ARRGHH - My IE homepage keeps defaulting to www.fastwebsearch.com -

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twigmans

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#88539 17-Aug-2011 21:10

Hi

Think I have picked this up when one of the children downloaded a game. Have tried a few anti spy scans etc with no luck - can change it back to my normal homepage, however once you log out & back on again it has defaulted back. Any assistance gratefully received.

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19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#508227 17-Aug-2011 21:12

Scan you PC with malwarebytes from malwarebytes.org

sbiddle

30853 posts

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Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#508228 17-Aug-2011 21:12

Your machine is infected with spyware. Best bet is to try a few of the more useful spyware apps (such as malwarebytes) and a full AV scans from a safe boot.

twigmans

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#508232 17-Aug-2011 21:15

Hmm - malwarebytes is one that I have tried - I think did a "quick scan" - should I try again? & pardon my ignorance - how do I get into "safe mode" - thought it was F8, but didn't appear to work...

johnr

19282 posts

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Inactive user

#508235 17-Aug-2011 21:17

Do a full scan will take longer

vexxxboy

4244 posts

Uber Geek

#508240 17-Aug-2011 21:28

if nothing works try Hitman Pro , its free for 30 days and it works well, just download and activate the free licence no installation needed, so can run of flash drives which can be handy.

http://download.cnet.com/Hitman-Pro-3-32-bit/3000-2239_4-10895604.html

Common sense is not as common as you think.

gzt

17134 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#508281 17-Aug-2011 22:35

SpyBot Search and Destroy (free/donation). I never use the resident protection (no particular reason) just the scan and immunize features. Have seen it implemented in large corporates.

twigmans

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#508674 18-Aug-2011 17:46

Thanks guys

I have run msconfig & can see what I believe is the problem running at start up - have unchecked i, however when I reboot & check again, it has put that command back in again - any ideas please???

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
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Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#508675 18-Aug-2011 17:49

As said. Run the full Malwarebytes scan in safe mode.

Restart your PC and hit F8 continuously BEFORE Windows starts loading.

heretohelp

360 posts

Ultimate Geek

#508707 18-Aug-2011 19:03

Wild guess here but did you install increadimail?

if so every time you launch it will change your home page by defualt i suggest cutting your lossess and uninstalling it. If you have it there is no easy way of getting your messages back over to another client there are some free programs but limted to 5 emails at a time.

Thanks.

Hu? did i do that?
16Mb (EDO RAM), K6-II processor, 2Mb of onboard graphics. 32k dial up modem. 12 speed CD ROM. 5¼-inch floppy drive. 500Mb HDD.

twigmans

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#508738 18-Aug-2011 20:39

No not incredimail - was a childrens game (pokemon type) - have run malwarebytes again to no avail....???

gzt

17134 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#508772 18-Aug-2011 22:14

gzt: SpyBot Search and Destroy

Try it. It is lightweight, passive, and does not slow your system down.

If that fails - the next step is heavyweight trialware from Macafee or Symantec.

heretohelp

360 posts

Ultimate Geek

#509123 19-Aug-2011 17:50

gzt:
gzt: SpyBot Search and Destroy

Try it. It is lightweight, passive, and does not slow your system down.

If that fails - the next step is heavyweight trialware from Macafee or Symantec.

ouch please please dont install ither of those they will make things worse

spybot is ok but dont touch mcafee or symantec with a barge pole

What antivirus are you running.

also please

http://download.cnet.com/Trend-Micro-HijackThis/3000-8022_4-10227353.html

download hijack this from here. run it then post the scan log to us on the forrum so i can check it out. PM me if you want me to remote access your pc i will see if i can quickly get it out for you..

thanks.

Hu? did i do that?
16Mb (EDO RAM), K6-II processor, 2Mb of onboard graphics. 32k dial up modem. 12 speed CD ROM. 5¼-inch floppy drive. 500Mb HDD.

GamerOC

439 posts

Ultimate Geek

#509719 21-Aug-2011 22:12

"As said. Run the full Malwarebytes scan in safe mode" and windows security essentials scan is very good too.

good luck,

Andy

Oblivian

7300 posts

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#509735 21-Aug-2011 23:21

And dont forget to turn off System Restore, cause they tend to hide out there and restart once prefetch scans them.

A lot of the time it may also have a legit removal tool in add/remove programs. CoolWebSearch is a common variant. Or Mywebsearch, or Search Assistant.

Showing usually only a app size of 1 or 2mb.

A lot of these facebook 'enhancements' have this sort of thing attached to them.

Dreamy

251 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#509743 21-Aug-2011 23:57

If you still haven't resolved this, you can also try housecall from trend micro. It's free and I find it very good.

~~Dream.Catcher~~
iPhone 4s 16 GB, Ipad2 32gb
windows 7 computer

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