IE homepage won't stick

hi-
for some reason, the homepage on my IE 6 is always
changing itself to 'about: blank' (a search page) and then
there is a popup spam for spyware. so i got a popup
blocker but the home page still keeps changing back
to 'about: blank' no matter how many times i changed it in
the 'tools' menu. why?

help!! thanks!

First. Make sure of these settings and nothing will install without you
answering YES. (Except what may install as part of some other software.)

Start | Settings | Control Panel | Internet Options | Advanced tab |
Make sure both of these are NOT checked.

 Enable Install On Demand (Internet Explorer)
[[Specifies to automatically download and install Internet Explorer
components if a Web page needs them in order to display the page properly or
perform a particular task.]]

 Enable Install On Demand (Other)
[[Specifies to automatically download and install Web components if a Web
page needs them in order to display the page properly or perform a
particular task.]]

Apply | OK
=================================

Second. If you need a scan right now.

Follow the instructions!
THE PARASITE FIGHT QUICK FIX PROTOCOL
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.php

======================

Third.
It is known as Scumware. Visit these sites. 1, 2, 3 and 4 are really good.
Download, install, run, update and run again; one or all. They are all
good, FREE utilities.

Run CWShredder first!!!

1) CWShredder direct download:
http://216.180.233.163/~merijn/files/CWShredder.exe

2) SpywareBlaster
[[SpywareBlaster doesn't scan and clean for spyware - it prevents it from
ever being installed.
The most important step you can take is to secure your system. And
SpywareBlaster is the most powerful protection program available.]]
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

3) Spybot S & D
http://www.safer-networking.org/inde...&page=download

4) HijackThis (some other stuff that may be of interest also)
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html

5) Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner v1.13
http://www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner...ource=appvisit

6) ToolbarCop
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/toolbarcop.htm

7) AdAware
http://www.lavasoft.de/support/download/
===============

Additional information & instructions.
A wealth of information here, boys and girls.

THE PARASITE FIGHT QUICK FIX PROTOCOL
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm

THE PARASITE FIGHT
Finding, Removing & Protecting Yourself From Scumware
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm

Bugs, Glitches & Stuffups
http://www.mvps.org/inetexplorer/Darnit.htm

Dealing with Unwanted Spyware and Parasites
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm

Unexplained computer behavior may be caused by deceptive software
http://support.microsoft.com/default...7315#appliesto

Spyware and Deceptive Software
http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/twc/...e.mspx?gssnb=1

What you should know about spyware
http://www.microsoft.com/security/articles/spyware.asp

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.
Wes

In ,
sandra hunted and pecked:
hi-
for some reason, the homepage on my IE 6 is always
changing itself to 'about: blank' (a search page) and then
there is a popup spam for spyware. so i got a popup
blocker but the home page still keeps changing back
to 'about: blank' no matter how many times i changed it in
the 'tools' menu. why?

help!! thanks!

thanks man! it seemed to solve the problem!
only thing now, the media player won't play radio. it
sends me to fix a proxy protocol on the network tab of the
internet tool in IE. well... i don't have a network tab!
how do i fix this?!? thanks!

sandra,

A little more info would be nice. [[It seemed to solve the problem.]]
What is it?

In lieu of info, you might look he
Windows Media Player: WMP mini FAQ
http://www.nwlink.com/~zachd/pss/pss.html


--
Hope this helps. Let us know.
Wes

In ,
sandra hunted and pecked:
thanks man! it seemed to solve the problem!
only thing now, the media player won't play radio. it
sends me to fix a proxy protocol on the network tab of the
internet tool in IE. well... i don't have a network tab!
how do i fix this?!? thanks!

dear wes:
here is some more info, sorry for being so cryptic before-

1)i went to wnyc.com and clicked on the 'listen in
windows' option. this used to work fine before using the
antispyware.
2)the connection failed. mediaplayer provided this messege:
"Windows Media Player cannot find the specified file. Be
sure the path is typed correctly. If it is, the file does
not exist at the specified location, or the computer where
the file is stored is offline."
3)i clicked on the more info option and got this:
"0xC00D1197: Cannot play the file
Windows Media Player cannot play the file. You may
encounter this error message for one of the following
reasons: "... and then all the reasons.
4)on the bottom they have a fixer:
"To verify your proxy server settings
On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the
Network tab. Verify your settings in the Streaming proxy
settings area. "
the problem is i don't have a network tab in the option
menu.

thanks again!

s

1) Which antispyware??? Spybot S&D has an Undo.
HijackThis has backup files. So does Ad-aware.

2) Are you trying offline???

3) Fix for 0xc00d1197 playing certain files via RTSP can be found here
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=840227

Why can I not access the "Network" tab in the player's Tools:Options menu?
http://www.nwlink.com/~zachd/pss/pss.html#networktab


From Spybot S&D HELP:
[[Some of my internet programs stopped to work. What should I do? FAQ #003
If you remove a spy, the application that has installed it may notice this
and refuse to work any longer. Spybot-S&D is able to replace a few spies
with harmless dummies; but where that is not possible, I recommend to either
search for a good alternative that comes without spy- or adware, or using
the recovery option in Spybot-S&D to restore the spy. In the later case, you
can do it step by step, until you found the files that are absolutely
necessary for the spy, and at least keep some files from your system, like
the data saved about you.]]

[[Why does Spybot-S&D also removes IE toolbars that look useful to me? FAQ
#002
Nearly all IE toolbars have something in common: they want to make the web
easier for you. Sadly, to tailor their information to your needs, they need
to collect data about you; and most privacy statements are unclear about how
they do use this data beside sending you what they think is what you want.]]

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.
Wes

In ,

hunted and pecked:
dear wes:
here is some more info, sorry for being so cryptic before-

1)i went to wnyc.com and clicked on the 'listen in
windows' option. this used to work fine before using the
antispyware.
2)the connection failed. mediaplayer provided this messege:
"Windows Media Player cannot find the specified file. Be
sure the path is typed correctly. If it is, the file does
not exist at the specified location, or the computer where
the file is stored is offline."
3)i clicked on the more info option and got this:
"0xC00D1197: Cannot play the file
Windows Media Player cannot play the file. You may
encounter this error message for one of the following
reasons: "... and then all the reasons.
4)on the bottom they have a fixer:
"To verify your proxy server settings
On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the
Network tab. Verify your settings in the Streaming proxy
settings area. "
the problem is i don't have a network tab in the option
menu.

thanks again!

s