What's this Nav Excel thing in Internet Explorer on WinXP????

[M Skabialka]

I used to be able to type words in the address bar in Internet Explorer and
it would use those as search itesm, usually bringing up the MSN search
engine.

Now it always opens a page titled Nav Excel, which never finds my web page
and seems like a bunch of advertising for sites it wants you to go to.

How can I make it go back to searching through MSN, or even better, Google
when I type words in the address bar?

Thanks,
Mich

 

[purplehaz]

Sounds like spyware or a home page hijacker or search engine hijacker.

Run these tools:
spybot -- http://www.safer-networking.org/
ad-aware -- http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
HiJackThis - http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/

 

[M Skabialka]

I use Ad-Aware - it didn't pick it up as a problem...

 

[M Skabialka]

I found a website for it - apparently it has hijacked my Internet Explorer -
now, how do I get rid of it????

 

[purplehaz]

Try all three of the tools I posted. Just one is not enough. One finds stuff
that the others don't. These tools should be run weekly as well.

 

[Malke]

I found a website for it - apparently it has hijacked my Internet
Explorer - now, how do I get rid of it????

It is useful to run both Spybot and Ad-aware. I find that each one will
catch things the other misses. Also, be sure to update the programs
before running them, and it is good to run them in Safe Mode. Here is a
great site for all sorts of info about spyware: www.spywareinfo.com.
Check out their forums for help with your specific problem if a fresh
scan w/Add-aware and Spybot doesn't help.

Malke

 

[M Skabialka]

Thanks to all for assistance. I guess I'm adding more Spyware software when
I get home!
Mich