When we log on, using Hinet, we get the Hinet page. Great, obvious I know, works fine blah, blah, blah.
But if I try to open the IE form my desktop icon it has been hijacked by some crappy advertising company. I know that under “tools” you can change the address, but this one has been disabled, and always defaults to the advertising page (loads of pop ups for rubbish, making money and porn). The question is-
How do I get it to go back to “about:blank”?
I am using a Chinese computer so I kind of need intructions like
Your computer has been hijacked by a spyware. It’s pretty malicious. At one time, editing the registry was involved. Try running Spybot S&D and PestPatrol to eliminate it.
If you don’t know what you’re doing, do not mess with the registry. Robi’s suggestion will work, but there’s too much potential for you to completely fuck Windows up and end up needing a repair or reinstall of it.
And once you’ve gotten past this, try running Knoppix or Morphix when surfing the web, so that your browser can’t get hijacked again. At the very least, use Netscape or Mozilla so that Internet Exploder won’t be automatically infecting your machine with every ActiveX control it runs into.
I still don’t think Knoppix/Morphix is this OS wonder drug you keep touting it as. And why should the poster be expected to reboot into a different OS just to surf the web? Sure, it’s safer, but Windows can be safened as well.
After using Spybot I tried Pest Scam, way, way too difficult for a novice like me, it suggested altering the register and deleting stuff manually. :help:
Then I downloaded Trojan hunter…no trojans found
Then tried AdAware. This program is really simple to use and allowed me to select the “about: blank” in the browser window. It also destroyed the problem file.
First off, congrats to Limey for fixing the box. Hereafter, you might want to use Google to look up any specific phrases or websites that show up; often you’ll get a link to a page that explains how to remove it manually, or that discusses which adware-removers work properly for it.
MS-Windows is inherently insecure. Yes, you can harden it. You can harden it every week. But every week something new comes along again which can get through whatever Microsoft has screwed up, and sometimes it’s even a worm that exploits a loophole that the latest patch created. And some of the problems are damn near impossible to fix, like the JPEG library flaw that Microsoft disclosed a few weeks ago – because of how Microsoft did the library, it can be compiled statically into other applications, it can be dynamically linked from the OS’s copy, or it can be dynamically linked from an application’s own copy. You have to look at every single application on your box and fix every one of them that has the flaw, or else you’ve still got problems. Not only that, but some of those applications aren’t going to be fixable with Microsoft’s patch, because if it’s statically linked, you’ll have to download a new copy of the application to fix it.
Knoppix/Morphix is inherently secure. They run off a CD-R or CD-RW, and it is impossible for any virus to burn itself onto these disks. If something manages to get in, it will be vaporized the instant that you reboot your machine. Not only that, but the security model on Linux (and UNIX in general) is so much more secure than MS-Windows’ (lack of a) model that viruses have a harder time to begin with.
The only downside is that you have to issue a command to attach your HD if you want to save anything permanently. But it’s only two or three commands to learn, and anyone can write them down and learn to type them by rote. This also keeps your machine secure, since nothing is going to be able to infect your hard drive unless you explicitly do something to allow it.
Is Morphix/Knoppix perfect? Nope. Is it much, much better than MS-Windows? You betcha. Is it a pain in the ass to figure out? Nope, it functions pretty much the same as any other GUI, click on an icon and the program opens.
Just because you, Tetsuo, had problems with it once upon a time doesn’t mean that it sucks. May I suggest asking in an online forum to see if there is a solution to whatever it was that you couldn’t figure out yourself?
Although I’m a big fan of Knoppix, lately I’ve started using Kanotix, which is a Knoppix “knock-off”. Or “Knoppix on steroids”. Or whatever. Anyway, it’s great, and compared to Windows, it’s indeed a wonder drug.
I might bring my laptop running Kanotix to Mapo’s Halloween par…, erh, Bush Victory Party on November 3. Just in case anybody wants to see what a wonder drug really looks like.
Squiddy, I didn’t say it sucks. It is good. But it’s not the Be All And End All of computing the way you keep promoting it. And for a user who’s a relative beginner even by Windows standards, I would not recommend Knoppix, simply because trying to install new programs on a non-HD install of Knoppix is relatively hard work. For someone with a reasonable idea what they’re doing, though, Knoppix is a good choice. I’m just saying that going by the impression I got from Limey’s first post in the thread, he/she is not particularly au fait with computing beyond the basics. I may be wrong.
