hey everyone, i have done some research as others on this website suggested. it turns out that im pretty sure i have a browser highjacker that is causing major headaches. as far as i can tell its known as about:blank and i think mine is varient 5. I think i also have something called coolwebsearch. i have ran several programs to remove these little b---tards but to no avail. i have tried ad-aware, spyfarret, cwshredder, adaway, adware away, highjackthis and probably a few others. Does anyone know how i can get rid of these highjackers. also my computer wont allow me to restore to an earlier point. i have tried to in safe mode, but that wont work either. could this be because of the highjacker??? any help is appreciated. thanks

I usually use Spybot http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html It's rather good. Turn off the system restore temporarily until the full scan has been completed. After you install Spybot and do the updates disconnect from the web, do a full scan, reboot, scan again then reconnect to the web. This may sound obvious but go into add/remove programs and remove any references to spyware etc. Uninstall whilst disconnected to the web. Also consider installing a firewall so you know what's trying to connect to the web. here's a free one and it's also quite good :- http://smb.sygate.com/products/spf_standard.htm HTH Scott uk

HI cody What you should do is get CWShredder and something i think is called About:Destroyer(maybe buster?) Also get MS AntiSpyware and Ad-Aware and Spybot Search and Destroy. CWShredder along with other great antivirus, spyware, adware and firewall programs can be found here. http://www.komando.com/bestshareware.asp

agree with all of the above. Home Search Assistant or Cool Web Search is a nasty one to get rid of and I have had to run the following 3 together at a minimum: Ad Aware w/ latest defs Spybot Search and Destroy w/ latest defs CWShredder w/ latest defs All 3 of these should be run in SAFE MODE. Running in regular windows mode will not get rid of this. Also depending on the variant I have had to manually edit some registry keys especially in the HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer specifically the keys "main" and "search" and look for any hooks to a suspicious Dll or Exe on your local computer. I have posted about HSA and CWS on here before in more detail I will see if I can find that post for you. l8r

i know i heard about About:Buster(i think its buster)somewhere...i just cant remember where.

Spot on Kyle. It's here: ABOUT:BUSTER Seem to recall that MS AntiSpyware freebie fixes this one too. DerekW

thats where i saw! thanx derek! i was gonna get it, but the next download page wouldnt start and they were asking you to download the spy doctor while the download started and as ive heard, spy doctor creates fake infections so people will buy the software.