A Windows 98 & ME forum. Win98banter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » Win98banter forum » Windows ME » Internet
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

about.blank



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old July 25th 04, 01:59 AM
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default about.blank

My WinPatrol is continuously displaying a message that a
change has been detected in my IE start up page, and the
new page is "about.blank". What is causing this and how
do I get rid of it?
  #2  
Old July 25th 04, 03:07 AM
Mike M
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default about.blank

There are two or more home page hijackers (parasites) that alter the file used
by those who like to launch Internet Explorer with a blank "homepage" rather
than always opening a site such as their ISP's portal or Google.

One of these parasites is a variant of the CoolWebSearch parasite. For
details of the CWS.Aboutblank variant see
(http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/c...tml#aboutblank).
Unfortunately there is a more cent variation of this hijacker which cannot be
removed by CWShredder (see below) and if this is the case your only resort
will be to follow the advice in the last paragraph.

Download and run CWShredder
(http://www.zerosrealm.com/downloads/CWShredder.zip or
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/cwshredder.zip) which is the best way
of getting rid of the many forms of the CoolWebSearch hijacker details of
which can be found at http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/cwschronicles.html
and also http://www.pestpatrol.com/pestinfo/c/cws.asp..

There is also another newer variant aboutblank parasite which is particularly
resistant to removal.

For details of this second variant and possible help see recent posts by Mow
Green in various threads at http://forum.aumha.org/viewforum.php?f=30 such as
that initiated by JENNY entitled "Blank page is BACK!
(http://forum.aumha.org/viewtopic.php?t=6437). You will need to download for
later use the tool about:Buster from either
http://www.atribune.org/downloads/AboutBuster.zip
or
http://tools.zerosrealm.com/AboutBuster.zip

This would be a good time to download yourself a copy of the free Ad-Aware 6.0
from Lavasoft (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/) and also SpyBot
Search & Destroy (http://www.safer-networking.org/) and use them to check your
system for other commercial parasites remembering that they are only as good
as when you last updated their reference files. I also use a program called
BHODemon (http://www.definitivesolutions.com/bhodemon.htm that checks for
unwanted Browser Help Objects and SpywareBlaster
(http://www.wilderssecurity.net/spywareblaster.html) which can help prevent
many parasites getting a grip on your PC.

Finally if you still continue to experience problems download a copy of
HijackThis from (http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html). Create a
folder called HJT on C: and copy the file you downloaded to that folder.
Close as many applications as you can including all instances of Internet
Explorer and then run hijackthis.exe and post as a new thread to the
HijackThis Forum at http://forums.spywareinfo.com/ or alternatively
http://forum.aumha.org/viewforum.php?f=30 and hopefully this will enable
someone to identify the cause of your problem.
--?
Mike Maltby MS-MVP



wrote:

My WinPatrol is continuously displaying a message that a
change has been detected in my IE start up page, and the
new page is "about.blank". What is causing this and how
do I get rid of it?


 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 07:33 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 Win98banter.
The comments are property of their posters.