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Q: Open IE6 to home page error. ( Answered,   2 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Open IE6 to home page error.
Category: Computers > Software
Asked by: mside-ga
List Price: $10.00
Posted: 09 Mar 2004 18:44 PST
Expires: 08 Apr 2004 19:44 PDT
Question ID: 315105
When I open IE6 with mymsn as homepage, "y.msn.com/'>here" comes up on
the screen.  Click "Refresh and the MYMSN page come up.  What and why
is "y.msn.com/'>here"?
Answer  
Subject: Re: Open IE6 to home page error.
Answered By: clouseau-ga on 09 Mar 2004 19:42 PST
 
Hello mside,

Thank you for your question.

Even before searching for your answer I was convinced you have been
victim to what is known as spyware or scumware or browser hijacking.
Surprisingly, not much comes up searching for your particular problem
on the Internet, but there are several discussions on this problem on
the Google Groups (Usenet Groups). For example:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&threadm=2b3c01c3fcb4%246ecdf4d0%24a001280a%40phx.gbl&rnum=20&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Dy.msn.com%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26selm%3D2b3c01c3fcb4%25246ecdf4d0%2524a001280a%2540phx.gbl%26rnum%3D20

"Why is it when I launch Explorer, I get this 

 y.msn.com/'>here

instead of my home page opening up?  Any help would be 
appreciated.

Thanks,
Michael..."

There are several more requests, all virtually identical to yours and
all helpful answers point to to the same solutions.

The best and most complete page to explain what is most likely
happening and how to fix the problems is here:
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm

Dealing with Unwanted Spyware and Parasites

As they mention:

"...Do you have "Spyware" on your system? Parasites or an Unwanted
Search Engine? Don't panic -- this is a learning experience on how
some of these so-called friendly companies treat you as a valued
customer! Many of us are totally amazed (including myself) at just how
sneaky and underhanded some of these companies are...

...What is Spyware? A technology that assists in gathering information
about a person or organization without their knowledge. On the
Internet, "spyware is programming that is put in someone's computer to
secretly gather information about the user and relay it to advertisers
or other interested parties." In some cases even after these programs
have been removed from your system. As such, spyware and or Malware is
cause for public concern about privacy on the Internet. These type
applications also in many cases can cause unknown browser problems..."

Rather than cut and paste or rewrite this page, let me point out the
most pertinent points listed.

Download and run Ad-Aware as they suggest. All programs suggested on
this page have links to the programs you will need.

If you are a power user, also download and run Spybot. In most cases
removing the files or settings recommended by either of these programs
will have no ill effects, but you might lose a setting or cookie that
can easily be replaced or reset.

After these, try resetting your home page and see if it sticks. If
not, download and run CWShredder, as listed on the above mentioned
page.

If running this does not solve the problem, the next step is Hijack
This, which is well described on this page. With this program, you
will output a file which can then be posted on the Hijack This forums.
Volunteers there are quick to help you analyze the file results and
details what is causing your browser hijack problem. As a matter of
fact, you might enjoy reading the solutions they have found for others
in the forums.

I realize this is an annoying and sometimes complex problem to solve.
I think you will agree the MVPS page is an excellent tutorial and link
to all the tools you may need to get things working right again and I
encourage you to read it throughly before proceeding with fixes. Post
here with a Request for Clarification if I can further explain things
for you, clarify this answer or provide more help.

Good luck!

Search Strategy:

y.msn.com

I trust my research has provided you with the information you will
need to fix this problem. If a link above should fail to work or
anything require further explanation or research, please do post a
Request for Clarification prior to rating the answer and closing the
question and I will be pleased to assist further.

Regards,

-=clouseau=-
Comments  
Subject: Re: Open IE6 to home page error.
From: gripper4hire-ga on 07 Aug 2004 12:49 PDT
 
I had this problem too. For me it seems to have nothing to do with any
adware / spyware or whatever else (in fact I just received a new clean
system with no software installed, and it still had the problem!)

When you set my.msn.com as your homepage (instead of the default
www.msn.com) the website address put into the homepage setting has an
extra forward slash tagged to the end (http://my.msn.com/). Simply
remove the extra forward slash at the end to make the address
(http://my.msn.com) and this should take care of the issue.
Subject: Re: Open IE6 to home page error.
From: gripper4hire-ga on 07 Aug 2004 13:03 PDT
 
Actually,
I noticed that IE6 seems to add a forward slash to the end of *any*
homepage you set in the IE6 options, which probably can cause other
problems. *sigh*

But, you can circumvent this bug by simply creating a text file called
"UpdateIE.reg" with the following info:

REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"Start Page"="http://my.msn.com"

Run this file to change the home page setting to my.msn.com without an
added / at the end.

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