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Browser hijackers! homepage hijackers!

  • Thread starter Cindy
  • Start date

Cindy

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Really can't stand them...I've got one I can't get rid of 'cos it's a chinese website and it's not on Spybot's list.

Already WARNED my dad about going to such UNSAFE place...you know, it's NOT EASY telling your dad off when he's a traditional chinese man! LOL  
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ANyone out there who's sharing my disgust and anger?
 
Could you be a little more specific about the problem?

What I lack in CP knowledge, I make up for in computers. Gimme some detailed info, and I am sure I can come up with a solution.

Casper
 
yup, don't you love them!??  My dad has his home page changed all the time.  And i still gotta go over there and fix it for him cause he doesn't know how.  lol.   are you having a problem changing it back to yours?  Or just letting out some anger because it happens?
When the little thing pops up asking if i want to change mine i just tell it no. and never have a problem.
Andrew
 
Thanks for offering your help, so here goes...

1. The website www.sohu123.com suddenly became my homepage (startup page) when I opened IE.

2. I went to "Tools", "Internet Options" and changed it back into MSN.

3. A pop-up asked me if I want it as my homepage and I said no.

4. I switched off the computer, turned it on the next day and still find the same www.sohu123.com as my homepage!

5. Patiently, I carried out step 2-3 again. Only to find step 5 happening again.

6. Used Spybot. Realised that it cannot get rid of www.sohu123.com because it's not in its list of hijackers. www.sohu123.com is a chinese website.

7. Tried updating Spybot, scanning everytime I turn on the computer but they all don't work.

adnedarn: It's not a one-off thing that why I'm complaining.

casper: Thanks, I desperately need your expertise 'cos I'm better in CP knowledge (applicable to where I am) than computer stuff.
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Cindy,

There are a number of spyware programs that will do this by running a script everytime your computer starts up.  N-case is the most common one, though I'm not familiar with the page you listed.  Try going into your add/remove program list and looking for things that shouldn't be there (especially anything that says N-case).  After removing a few you may find the problem fixed.  Good luck.
 
I don't understand. Not being in the world of PC #### ('cept at work), what causes that and why would anyone want to do that? I don't get it. How do you hijack a browser or homepage?
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PlantAKiss,

It's really quite simple to do. A web page can use a program written in javascript. Javascript can do these things because it was designed to make web pages more interesting and interactive. It can be turned off for safety, but most sites nowadays won't work without it. A more common method is to include software along with something you want. For instance, you download a free mp3 player. When you install it you say 'yes' to 50 prompts, and one of them happens to be to install this other spyware application that will change you homepage (among other things).



Why? To make money. You see, if you go to a page and view a banner, there is a 0.2% chance you will click on it (statistically). If you do, the web page owner makes anywhere from $0.01 to $0.20. If you see a popup on that page, the owner makes some $0.002 to $0.005. This is how many free services (like some of my own sites) support themselves.

Now, imagine if you had no morale values. You could sneak a program on hundreds of thousands of computers, and reset their homepage on startup to a page with a popup. Imagine it takes the 100,000 visitors 10 visitors to your page to realize what's happenning and stop it. You now have made $0.002 x 1,000,000 visits (10 visits/computer x 100,000 visitors) which comes out to $2000. Of course, it's REALLY hard, even if you're that underhanded, to get that many visitors...but that's the driving force.


Hope that helped.
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Ok, first thing I would do is run Ad-aware. Ad-aware along with spybot usually clear up about 98% of the "Hijackers".

Now, if that doesn't work, we need to do some registry tweakin (great fun)

You can also install a nifty little program called Browser Hijack Blaster 1.0.

Let me know if ad-aware or the blaster does not work, then we will move into Reg-cleaners. (I don't have a definative answer because after numerous google searches it seams you have a chinese spyware program. And, well, I don't read chinese that well.


Linkage

Browser Hijack blaster 1.0
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=3786

Ad-aware (try this first)
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=506


Hope this helps


Casper
 
Another possible solution is to simply empty your father's temporary internet files folder. You never know what can be in there. Sometimes viruses could find there way into there and all you have to do is empty it and then they're gone. You never know.
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  • #10
I found the information in this link to be helpful.

Hijacking Help

I renamed the .hta file on someone's computer at work and it did the trick.
 
  • #11
Thanks Nicholas.
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I've never heard of any of that.

The internet is such a great place for information but it sure is a field day for unscrupulous, lousy predators. Seems there is always somebody looking for a way to use somebody.

I could strangle whoever came up with the pop-up idea. Sometimes I can't even get a password or a search typed in because of their interference.
 
  • #12
Thanks, everyone. I'll try whatever is recommended. Will update as soon as I get rid of that irritating chinese website.

Sad to say, my dad is great at chinese (I'm chinese but I'm not too good in the language...shame shame) but he knows nuts about hijackers. He came back from work, insisting that there's nothing wrong because his colleague said that it's NOT a virus. I had to look very serious and tell him "No, not having a virus doesn't mean we don't HAVE a problem."

LOL
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...shh...don't let me dad hear this...the laughter I mean...hehehe...He will not speak to me for days if he knows I'm laughing at him!
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  • #13
Cindy - I know EXACTLY what you're talking about. Plus my dad's Chinese too
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Anyhow, I wrote a post about how to get rid of it awhile back. You'll have to look for it since it's time for me to jump on the freeway to get home. It's a complicated bit of spyware/adware - took me 3 hours to figure it out, and has numerous steps. It's not an easy one. I definetly posted this year about it, but that's all I remember. Might want to re-post the link if you find it.
 
  • #14
Thanks, michelle. I've managed to solve the problem with lots of researching and trying. It's a change in the registry which I didn't dare to touch. It took you 3 hours? It took me more that 3 days! LOL

And THANKS to everyone here. You guys/gals have been GREAT.
 
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