please help me, PC probs like usual

[MetalBlade]

I hate these machines! Anyways you guys really helped me out last time, so I hope someone can help me out again. I have this problem, everytime I use Internet Explorer it atuomatically boots me into this website (uses this website a my homepage).

I figured all I had to do was go into internet options and change my home page to something else (or blank). And so I did this. However everytime I turn off my computer or put it into Hibernation the website is automatically put back into my homepage. I can't seem to rid of this url. It is really anoying because when I use yahoo search engine, when I click on a link the first time it takes me to this website.

The actual website is
http://searchcentral.cc/index.php?v=4&aff=3600

WARNING I REALLY WOULDN'T GO THERE! I dont want someone else to get problems too. If you know what is going on our know how I can fix this then please help me out! Thanks!!!!!!

 

[merryheart]

Download ad-aware and scan your system with it.
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

 

[trunks2k]

Download ad-aware and scan your system with it.
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

I second that motion. You obviously have some adware/spyware on your system.

 

[MetalBlade]

Stragne part is I do have adaware, and I run it about every week. I'll try doing a deep scan and see if anything will come up!

 

[rdale]

After Ad-Aware, I'd try :

Spybot - Search & Destroy

HiJackThis


Then if you need better instructions on using them go to :
Sitepoint dotcom - The Getting Rid of Spyware HOWTO

 

[merryheart]

With either Ad-aware or Spybot, you need to make sure that you update the definition files before scanning. Another good free scan is the Trendmicro Antivirus online scan - it is better than some of the other scanners at picking up trojans http://housecall.trendmicro.com

Last time I cleaned up my daughter's laptop running XP and Spybot, there was Adware I couldn't get rid of with spybot (Blaze something...)Spybot caught it, but did not competely remove it, and it kept coming back. I also could not find where it was in the registry - Ad-Aware got it. That is the way it is... a particular product will miss one, but the other product will miss another...

 

[Morrog]

Start->Run
Type in "msconfig"
Run it.
Go to the last tab. It should list all the startup programs. Your little spyware/adware is likely going to be listed there. Either look for something strange or list all the things here and we'll tell you which one is the spyware/adware. Once it is found un check the box next to it(so it won't start) and then go find the folder it is in(msconfig lists the EXE program). If it has its own folder delete the whole folder.
Reset your homepage.
Problem solved.

 

[MetalBlade]

Alright guys, my adaware didint pick anything up. So I did in run, msconfig! And I didn't find anything wrong with the start up programs. So I deided to run that House Call and it found something. I am not for sure what it is so I'll type what it told me:
Virus - Troj Revop.A
Scan Result- Non Cleanable
File- C:\WINDOWS\system32\notepad.exe
I have no idea what that means....................

 

[feo]

Virus! Sounds Like You Need to Re-Format and Re-Install! he he.

 

[MetalBlade]

No, I am good. I deleted the virus, and scanned again. Everything seems fine know. So I restarted my computer, but I still have the original problem! grr!!!

 

[rdale]

Troj Revop.A

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/index.php?board=17;action=display;threadid=26627

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=Troj+Revop.A

 

[trunks2k]

Stragne part is I do have adaware, and I run it about every week. I'll try doing a deep scan and see if anything will come up!

My friend and I had this conversation today*

- "I know this great program that will fix ALL your virus, adware, spyware, and buggy software problems. It's called 'fdisk'."*

--I have something much more effective than that. It's this thing that will let you be sure never to have a problem with annoying files on your hard disk AGAIN.

-"what's that?"

--It's called a "magnet".



*note: I do not suggest you actually use f-disk to fix your particular problem. Nor do I suggest that anyone use the wonderfuk product known as a "magnet" on their hard drive.

 

[merryheart]

No, I am good. I deleted the virus, and scanned again. Everything seems fine know. So I restarted my computer, but I still have the original problem! grr!!!

The original problem meaning your home page is still wrong? Or something more? When you reboot, do you have a virus again if you rescan? If so, are you an administrator on your system (XP, Win2K)? The removal programs all need to be run as administrator to really clean out the baddies. Some of the latest trojans and adware programs are using unconventional places in the registry to start programs, and can be very difficult to clean. Another thought... when you scan and delete the virus, make sure to set your homepage to something innocuous b4 rebooting...

 

[datan]

perhaps you might want to try out a different browser?

I recommend www.mozilla.org

I haven't seen a pop-up or a flash advertisement (unless I'm using a windows machine) for a long time.
And tabbed browsing.

And of course no more of that 'who stole the home page from the browser' stuff.
Plus do you know know that unless you keep up with patches, websites can take over your computer just by visiting them?

Did I mention tabbed browsing?

Seriously, give it a try. If you don't like it, you can always delete it.

 

[Egroeg]

I still use cfdisk -- less easy to mess stuff up.
Or are you using That Other "Operating System"?

 

[S Walch]

I'm sorry I didn't get to this thread a bit sooner.

Use this registry edit key to unlock your homepage, so you can change it again to what you really want.

http://brianwall.co.uk/homepageunlock.reg

If that doesn't work, you're gonna have to do it manually.

Which the following will tell you how

It seems as if your Home Page is locked at the moment.

Unlock the home page and set it to a one of your choice. You can then lock it again if you wish.

The Registry Keys to check if you're interested
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Control Panel\Homepage
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Control Panel\Homepage

For both of the above keys - - If the "HomePage"=dword:00000001 this means the homepage is locked
Change the value to "HomePage"=dword:00000000 and this will unlock the homepage


This key will show your current homepage

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Start Page

Thanks to xpforum.co.uk for the answer

 

[MetalBlade]

thanks y'all, but thanks to my brother I got a new webpage displayer. It's called Mozilla Firefox, and I guess it's supposed to be better than Internet Exploer. We will see though...

 

[SirKenin]

I've cleaned a zillion of these instances. The reason it keeps reoccuring is because your computer is calling on a program to run and reinstall your trojan.

Removal requires you edit the registry, followed by deleting the offending files and then altering the Internet Explorer keys. It isn't easy.

Before you do anything, turn off system restore.

 

[Brother]

What you have is a webpage hijacker. I've also cleaned many of these and others as well. I use a registry scanner called hijackthis. It is dangerous software to use if you do not know what you are doing because you could damage your registry. Try Spybot search and destroy as well as CWShredder. If you have a tech savy friend who knows the windows registry well, you can have them look at a hijackthis log, and they should find whatever program or DLL is loading on startup. If not you can post the log here and I can take a look at it. Whatever you do dont go checking things off in hijackthis unless you know it is malicious software.