about:blank fix...anyone?

me ^ | 8/19/04 | self

[jra]

Does anyone have a fix for this homepage hijacker BESIDES telling me to load Mozilla?

[BJungNan]

Don't visit Drudge is the first step you can take. His sight is riddled with unsafe spyware. That's likely where you picked it up.

[Keith in Iowa]

http://www.refdesk.com/anti.html

Download one or two of the utility programs, and run them. You likely have a trojan or some other malware.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Go to what was once your homepage in Internet Explorer by typing the URL in the address bar. Once the page has loaded, locate the icon in the Address bar, hold the left mouse key down and drag it over the "home" icon and drop it there, that will set that page as your home page.

[DB]

I've been going to the Drudge Report for about 6 years.

I've never picked up spyware or anything else dangerous from it in all that time.

[Chummy]

Not exactly sure to what you are referring, but try AdAware, SpyBot Search & Destroy 1.3, and CW Shredder.

Get thee behind a firewall, preferably hardware and software.

Check out this site: http://www.zone-x.com/spybot.php for some other helpful info.

[TheMole]

If you don't have this program, you should download and install it and run it regularly.

Spybot Search and Destroy

[Still Thinking]

Load Opera? ;-)

[BigSkyFreeper]

Don't visit Drudge is the first step you can take. His sight is riddled with unsafe spyware. That's likely where you picked it up.

His site is riddled with popup advertising. Popup advertising and spyware are two different beasts.

[Jeff Gordon]

Could you give a little more detail about your problem? It sounds like you just need to set your homepage to some URL - whatever you want.

[Chummy]

Here's even more:

http://computercops.biz/article-5199-nested-0-0.html

Thanks for calling this to attention; I learned something.

Good luck!

[thegreatbeast]

Drudge is necessary for me too. Never had a problem.

[SoDak]

Download a program called "Hijack This". I fix many of my friends computers, and they'll pick up this problem sometimes at questionable websites. More than likely, besides hijacking your current home page setting, the javascript or active x component also changed registry settings which will change it back again after you fix it when you reboot. You'll likely need to change those registry settings to prevent a re-occurance. The easiest way for a novice is third-party utilities such as Hijack This. I believe the utility is still available as freeware at cnet.com, for example.

[AntiGuv]

What operating system do you have?

[RJL]

Is your "About Blank" home page being hijacked to MSN.com?

[happydogdesign]

After several friends were afflicted with this problem, I posted a page of links, directions, and resources that should help you out:
Dealing with Spyware and Adware

[backhoe]

Details here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1168134/posts
Hijacked! New Browser Exploits Plague Web
various sites | 07-09-04 | The Heavy Equipment Guy

The good news? It can be fixed-

The not-so-good?
You will have to learn a lot of new stuff, probably join the forums listed, quit using Internet Exploder, except for MS updates. But it can be cured, only took me 2-3 weeks...

[LifeTrek]

First - Most pop-up's do load spy ware on computers, including the hijacker you are referring to.

Second get a pop-up stopper, try www.panicware.com for a free version that works great!

Third go to www.webroot.com for Spy Sweeper, a spy ware program that not only can scan and remove spy ware that is planted but can stop new ones from being deposited. Oh, and it can reset your homepage for you automatically.

Fourth, and the actual answer to your question - you have a Trojan Spy ware program probably know as Cool Web Search or one of it's variants. Typically ad-aware or even Spy Sweeper can't clean the entire thing because it plants about 75 different items in your registry. Many of these just cause the program to reload so if you manage to clean up 70 of them the registry can cause the program to reload the entire thing. A firewall won't help with this one - except it will prevent your Cool Web Trojan from calling home. The program attempts to use your notepad program to call home - believe it or not. If you use a good Firewall like Zone Alarm (probably the best free one www.zonealarm.com) you can tell that you have a new infection because your notepad will try to access the Internet. That is NOT something that you should allow.

This program also resets your home page each and every time you start your browser - and sometimes at regular intervals. it points you back to a site that gets paid per hit.

Okay, to clean it download a program called CWShredder - you can search Google for a copy this one might work, http://www.computing.net/security/wwwboard/forum/12148.html but I haven't tried this specific site.

As time goes on most browsers can get infected because of the nature of the pop-up craze (invading scums in my opinion!)

Anyway, run the Shredder, install and use the firewall and Spy Sweeper and the Pop-Up Stopper and DEFINATELY stay away from that infected site that gave you this nasty infection - always wear your Internet condoms, but abstinence is always best.

And for full discloser, I am not affiliated with any of these products or web sites.
DKK

[Nick Danger]

Are you talking about the thing where Ad Aware insists that "about:blank" is a malicious web site, and that some Evil Bad Guy is trying to take over your machine because IE is set to wake up in about:blank?

My provisional theory is that a programmer at AdAware has a rectal-cranial inversion. Yes, there is a hack that uses the name "about:blank," but that is also the name of the default blank page. Surely any programmer who can find Russian spies on your computer could figure out a way to tell the difference between the default blank page and a box of malware named "about:blank."

[nw_arizona_granny]

ping