internet explorer hijacked with about:blank

[thicky]

hello~ i'm a new member here and to start off, i am not too familiar with computers... i asked one of my friends about this problem i'm having and he told me to post it on this forum. ok, the problem i'm having is with my internet explorer. everytime i open it up, my address is set to "about:blank" but a search engine comes up and i get these pesky pop ups. then when i goto sign on yahoo to check my mail, the same search engine pops up after i put in my password and wont let me check my mail. can anyone here help me please? or do i have to go on a different forum for this problem and if so, could you be kind enough to direct me to the correct forum? thank you for your time...

 

[linney]

Your welcome here, and hello. Just click on the links.

What are Good Virus/Spyware?Update/Firewall Practices?
faq779-5240

Removing adware & spyware
faq608-4650

More On "About:Blank"

http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2004/2004-07-22.htm

You Cannot Access Your MSN E-mail Account or Authenticate with a Web Site in Various Programs

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;813951&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

Troubleshoot Situations Where You Cannot Connect to Secure Web Sites by Using Internet Explorer in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;813444

Just make sure you haven't set the default home page in IE to "Use Blank" because that will give you a genuine and non spyware home page called "About:Blank".

Follow the excellent advice supplied by my fellow posters, but if you ever wonder why this sort of thing is happening with increasing regularity to internet surfers and how to prevent it then I suggest some reading here.

Beginners Guides: Spyware Protection and Removal

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1458&page=1

This is an 8 page article but worth the read.

 

[5150]

HiJack This! will remove that for you. HiJack This is an executable that runs on your PC and will show you all the registry settings for IE. You can remove browser hijackers at the registry level and it should fix your problem. I would also HIGHLY recommend downloading and running Ad-Aware SE and Spybot (all are freeware). Please make sure to update your DAT files because it works like antivirus software and you have to keep your pattern files updated.

Hope This Helps!

 

[DRowland]

I had the same problem, tried tons of items as described above, with no success. What DID help was to run CW Shredder, available for download from a lot of places. It's designed for the coolweb browser, which is also a hijacker program, but it worked on this, with no problems. You might give that a try. I'm running MSXP on an emachine.

Dick

|========================|
I sure wish there was a way
to receive the best teaching,
without having to go through
some of the worst experiences!
|========================|

 

[smah]

The removal methods will vary somewhat depending on what variant of about:blank that you actually have. Read all the links linney has provided first, then use this forum's search function to search the entire site for about:blank.

 

[ricefd]

In addition to adaware spybot and hijack this find cwshredder another freeware program that you might have to run in safemode to remove about blank.
adaware has been update to se and spybot has been updated also

 

[Papa4]

Your browser (IE Explorer) has been hijacked by a program
called "SearchPortal". This insidious &*#$% of a program
insinuates itself into every nook and cranny of your system, and is damn near impossible to remove. It will modify your Registry, your WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI and it puts stuff into your personal TEMP directory below your default login directory. It puts EXE files in \windows\system and C:\Documents and Settings\your-username\Recent\Temp\ and C:\Docuemtns and Settings\your-username\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\ and
it puts files in your Startup folder.

I got fed up after about 6 hours of trying to get rid of it and did an FDISK, FORMAT, and reinstall of XP. Now I have SpySweeper 3.2 and Panda Platinum Anti-virus and Internet security software installed to (hopefully) prevent this in the future. I also now use FoxFire as my browser as it seems more resistant to this attack (so far)

If you go to

http://www.askjeeves.com

and search for "searchportal" you will see many entries and suggestions for getting rid of this pest. I hope you have a lot of time on your hands and a "clean" system to work with while passing email and log files back and forth to people that offer to help you remove this.

Paul