SPAM changed default home page

[Mis]

Ugh! I've tried everything. I can not change my home
page... it comes up as
res://C:\WINDOWS\fixgl.dll/index.html#10213 and when i
try and restrict it or delete it.... it WONT go away... it
has untasteful sites in my favs and other places HELP me
get rid of this!!

 

[KAS]

Disconnect your compter from the net if you have a
high-speed connection such as cable or dsl.

1) Go to Add/Remove Programs and look for programs that
shouldn't be there. Things such as Hotbar Toolbar, Gator,
etc. These programs should stand out in your mind as ones
that you did not install.

Write down the names of these programs then go ahead and
use Add/Remove to remove them. This WILL NOT completely
remove the program but begins the process.

2) Go onto your hard drive and look for folders which have
the same or similar names to the programs you just wrote
down. Look under C:\Program Files for these folders.

Delete these folders. In some cases you may not be able to
remove the entire folder or parts of their contents. That
is ok. Just be sure that what you are removing is what you
want to remove. If in doubt, leave it in.

3) Go to Start | Run and type in 'regedit' (no quotes).
When your registry comes up do Ctrl-F (Find) and type in
part of the name of one of the programs you are looking
for. For instance, if you have the Hotbar Toolbar you
could simply type in 'hotbar' (no quotes). Click Find Next
and the search begins. When it stops on an entry look at
it closely. Does it have the name of one of the programs
you are looking for? If so, delete that key. Hit F3 to
continue the search.

When you get the message that you are at the end of the
registry do Ctrl-F and repeat the process for the next
piece of spyware/malware. Repeat as necessary.

4) Reboot your machine. When you come back in see if you
can reset your homepage or access the net. Hopefully at
this point you can. If your homepage still won't reset you
need to go back into the registry and search for whatever
page you are being redirected to. Again, just part of the
name is fine. Also recheck your C: to see if there are any
leftover folders which you can remove. If so remove them
and reboot again.

 

[Don Varnau]

Hi,
This hijack can be difficult to remove.
First run CWShredder http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html you
may be lucky enough to have the variety that's easy to remove. (Alternate
site for CWShredder http://www.aumha.org/downloads/cwshredder.zip)

If that doesn't resolve the problem, work through these links:
Ad-aware, with the latest updates, has fixed this for some users
http://www.lavasoft.de/software/adaware/
If you don't have it yet, download the latest version- Ad-Aware SE Personal.

PC Hell- homepage changing to res--random.dll-index.html:
http://www.pchell.com/support/onlythebest.shtml

Removing the AboutBlank Virus
http://www.akadia.com/services/about_blank_virus.html

AboutBlank homepage- Security at DaniWeb computer support:
http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread5531.html

AumHa Forums- res [random].dll-sp.html CWS Variant:
http://forum.aumha.org/viewtopic.php?t=6207
and
http://forum.aumha.org/viewtopic.php?t=6466

Computer Cops - aboutblank:
http://computercops.biz/article-5199-nested-0-0.html

Security tips and other useful information at
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm

Hope this helps,
Don