com-----
I was able to get my home page back, but I kept getting
hits from this redirector, even after I'd blocked all the
combinations of the URL on the Norton firewall AND every
where else I could find to block it.
I called Microsoft three different times, and did
everything three different tech agents told me to do,
including downloading and running AdAware (I already have
Spy Bot) and uninstalling several applications, mostly
those associated with Wild Tangent...no big deal, since I
never used them anyway.
This didn't stop the problem. Microsoft told me to call
HP, and HP told me to call Microsoft.
So, yesterday (Monday 9/6) I uninstalled the service pack
and then ran the anti spyware programs again......AdAware
found something called a "data miner" in one of the
registries (had the name "alexa" on it) and SpyBot found
something related to Wild Tangent.
It's been almost 24 hours since I uninstalled the
service pack,with my IE browser open the entire time, and
I haven't been hit by the redirector since then.