posted on January 24, 2005 06:48:58 AM
Hi All,
I'm sad to report that I have pick up the pain in the @ss virus or is it a worm, ABOUT:BLANK. Do any of you experts know how to remove it from my hard drive. My son tried for 3 hours yesterday, threw up his hands and installed Mozilla for me instead of IE. He said that there really isn't any know method to truly remove this because it is hidden in hard to find files. He claims that it would be easier to buy a new system and start fresh.
Any advice from all you knowledgable experts out there? I can't afford to really build a new one at the moment.
Today will be my first day using Mozilla.
Thank you guys,
Rosanne
posted on January 24, 2005 09:51:43 AM
Thank you Glassgrl for helping me. I am using XP. My son stays on top of things when he has a moment(he is currently working full time and in school 4 nights a week). I have to wait when he has a moment to address my computer problems. It seems lately, I have been experiencing some problems with my computer.
I will show him your info soon.
Thank you again,
Rosanne
posted on January 24, 2005 10:55:59 AM
http://www.avast.com/eng/down_home.html
allow it to scan when windows restarts. Tell it to delete any virus it finds. I spent 6 hours last week getting about: Blank off a guys system before I found this program.
[ edited by justmypostingid on Jan 24, 2005 10:57 AM ]
[ edited by justmypostingid on Jan 24, 2005 11:17 AM ]
posted on January 24, 2005 11:02:59 AM
eewwwhhh - evidently there's a LOT of people that are getting this. They are swamped with about:blank hijackers at Net-Integration!
posted on January 24, 2005 11:23:48 AM
I'm puzzled. Why would he tell you to buy a new system and start fresh? Reformatting should do the trick if all else fails. You can use the Files and Settings Transfer wizard to back up some of your files. I try to back-up My Documents folder at least once a week to a CD.
Cheryl
"No drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power." ~ P.J. O'Rourke
posted on January 24, 2005 11:41:42 AM
I had a virus with my new computer a couple months after I bought it.
XP has a restore feature that lets you restore it back to a certain date.
I went back to a date before the problem started, run the restore and it cleared out everything after that date, the problem was gone.
Really nice feature,no need to start from scratch.
You will loose some things from that date to now,but that's better than loosing everything!
posted on January 24, 2005 12:36:13 PM
Hi Cheryl, Dad & Glassgrl,
He wants me to assemble a new one since he thinks that mine is too slow. Sometimes his will be down and rather than work on it because of time restraints of class assignments, he will use mine as back up until he can look at his. I don't want the investment at the moment, and then I don't know if need anything faster.
I will mention the time restoration factor tonight but so far, working through Mozilla, there isn't a problem but I haven't gone onto IE today as yesterday.
thank you, you all are fabulous.
rosanne
posted on January 24, 2005 12:55:12 PM
there's a solution to it.
about:blank is an actual "site" per se. its a function of internet explorer that lets you have the page, well.. blank.
but lots of malaware/adware/spyware out there "hijacks" the about:blank page.. and takes you there all the time.. this is done because a lot of people have their page blank, so they wouldnt know when they're infected with this malaware.
generally its the Coolwebsearch malaware that causes this problem. a good symptom is when you type a strange address that you dont know existed in the address bar and press enter, they'll take u to a website with ads, etc.
it is generally very difficult to remove, as your son has suggested. since it has many hidden files, and reproduces itself.. its basically classified as a trojan now.
try downloading this:
http://cwshredder.net/bin/CWShredder.exe
and run fix. make sure u have all internet explorer closed, even windows explorer before u attempt this. u can make double sure by using CTRL-ALT-DELETE to bring up the Task Manager in Windows XP, and see if any instances of Internet Explorer is still open without your knowledge. best bet is to just run it with a fresh system start. or run it in Safe Mode.
you can tell your son to try this site out for more info and other programs that will help:
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html
and download hijackthis.exe
it'll let him edit and remove whats loaded during computer start up.
its for more advance user, and ur son seems like he knows what he's doing since he opt with Mozilla instead of IE. hehe.
if he wants some help, he can email me or post additional info here.
hope u solve it without resorting to format, its possible. I had the same thing, took me quite A LONG TIME.. 3+ hours to get rid of it.
posted on January 24, 2005 12:59:43 PM
oh yeah, most anti spyware/adware program will have difficulty in removing this.. since it has hidden files, and reproduces. the program i told u to download works most of the time if its not deeply infected, if it is.. you'll have to resort to using hijackthis.exe
