Re: Problem with AboutBlank and missing Notepad

From: MacKenrick (MacKenrick_at_NOSPAMhotmail.com)
Date: 06/21/04 

Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2004 23:53:16 -0700

AboutBlank hijacked my homepage and somehow I got the CWS SearchX at the
same time. It screwed up my shortcuts to Notepad too. After reading a few
posts here and elsewhere and looking at my notes from a somewhat similar
experience with ISearch, here is what I did to finally fix the problem and
got rid of AboutBlank as my homepage. I'm not a computer tech. so I don't
know the technical aspects of the process but it worked for me. (Note: I'm
running WinXP Home. I had Norton Antivirus, Spybot, WinXP Firewall and
D-link Firewall running but still got the problem).

I ran Norton AntiVirus but it didn't detect anything.

I ran Spybot but it didn't detect anything.

I ran CW Shredder and it found CWS SearchX. I removed it.

I downloaded and ran AdAware (run the update and get the latest revision
first). It found a slug of problems in my Folders and Registry. I had
AdAware fix them. (Note: Some had to be fixed after a reboot)

I rebooted in Safe Mode and then completed the following:

Make sure you are set to Show Hidden Files and Folders and delete the
following files/folders:

Delete files/folder from the following directories (But not the directory
itself, for example delete all files/folder IN temp; but not temp itself!)

[*]C:\Windows\Temp\
[*]C:\Documents and Settings\<Your Profile>\Local Settings\Temp\
[*]C:\Documents and Settings\<All other users Profile>\Local Settings\Temp\
[*]C:\Documents and Settings\<Your Profile>\Local Settings\Temporary
Internet Files\ [*]C:\Documents and Settings\<All other users Profile>\Local
Settings\Temporary Internet Files\
[*]Empty your "Recycle Bin"

[*]Reboot

I then ran HijackThis. This first item on the list was an R1-HKCU that
ended in AboutBlank. I checked the box and had HJT remove it.

I rebooted and everything was back to normal, except my shortcuts to Notepad
were still screwed up. I right clicked on the shortcuts, selected
properties and changed the Target to: C:\WINDOWS\NOTEPAD.EXE and cleared
the stuff that was in the Start-In box.

My computer seems to be back to normal. Hope this works for you. Good
luck. Mac

PS: I just read a post where a guy with a similar problem was able to
resolve it by just going back to a RESTORE POINT prior to getting infected.
You may want to give that a try before doing all of the above.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: A Christmas gift to all haters of Micro$hit
    ... Three times I was prompted to and forced to reboot the ol' ... PeeCee -- four if you consider that I also needed to change the address ... I don't know the PeeCee shortcuts save for CTRL-ALT-DEL so I ... in the System Preference app as well as many of the software packages ...
    (comp.os.vms)
  • XPHome (SP2) - desktop shortcuts disappeared
    ... One reboot to main ... user account and all shortcuts and program access links on desktop ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: Desktop shortcuts
    ... > reappear after a reboot. ... > after copying files from a floppy to CD. ... What are they shortcuts to? ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Problem with Links Bar
    ... I just started to have a very annoying problem whenever I reboot my ... The shortcuts on my links bar/list are being alphabetized without ... my utilizing the "sort" command. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)
  • Keyboard Shortcuts Stop Working
    ... Often when I am working in Powerpoint, the keyboard ... shortcuts simply stop working. ... to reboot my PC. ...
    (microsoft.public.powerpoint)