And as for having to update Windows all the time and all that, that’s an immense exaggeration. I have little to no problem with WinXP, I just run regular spyware checks and have a firewall going, on top of not being an idiot and OKing every dialogue box and opening every e-mail. Yes Windows is by far less secure than Knoppix, and it does take a small amount of effort to not have everything fucked up, but it’s certainly not the gargantuan effort you make it out to be.
Robert, nice new avatar. Is this new “Kanotix” based on OpenBSD? If so, and if it has nVidia drivers, I’m there!
What are you talking about?? Where did I ever suggest that they install a bunch of new programs?
I use Morphix when I am out and about on the Internet. I also use it for some light programming work, and it has all the tools that I need in the basic package.
I haven’t had any need to install ANYTHING new until about a week ago, when I decided to do some TIFF-to-PDF conversions – hardly typical stuff.
For websurfing, checking email (on the web), and so on – all the normal usage that most people put their computers through – ESPECIALLY the new users like you presume Limey is – the basic Knoppix and Morphix CDs have pretty much everything that they need to be safe when digging around on the web.
It’s a hell of a lot more than Knoppix takes, and you can never be sure that you haven’t got something that sneaked in. With Knoppix, I know with 100% certainty that when I connect to my brokerage account, nobody is logging my password – unless they’ve broken 128-bit encryption, in which case everyone is screwed.
Another tool if your web browser keeps getting the home page changed is CWShredder. It is designed to counter the CoolWebSearch browser hijacker, which is the most common cause of home page hijacking. I’m not sure why Spybot didn’t solve the problem. Did you update the definitions db prior to scanning?
I guess you recognized it (the avatar) as the OpenBSD blowfish. Anyway, I love OpenBSD, but Kanotix is based on Knoppix (that is to say, Debian Linux). I use OpenBSD on the desktop, but Kanotix is better optimized for a laptop (has superb power management and recognizes the Centrino’s WiFi capabilities). It also helps that a new Kanotix is released once a month, so it’s always up-to-date. I’m writing a review of Kanotix right now, which I’ll submit to Distrowatch in a few days - hopefully Ladislav will publish it.
Yes, fair enough. But why should anyone be expected to reboot just because they want to surf the web or check their e-mail. Surely it’s more constructive to provide help for their current situation than suggest they reboot into a new OS every single time they want to go online.
Yes, fair enough. But why should anyone be expected to reboot just because they want to surf the web or check their e-mail. Surely it’s more constructive to provide help for their current situation than suggest they reboot into a new OS every single time they want to go online.[/quote]
?? But they don’t need to change “their current situation”. They can keep MS-Windows on their hard drive, use it whenever they want, and just boot up something else when they want to go online.
It takes maybe two minutes, tops, to reboot. I hit the power switch, go take a leak, and come back refreshed and ready to browse. You’re making it sound like some sort of hideously painful chore that nobody wants to do more than once a year. Hell, MS-Windows crashes often enough that it probably wouldn’t even be noticeable.
That’s nonsense. That you don’t like Windows is evident, but the original poster asked for help with keeping Windows clean; and installing Linux is hardly the simple answer he/she is looking for.
That’s nonsense. That you don’t like Windows is evident, but the original poster asked for help with keeping Windows clean; and installing Linux is hardly the simple answer he/she is looking for.[/quote]
CQ, you obviously don’t understand what we are talking about here.
Knoppix and Morphix don’t get “installed”. Do you remember the days when you’d put a floppy in the drive, turn the machine on, and it would boot up the OS? This is the same thing except you put a CD in the drive and boot from that. It all runs in memory and never touches the hard drive unless you explicitly run commands to do so.
You don’t lose your Windows installation; you can use it any time you want. Just don’t put the CD in the drive, and boot your machine, and you’re back to using Windows.
Personally, I also disconnect my ethernet cable when I’m running Windows, just so that the machine can’t be invaded through one of Windows’ many little backdoors. But Internet Explorer and MS-Outlook are the biggest worries.
CnsMin aka www.3721.com is one shitty little spyware. :fume: It changes your Active X settings in IE and prevents you from using TrendMicro’s Housecall and Pandasoftware Titanium on-line anti-virus software. Users who browse Chinese websites have to be careful about this one particularly.
