Computer help needed... hijacked pages..

[Duende]

I know this doesn\'t have anything to do with minis, but I really like this forum and I know some people have a lot of knowledge about computers as well. And I\'m also at my wit\'s end about this problem and am ready to start pulling my hair out.

I don\'t know much about how computers do their thing but I understand that what\'s happening is called \"hijacking\". It started with my Yahoo pages and has recently spread to eBay pages and other various sites, and what happens is that whenever I go to these pages, it immediately jumps to a page with the address simply \"about:blank\" no http://, no www.... just about:blank in the address line.

I\'ve downloaded the free version of Spybot S&D and even gone out and paid money for webroot\'s Spy Sweeper, neither of which has worked. I tried going to some other help forums, but they had a lot of links, many were titled, \"do not use this one unless you\'re familiar with advanced workings of your system... etc.\"
So, I\'m afraid of those in case I really screw something up. I\'ve e-mailed webroot.com about it, but who knows when they\'ll get back to me.

So now I\'m at a total loss on what to do. I can\'t check my Yahoo mail, I can\'t go to eBay (and I was high bidder on something, but now I can\'t see what\'s going on with it), and none of these spyware programs seems to work. I ran Norton Anit-virus as well, but it didn\'t find anything either.

Help! Please!!!

*EDIT* If it helps anyone with advice for me- I use Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows XP on an HP computer.

 

[Jas]

Hmmmmm....

I hope you have a \'firewall\' running. If not then I suggest you install one, Zonelabs may do a free one I think. If you do have a firewall and you still have this problem then you may need to use more than one spyware detector as not all of them find the same bits of spyware. Have you cleaned your internet Cache and deleted any cookies that maybe lingering? As I\'m not sure of your knowledge already its hard to know what to recommend...

Jas

 

[Shaetano]

Hmm, i can\'t help you right away as my knowledge about spyware limits itself to the use of Ad-Aware, but i came some time ago across a post of someone who appearantly had the same problem as you.

Here\'s the link:

http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?s=2d615a75c81c08c6eeddeabcecae1687&showtopic=19149


I hope it helps.

 

[finn17]

That is a really interesting link..

Welcome to the forums Shaetano, I must have missed your first post

Duende, you must let us know if this fixes your problem. Sounds really nasty...

 

[airhead]

That about.blank is incideous (evil). Tries to get me to install Office XP disk so it can attach itself there.

I was about to reformat & start over. Thanks.

 

[supervike]

couple of things to try....

I think XP has its own \'firewall\', but I don\'t know off the top of me little head how to turn it on.

Make sure you have all the updated versions of spybot and the antivirus program, it may just be a newer scourge that is not yet defined.

If that is still failing, check with one of your local PC repair shops. Most of them are cheaper than people think, and they should be able to solve the problem....

 

[Mosch]

The windows firewall is the technical equivalent of a five year old standing beside your open front door, holding a shield that says \"Please don\'t go in\". And it\'s a small shield too.

Try AdAware, and take my advise: Do not Use IE. Firefox is a great browser, I use it exclusively and never had any problems with it. Furthermore, it\'s free.

 

[Mollo]

I would suggest running BHODemon as well. It tells you what Browser Help Objects are running, and which ones are harmless/benign (like Google, Yahoo, and MSN searchbars, Adobe, etc). It also acts like a monitor, and alerts you when your BHO list has changed.

if you have what i think you have, you were hit with some 3rd party Search Bar script program BHO

i don\'t have the exact link handy, but try
www.download.com

please let me know if this helps, there\'s more \'advanced\' stuff we can try...

 

[Errex]

Try this, Open your Explorer window, go to the tools menu, then Internet options. On the General Tab, set your starting page to Default, and then delete all the cookies stored on your PC.

then go to the Security Tab (should probably be set at anything other than Medium ), and set it again to Medium or high. Then go to the Privacy Tab and move the slider up to Medium or High too.

This should take care of most problems, but if not, then you definitely need to run something like AdAware or Spybots S&D to make sure there is no spyware on your machine.

 

[Duende]

THANK YOU MOSCH!!!!!!

Originally posted by Mosch
Try AdAware, and take my advise: Do not Use IE. Firefox is a great browser, I use it exclusively and never had any problems with it. Furthermore, it\'s free.

I took your advise and downloaded the Firefox browser like you recommended , since it seemed the easiest thing to do for someone as technically-challenged as me. I\'m glad it was able to import my Favorites and things from IE as well (I was worried about losing my bookmarks, I have A LOT)

I figured it had to be something attached to IE since whever I went anywhere in the net, I\'d get a warning pop-up from my Spy Sweeper program that something was trying to change my settings, like changing my homepage to about:blank, grrrrrrr..

