AboutLorry Expertise I can answer most questions regarding viruses/Trojans and help to remove them.
Experience This happens to be of interest to me as it boggles my mind that people have nothing better to do than to write a virus. Wish these people, the ones who write viruses would put the knowledge to good use instead. My job as a local tech involves removing viruses and/or spyware.
Question Hi Lorry, I'm having a major problem with losing my MSN homepage to another page taking over. The name of it is AboutBlank. I've tried Ad-Aware, Spybot search and destroy, and Registry Mechanic besides just switching it back in my internet options. So far Ad-Aware worked the best but now I can't keep it off for more than a couple of minutes without it taking over the home page. Is there something I can do or use to permently remove this? Thanks,Mike
Answer Hi Mike,
Try running Ad-aware again. Check for updates before running program. Then follow the directions here to do a full scan:
The following explains how to set Ad-aware's settings to perform a "Full Scan."
In Ad-aware click the Gear to go to the Settings area.
The following items should be on a green check, not on a red X.
Under the Scanning button:
Scan within archives
Under Memory & Registry, Check EVERYTHING
In Check Drives & Folders, make sure all of your hard drives are selected
Under the Advanced button, check ALL under Log detail level (this makes it easier for visitors to the Lavasoft Support Forums to see what options you have selected should you require assistance.)
Under the Tweak button...
Some of these may not be an available option, depending on your version of Ad-aware and your version of Windows. Do not be concerned if you cannot select a certain item.
In Scanning Engine:
Unload recognized processes during scanning
Include info about ignored objects in logfile, if detected in scan
Include basic Ad-aware settings in logfile
Include additional Ad-aware settings in logfile
Include used command line parameters in logfile
In Cleaning Engine:
XP/2000: Allow unloading explorer to unload shell extensions prior to deletion
Let Windows remove files in use at next reboot
UNCHECK: Automatically try to unregister objects prior to deletion
Click Proceed to save these settings. When you would like to perform a "Full Scan," switch the scan mode from SmartScan to Custom.
After running Ad-aware, you must reboot your computer. It may be necessary to run Ad-aware two or three times if you have a lot of spyware, rebooting each time in between.
Please see the following from Lavasoft:
