computer melt down

winston · Post by **winston** » 2 Jul 2006 5:50 am

Wiz
What I said is when I first started up with the new motherboard the hard drive would not boot. That was fixed with a fresh install of xp.
Dave is right, I am up and running fine. thanks Winston

winston · Post by **winston** » 2 Jul 2006 7:03 am

I have one more slight problem. This time with IE. I cannot reset the homepage. It always goes back to MSN. thanks Winston

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 2 Jul 2006 8:45 am

Winston;
It sounds like you have a system-change monitor tool protecting you IE home page. Usual suspects are Microsoft Antispyware beta, Windows Defender, Spybot S&D Teatimer, and some other anti-spyware programs. Check your security programs for a setting that locks IE to the default home and search pages.[This message was edited by Wiz Feinberg on 03 July 2006 at 01:56 PM.]

winston · Post by **winston** » 2 Jul 2006 7:36 pm

Wiz
I can't change any settings anywhere that makes a difference in selecting a homepage. It always changes back to msn.com. I do not have any spyware on the machine, just avg and zone alarm. Any more ideas??? thanks again, Winston

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 3 Jul 2006 3:17 am

Winston -
From the Start Menu, in Control Panel/Internet Options/General, there's a place that should allow you to select a url for your IE homepage. Have you tried doing it that way?

Just select "Blank" and see what happens. Does it still revert to msn.com?[This message was edited by Dave Potter on 03 July 2006 at 04:18 AM.]

winston · Post by **winston** » 3 Jul 2006 4:29 am

Dave
It goes right back to msn.com. I haven't added anything like spyware to the machine since reinstalling windows. After installing zone alarm and avg I did get all the latest updates from microsoft. I never had this problem before. I have nothing against msn but I would like it to be my choice. thanks again Winston

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 3 Jul 2006 5:40 am

Winston -

Something's wrong. It could be worse - it could have you going to some porn site every time, but, you ought to be able to set your homepage yourself, so, there's something going on that shouldn't be. And, there might be other things happening in the background you don't know about. You need to get to the bottom of it.

Unfortunately, a lot of things can cause what's happening on your computer. Malware might be installed on your system and running at startup. You can see what's there by running msconfig.

If I were facing the problem, here are a few things I'd be looking at -

1) Under Doc and Settings, your username, look in Application Data for any applications you don't recognize. This can be a little tricky - it will sometimes show as the software company name, rather than the application itself, so you might have to think about some of them - open the folder and see what's inside. Do the same for Local Settings - look at all the apps and see if there's anything you don't recognize.

2) I'd delete everything I could from the Temp and Temporary Internet Files folders. There may be a couple you can't delete, but I'd get rid of all I could.

3) After I did that, I'd check the Cookies folder and if there's anything left there, I'd delete them. You probably won't be able to delete index.dat - at least not with your browser open, as mine is now.

4) There may be entries in your registry now making this happen. Of course, you have no way to know what to look for, manually. There are applications available that can look for browser hijack malware installed. Spyware Doctor is one - there are others. You can find them by Googling browser hijack. You can download and run Spyware Doctor free, but it will probably require you to buy it for it to actually remove what it finds. But if you know you way around your computer a little, sometimes you can use the information it finds and manually delete them yourself. You might be able to actually find a totally free browser hijack fixer if you keep looking. I don't recommend editing your registry manually if you're not sure what you're doing - you can break your computer. If you've done it before, I recommend exporting anything you delete so you can restore the entry if necessary. RegistryFix is free to download, and includes a full registry backup/restore utility, just as additional info.

5) As a last resort, there's always the 500 lb gorilla, hijackthis. You download a little file, install and run it, and it generates a log file you let the hijackthis experts look at the they take you step by step through the remediation process to clean the junk from your computer. They're quite good, and it's free, I think, but it's an involved and lengthy process.

Good luck, and please keep us informed on your progress.[This message was edited by Dave Potter on 03 July 2006 at 07:26 AM.]

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 3 Jul 2006 7:21 am

Winston;
Open ZoneAlarm and check all settings and options to see if your version has a "feature" that locks in the IE homepage.

Since you said you don't use Spybot or Windows Defender, or any other anti-spyware program, ZA's the only one left to look at.

------------------
Bob "Wiz" Feinberg
Moderator of the SGF Computers Forum
Visit my Wiztunes Steel Guitar website at: http://www.wiztunes.com/
or my computer troubleshooting website: Wizcrafts Computer Services,
or my Webmaster Services webpage.
Learn about current computer virus and security threats here.
Read Wiz's Blog for security news and update notices

winston · Post by **winston** » 3 Jul 2006 8:58 am

Dave
Deleted everything I could find, no luck.
Wiz
Looked all over zone alarm and found nothing. I did find something a little different somewhere else. When I go to the start menu, at the bottom where you shutdown, on my other computer with xp there is also a logoff icon. That is not on this computer for whatever reason. The computer is running fine except for the msn homepage. Would SP2 have anything to do with this problem?? thanks Winston

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 3 Jul 2006 12:56 pm

Winston asked:

When I go to the start menu, at the bottom where you shutdown, on my other computer with xp there is also a logoff icon. That is not on this computer for whatever reason. The computer is running fine except for the msn homepage. Would SP2 have anything to do with this problem?

SP2 probably has nothing to do with your problems, unless you had a bad upgrade process ('it happens), in which case you can repair your installation by running setup from your XP CD, with the Setup > Repair option, which preserves account settings, but fixes glitches.

------------------
Bob "Wiz" Feinberg
Moderator of the SGF Computers Forum
Visit my Wiztunes Steel Guitar website at: http://www.wiztunes.com/
or my computer troubleshooting website: Wizcrafts Computer Services,
or my Webmaster Services webpage.
Learn about current computer virus and security threats here.
Read Wiz's Blog for security news and update notices

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 3 Jul 2006 4:11 pm

Failing all the suggestions in my earlier post (and I sense you haven't tried the SpywareDoctor/Hijackthis routes), I've fired my silver bullets, Winston.

Only last thing I'd offer would be that, since you just re-installed WinXP, you probably haven't accumulated all that much data, and, I'd think that another disk format and WinXP reinstall, with all the updates/security fixes/service packs, yada, yada, would fix this issue. Of course, that means you'd have to reinstall your software too, but, I know you know that.[This message was edited by Dave Potter on 03 July 2006 at 05:11 PM.]

winston · Post by **winston** » 3 Jul 2006 5:43 pm

Dave
I agree with the reinstall. I think that is what I am going to do. thanks everyone Winston May