"About.blank" problem---not boaty

[lydiamight]

Can anyone please give me some advice?
My internet browser has been highjacked by a trojan/virus that keeps re-directing my browser to a page called about.blank. Not surprisingly from its name it is a blank page. My laptop (a Toshiba Qosmio running XP Media version) then runs very slowly and the only way i can get out of the page is to open the task manager and close it down from there.

I have tried Malawarebytes, Ad-aware, CC Cleaner and Spybot to find the problem---all without success.

I use Avast and Windows Defender as my day to day security and I have also tried restoring my PC to an earlier date before the problems started, also changing my browser to Firefox----nothing has worked.

Looking on the internet there seems to be numerous slightly dodgy looking operations offering my a free scan to find my problem. No doubt they will tell me that they have found loads of problems, all of which can be solved once i give them my credit card details. i am not averse to paying for a solution but i need to know if it is genuine.

Looking on Google this doesn't seem to be a problem unique to me and I was wondering if any other forum members have had the same problem, and if so how they resolved it.

All help would be appreciated although a suggestion that I buy a MAC and run Apple software would not be appropriate.

 

[Martin_J]

Hi
I don't think you mentioned which web browser you are using.. e.g. Internet explorer, Firefox, Safari....

Assuming you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer, the Microsoft website has a few suggestions.. It might just save you accidentally downloading something else that could make things worse.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/security/resources/hijacking-whatis.aspx


Another option could be to install Mozilla Firefox and browse the web with that.. it's just like Internet Explorer!

 

[trapezeartist]

Another option could be to install Mozilla Firefox and browse the web with that.. it's just like Internet Explorer!

Firefox is nothing like Internet Explorer! It's standards-compliant for a start.

 

[RichardS]

System restore should remove it. Try a restore in Safe Mode as that will sometimes shift something that can't be removed otherwise.

Richard

 

[RobbieW]

You seem to have a nasty but rather old hijack virus. There are few current hits for it when searching around Google - most stuff dates from 2004/5. It looks like one that regenerates itself from the registry.

There are some descriptions of manual removal which involve looking at the registry, then renaming a file when in safe boot mode. If that means nothing to you I think I'd suggest a trip to your local PC repair shop.

Curiosity question - is everything up to date? Avast, Windows, Defender etc etc. Kinda wondering how it got there as the virus has been around a while with no real evidence of a current new variant about. You'd expect your current security tools to have picked it up and warned you at least.

 

[Boreades]

Echoing the previous replies, it would help us help you if we knew which browser you mean. If it's Internet Explorer, you have my sympathy. Trying other browsers like Google Chrome, Firefox and Opera is always worthwhile.

 

[theoldsalt]

lidiamight,

The one guaranteed way to remove all malicious problems is to backup all your personal data (which you should do frequently anyway), format the hard drive and reinstall the operating system and applications from the master disks.

Once you have a clean fresh installation, use one of the many free utilities available to create a backup image of your hard drive which you can use in the future to restore your hard drive should you encounter the same problem saving the hassle of installing all your software from various master sources.

I use only AVG to protect my PC and never get any problems. Its the best protection I have found.

 

[little_roundtop]

You haven't simply set you browser home page to be about:blank have you? You don't say what browser you have but you should be able to Google instructions on how to set the home page back to something more useful to you.

 

[ostell]

Nothing wrong with your computer, it looks as thought you have changed your settings by accident. You will get "About:blank" if you have changed your home page to show a blank page.

Duplicated advice, but tell us what browser and we can point you to how to correct.

However, if you are using Internet Explorer first of all display a page you would like to display when the browser opens, say google.com then click on the gear wheel at the top right of the page (Tools) and then select "Internet Options" from the list. Under the "General" tab there is a section labelled "Home page". Click on the button "Use Current" and then the "OK" button at the bottom. Next time when you start the browser you will get your chosen site as the first page.

You may have noticed, in the home page section, that there is a "Use Blank" button. That is what gave you the effect that you were worried about. Personally I prefer that option then decide what page to display next.

You may want to try the Google Chrome browser by downloading and installing from this page.

Slowness seems to be a feature with XP as it gets older, with all those fixes that have been added. In the first instance defragment the drive (several times) and then consider adding some RAM if you have 512M or less (Control Panel -> System). This site can provide RAM updates. Use their downloadable tool to see what is there and what can be added.

Have you tried AVG free as your antivirus?

One additional thought: Although you said you have tried Spybot didd you actually do a scan with it? People have been known to just install it and not run a full scan.

 

[Lakesailor]

You may have noticed, in the home page section, that there is a "Use Blank" button. That is what gave you the effect that you were worried about. Personally I prefer that option then decide what page to display next.

Of course most sensible people have the Forums page as their homepage. It will log in automatically if you check the remember me box.

 

[lydiamight]

A "thank you" to everyone who has so generously offered their advice.

Upon further investigation it would appear that the "trojan" is in the registry---hence the reason that I have not been able to get rid of it by normal methods.

As I don't think that I am up to tinkering with the registry I have decided to adopt "plan B".

A friend of mine in the village runs a small but highly regarded computer business. As I am unable to find my original installation discs and he has a copy of XP Media Centre he will carry out a completely fresh install and format the hard disc for me.

Although not formally backed up everything on my laptop is duplicated on my desktop which is, in turn, properly backed up on another hard disc, so it won't be a major problem to put back my laptop to roughly where it was before.

In any event it's probably a good idea to get rid of the not inconsiderable amount of junk that seems to have accumulated on my laptop over the past five years.