Cannot change my home page back

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

The first time i used defender it notified me that my home page was changed
and gave me inst. on how to restore. The only problem is that when I go to
internet options the home page is greyed out and it will not let me change.
 
Tommyjoe58 said:
The first time i used defender it notified me that my home page was changed
and gave me inst. on how to restore. The only problem is that when I go to
internet options the home page is greyed out and it will not let me change.
Click to expand...


The same thing happened to me but I changed it for a couple of days then I
tried again and it let me go back to the original. This is such a nuisance.
 
This happened last Saturday and it still will not let me change my browser
home page back. Should I stop running defender for a few days?
 
I posted a reply last night to a possible way to change your homepage in your
message above through registers. I gave you a step to create a register.
Really, it's taking the register that already exists and overwriting it with
your own personal data. The 3 lines of text define what should be in
registers. It is based on individual user, so if the problem occurs in more
than one user on the computer, each person would have to log in and change it
in their own sign-on. I've never noticed this, but I am good with registry
editing and have tested it myself. Just change the current address I listed
using your desired one. I have never seen it lock one out of changing their
homepage. This command does the change behind the scenes immediately as an
installer or updater does when you install software. It's the best I can
offer at this time. I hope someone else can find the problem.
 
I have windows 2000 (I should stated this). Will your steps be the same?

Thank you very much for responding.

Tommy
 
I am not 100% sure... if you are comfortable to check if that same path
works, that it exists for internet explorer. If it is internet explorer 6.0,
it might work. The program is called Registry Editor, and it can be accessed
through Start-> RUN...

Only if you do not make any changes while in the window, you can type
"regedit" in the run command box. It opens a window with expanding menu on
the left side. On the right side, there are all the registers that exist.
Follow the folders in this order:

Working only on the left side, just confirm that "Start Page" exists in this
folder of the registry:

FOLLOW THE LEFT SIDE ONLY RIGHT NOW, looking for:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main

click the + on "HKEY_CURRENT_USER"

go down to and click the + next to "Software"

go down to and click the + next to "Microsoft"

scroll down to "Internet Explorer" and click the + to expand

scroll down and simply click on the "Main" folder...this ends the left side...

NOW , if you found the "Main" folder, it's a good chance you will find what
I am looking at. Looking at the right side, scroll down the right side panel
and look for "Start Page". It is pretty close to the bottom, about 8
icons/words from the bottom.

Look across directly from it, you will, or should, see 2 more columns, one
listing the datatype, REG_SZ, the other stating the current homepage, also
called "Start Page". If you were to click on the homepage icon in internet
explorer, this is the page you should normally be taken to, isn't this
correct? If not, then I don't suggest changing it . If you are comfortable to
edit it directly there, you can, but be careful not to edit anything else.
Sometimes, a change here or there doesn't make much of a difference. But
especially in system data in other folders, changing data can be dangerous.
You are not near the system file data, rather on your current user data.
Therefore, I'd say it is safe to edit if you wish. If it lines up that the
register is correct, but you rather use the automatic register editor with
the text file I gave before, that's fine too. Be sure to make a backup of
your registers if you are at all uncomfortable but want to change. System
restore can be found in "System Tools" under "Accessories" in your "Programs"
menu of the "Start menu"... I believe it is like that for Windows 2000. I
haven't used it in a few years. But I believe only Windows 2000 and Windows
XP are the 2 oldest operating systems that have them, so Windows 95 and 98
won't have it. If you happen to run into a problem, it will restore the error
and restart the computer should you accidently change something other than
this Start Page. If you make a mistake with "Start Page", you can edit the
register again. Just right click on the file you create and select edit...

Registers are an important part of the computer. They contain all the data
the computer uses to make changes to the operating system, Windows 2000, and
your other programs. It is an index to all files that can be accessed,
whether it is just the directory they are located in or if they contain
special data that only the computer can recognize. So, don't play around in
there. Once you are finished, close the program. Don't leave it open any
longer than necessary. I hope this helps... Good luck!
 
Thank you very much. I was able to follow your direction and reset my
prefered home page. I went ahead and looked at the internet options in
explorer under general-home page: "You can change which page to use....".
The home page I entered using your directions is there but I still can not
change the adress here. All three buttons are still grayed out. Where do
you suggest I go to ask what might be causing this?

Once again, thank you very much!!

Tommy
 
You are Very welcome Tommy...! I can show you how to change things through
registers, unfortunately, I don't understand what would be causing this. Are
you an administrator on your computer? If you are, try logging onto another
user and see if you see the same results, if you have or can create a new
user. You'd need to be an administrator to create one. If the new user
created has the same problem, then it is a problem with Internet Explorer,
probably something under "local machine" in your registers that was edited to
disable changes... If you can edit it on a different user account, then it is
just a problem with your user, something in "Current_User" in regstry would
need to be edited.

You haven't had any problems with viruses lately, have you? Possibly a virus
could have changed it. Numerous thingns could have done something to disable
it. I'm unfamiliar with the problem, but if I find a solution, I'll let you
know. Somehow, there must be a program you have that could have disabled
change of homepages. I never noticed Defender to have that option. Do you
have any other firewall programs you have installed? Could be disabling it...
Something changed your settings. It might be in Adminsitrative tools, also.
The computer I'm on doesn't have access to it, so I can't give a good
description of it's location, but if you can get into Control Panel ->
Administrative Tools, open one of the first 3 or 4 icons begins with a C, I
forgot the name if it is Console Application or whatever the name is, but
check in there for permissions and make sure you have permission to access
the change. It is never disabled for administrators, usually meant for guest
accounts. But, that's my best guess for now.

I'm at least happy the home page change works! Have a nice day!

Jordan
 
Back
Top