IE6 hijacked?

[jhofve]

I've been using Mozilla Firefox as my primary browser for a couple of months. However, last night I had occasion to want to use IE6 (I have Alexa and Google toolbars on it so sometimes I need it)--but instead of my home page (Yahoo), it opened to www.indra.com. The address bar still read Yahoo, and I could put other addresses in, but all I got was the Indra page.

I tried uninstalling IE6, it wouldn't uninstall. I tried deleting the whole folder, wouldn't do that either. I tried reinstalling IE6 from the MS website, and that failed too. Finally I found some funky numbered files in the IE6 program folder that I deleted, and it seems okay now.

*Can* I uninstall IE6? I'd be more than pleased to reduce the amount of MS junk on my hard drive! The message I got was that the program was in use, which of course it wasn't.

What can I do to prevent this type of hijacking in the future? This occurred on my laptop, which isn't my primary computer (although it is at the moment with the desktop down) so I only have Norton on it. Would ZoneAlarm or other firewall programs prevent this sort of attack?

Thanks!

Cheers,
Jean

[wenwilder]

Zone Alarm would definately be helpful. Make sure nortons is updated. It wouldn't hurt to add a back up virus program, AVG is free and works really well. I haven't received any false positives with it, like I've seen with other free programs.

Spybot would be a good one also. It sounds like you got ahold of CSW. Spywareinfo has an online adware/spyware scanner that catches things spybot and adaware miss.

Look for the executable file named bootconf.exe, svchost32.exe and/or dnsrelay.dll.

Hope this helps - you caught yourself a fun one.


More info on CWS:

[Grinler]

Internet Explorer is the king of hijackings and spyware. As a matter of fact, Mozilla and Netscape dont have the problem at all. There is only one known case where a netscape browser was hijacked and it was easily fixed.

If you never want to get hijacked again, then use Mozilla Firefox or other non IE browser. If you are set in your ways then I will recommend three programs to you:

Spybot
Ad-aware
SpywareBlaster

With the use of these programs you generally will not have a problem anymore.

Tutorials for the above programs can be found at my site in the Spyware/Hijacker Tutorial section

[funbiz]

My browser got hijacked by some XXX program, then I come across "StartPage Guard".

This program keeps an eye on your ie browser, if some program trys to chamge your homepage it alerts you and ask if you OK the change or NOT.

You can download "StartPage Guard 2.51" at
www.download.com

Seems to work (knock on wood).

[ronniethedodger]

A majority of the time a lot of these exploits can be avoidable if you secure your computer properly. A good resource for secure computing is described in this thread http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic.php?t=21982.

[mikmik]

Go the Control panel, then add/remove programs.
Add/ remove window components, uncheck Internet Explore.
Press okay, or next.

I think this works, but if not, I do know it is possible.

Also, all files that windows 'owns' will not let you touch them, unless you tweak security settings.

But it is not neccessary to uninstall, listen to dodger, and there is great advice in the other topics here as well.
Also, this site hase some very good information : BoG I use it all the time.

But we are getting a lot of great, great info here, instigated by wenwilder. Use the search for finding stuff easier.

HTH, we are usually around somewhere not far from here.

PS, it is always important to include the version of windows you have when submitting for advice!

[netman4ttm]

You can't get rid of IE. It is part of the system. Same engine that runs IE runs "My Computer" and displays the contents thereof.

Its like trying to get Nautilis out of Ximian. (a gratuitous remark to make the Linux guys smile and the Windows guys go huh??)

[ronniethedodger]

Originally Posted by netman4ttm

You can't get rid of IE. It is part of the system. Same engine that runs IE runs "My Computer" and displays the contents thereof.

You cannot get rid of Explorer is what I think you meant to say, right? It is Explorer that is part of the system and is behind My Computer. It is behind IE and just about every program that uses the File System.

Internet Explorer was at one time integrated into the Windows Operating System ... but that is what the big lawsuit was all about a while back. They have undone that and it no longer applies.

It is easier to get rid of Internet Explorer than it is to get rid of AO-Hell off your computer. That I can attest to ... never install that viral piece of software on your system if you do not want to spend hours uninstalling all of their configuration changes. Not only do they over-ride your default browser (which could be Mozilla, btw ... they play no favorites), but they also overide your Media software and other default software.

[netman4ttm]

I realize that you can access a remove IE,in XP, but I'm not sure that you really get rid of IE. Yes, you are correct Explorer and IE are supposed to be seperated. But I don't think they actually are. My understanding is that on everything up to XP all you could do was set the default to something other than IE. At XP you can remove access to the program, but major parts are still there. The removal process doesn't actually remove IE just the users ability to use it.

Where are those MSCE guys?