Finally, I\'m viewing pages I haven\'t seen in days!! Hey, and I\'m still high bidder on that auction I\'m watching! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

:bouncy::flip::bouncy::flip::bouncy::flip:

 

[Trevor]

I\'ve been trying to get rid of one of these for weeks. I\'ve had a number of things suggested and nothings worked yet, so it looks like firfox will be my new brouwser (at least as soon as I can get a spare moment at work to set it up.

(no comments about how if i\'m so busy how come I\'m here posting, its a well known fact that posting at CMON is an essential necessity, similar to breathing, in that if I stopped I would die...)

 

[Mosch]

I\'m glad I was of help.

Still, you should see to it that you get your system cleaned up. A clean system usually equals a stable system, and the more junk you accumulate, the more junk you will have in the background.... do an intensive search for spyware with an up-to-date definition file, check for virii and clean your registry (only do this if you know what you are doing though). Also a drastical, but unfortunately often necessary method would be a complete format and reinstallation of windows.

And for all newborn Firefox users, I advise you to have a look through the Plug-Ins. I have integrated mouse gestures so deeply into my browsing that I would be lost without them It is just so convenient to do anything by simplay moving the mouse. There are more great things, look for yourself

 

[Shaetano]

Originally posted by finn17
Welcome to the forums Shaetano, I must have missed your first post

Thank you very much


On topic:
I\'m trying out Firefox as well now and considering to change.

But still, as Mosh said, though Firefox does take measures to prevent installation of spyware, malware and other malevolent software, you should best run some spyware removal programs since the spyware is already present and installed on your system.

Some programs i know that can help:

Pestscan by PestControl
Ad Aware
Spybot
SpywareBlaster => This prevents new spyware from being installed too.
CWShredder => Removal of CoolWebSearch, one of the most annoying spyware-programs.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Shaetano: Welcome to the forums and what a way to start off.,
Thanks for the links there are several of my IT colleagues who are very happy to investigate the programs you\'ve linked us to.

Can see us having some fun here. (IT guys are sad! )

 

[Duende]

Originally posted by Shaetano

But still, as Mosh said, though Firefox does take measures to prevent installation of spyware, malware and other malevolent software, you should best run some spyware removal programs since the spyware is already present and installed on your system.

Some programs i know that can help:

Pestscan by PestControl
Ad Aware
Spybot
SpywareBlaster => This prevents new spyware from being installed too.
CWShredder => Removal of CoolWebSearch, one of the most annoying spyware-programs.

Thanks, Shaetano, I downloaded the CWShredder and it worked wonderfully! Even though I was using the Firefox browser, I was still getting alert pop-ups from my Spy Sweeper that my homepage was trying to be changed and my pages were stilll being hijacked when I used IE. But that CWShredder fixed it.

Thank goodness because I wanted to uninstall IE from my computer but it seems near impossible to do when using Windows XP, grrrr. But now I\'m a happy camper again!

Now, only one problem left to fix... since installing Firefox, my keyboard\'s \"hot buttons\" don\'t work. Hmmm, any ideas anyone?

 

[No Such Agency]

Does your keyboard have its own settings somewhere? From Control Panel or maybe a system tray icon?

Firefox is teh be5t. Here\'s another fun toy:

Ad-blocking hosts file. I swear I see almost no banner ads anywhere.

 

[Duende]

Tech stuff

Yeah, I know how to set the buttons in the Control Panel but the ones I set to web page don\'t work. I\'ve already e-mailed HP tech support about it, and the first \"fix\" they sent me didn\'t work- it included a download which took 12 minutes to download- on a cable modem! Thank god I\'m not still on dial-up, it\'s be taking forever, and for a download that didn\'t fix the problem in the end..

Not using the buttons really doesn\'t bother me that much, but it\'s the only thing my Mom knows to use to get to eBay when she visits (she\'s very technilogically backward, she still has trouble using her VCR)

Another new problem, After downloading all this new stuff, making changes to my browser, setting up spyware, trying to get rid of the CoolWWWSearch crap-- somewhere amidst all of this, the system calculator and games (solitare, minesweeper, pinball, freecell- you know, they usually come on every computer) have all disappeared. I even ran a search but they weren\'t found. How do I go about re-downloeding them?

Thanks!

 

[Shaetano]

If you click Start - Run and then type \"calc\" (without the \"), you still can run the calculator?
If you do then all is still on your system, it\'s only the shortcuts that have disappeared.
If you don\'t, then you\'d best run \'software\' in the configuration screen and reinstall them (don\'t know though if that still works in XP, it\'s been a while )

 

[Duende]

Nope

Using the \"Run\" command didn\'t find it. How do I find and use this \"configuration screen\" you spoke of?

The games aren\'t as important since I got a cable modem. I used to play Solitare a lot while waiting for page loads when I still had dail-up

I miss the calculator, though. I liked having it handy when balancing my checkbook while online.

 

[Mosch]

Start - Settings - Control Panel - Software - Add/Remove Windows Components

Please do keep in mind that I am using a German localisation, it is probably translated as smething else, but I hope it gives you an idea