How do I get rid of a program tha has hijacked my home page and put an undeletable program in add/remove?

Question

This website has taken over my home page and internet explorer does not work correctly. I am now using firefox and am having no problems unless something says that I need internet explorer 5.0 or higher. When I go to Internet Properties my home page is correct but not displaying when I click on the internet explorer icon. The site that hijacked my homepage is some internet security site and I can't get rid of it. I went to add/remove and it will not let me remove it because it says that it is in use. There are 3 related programs and I can't remove any of them. I had thought about using my restore disc and wiping out everything but I have so many valuable programs and I don't know where to retreive them again. The site is: http://theuptodatesafety.com/ PLEASE WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T GO TO THAT SITE. You may end up with the same problem. I believe that it may be in dll files and that is why I can't delete it. I have scanned with Norton anti virus and others Please help me, I thank you.

Answer 1

Sounds like a new variant of the Smitfraud infection. Have a look here:
http://www.internetinspiration.co.uk/roguefix.htm
Good luck.

Answer 2

1) First thing to do is to print out this list of instructions.
2) Download and install the following programs:
- Spybot (www.download.com)
- Adaware (www.download.com)
3) Update programs but don't run them just yet
4) Restart your computer and enter safe mode (by pressing F8 before windows are initialised)
5) Go to start>programs> Accessories> system tools > system restore
6) Disable system restore
7) Run spybot and adaware scans and remove unwanted items.
8) if you have any difficulties removing items. Go to Start>run
and type regedit
9) search for unwanted programs in registry editor and delete entries
10) Correct settings in Internet explorer and restart computer.

you can find more specific information about how to remove viruses if you know exactly the name of the virus or the unwanted programs. There are a lot of discussion forms that can help you if you produce them with a diagnostic report produced by the 'Hijack This' program.

Answer 3

The best program on the market to remove the spyware and other hijack programs is Spysweeper. you can find it in Bestbuy and on the internet. No this is not the false spyware removal programs that the internet is full of. This is and has been proven to be the best of all the spyware removal tools out there and yes is much better than the free one from Microsoft. Also use Ad-aware and Spybot those are free programs that have been around for a while and can help you a bit.

Answer 4

Ignore these people! ^^

Mate, all you need to do is type Ctrl + Alt + delete, find the program in the list that is causing the problem, and choose to End Task.

Then the program will not be "in use" and you can remove it. I've had the same problem a few times, you dont need to go through all the stuff these guys are on about. Good luck!

Answer 5

I have never had this problem. Here are two solutions that I think will help you get rid of the malware that caused the hijack of your home page.

Go to: www.rosecitysoftware.com -- and download their, "Registry First Aid", This is not a free program, but if you are smart you will be able to remove the malware within the evaluation period, before you must purchase.

I used this program nine years and never has the program removed a good registry key.

When you first check the registry for errors, the program will make a backup of your registry. Then it will scan your registry for all error and you will see check mark next to green, yellow and red boxes. Cllick on fix as the red box with will not have check mark. The green and the yellow errors in your registry will be fixed. If you consider yourself an expert you can place check mark next to the red box. (Actually I always delete all as you have the backup and restore).

Then reboot your pc and go back to RFA and click on "search the registry". Here you want to type in the name of the program that infected your pc. Try different variations, like uptodate, safety or spaces in between the words and scan.

If the scan find the name take great care when left click on each registry key related to the malware. You want to drop down and and place the malware on remove the string from your registry. Then you fix. Always you will get a backup.

Don't fool with your registryon a manual basis unless you are an expert as it it hard work and one mistake will cost you to have to reformatt.

Again reboot your pc.

Now go to start=run=and type in c://program files then click on browse and then left click on program files an open. Now look for the program that infected your pc. You should be able to remove the program without it saying "program is in use"

If this fails you will have to reformatt your pc. Quite sorry.

In this day and age you really have to take extreme caution about anything you open or website you enter.

If you use Nortons or Mcafee get rid of them as they are pure junk for many many years. Wil not protect you.

Want a really good program, I use what the Government of China uses. (You will never have a problem like the one you have).

Being a clinical psychiatrist I have a moral and legal obligation to keep my pc 100% clean from all virus/spyware/malware.

I tested every free and purchase antivirus system known. An I found only one that actually works 100%. Never had a virus or spyware in my system in nine years.

Go to, www.filseclab.com and download thier Twister AntiTrojan Virus program. (You will have to pay a small one time fee). You will never have to pay an annual fee for updates, support or new versions. The one time fee is for life. ($29.99)

The software company is located in Beijing, China. They have excellent support, frequent large signature updates an as always all new versions are free. No annual fee for anything.

Comes with a real time scanner that really works. Actually I am quite amazed over the nine years how well it works.

Scans memory on startup.
Real time scanning in the background.
Open any webpage with an embedded trojan/spyware or malware and scanner will clean on the spot. An It is really removed from your system.

Download any kind of program from zips, all compressed files, software files, music, etc,etc, an if there is a hidden embedded trojan,spyware,malware, this program will stop the download and clean. An will advise you to end the download.

Will even find a virus in the installer wizard, like "Wise Installer". And will stop the installation while it is being installed and clean. Plus this program always will trace back who installed the trojan.

I had a trojan in and wizard installer. Twister caught the trojan and stopped the installation. I wrote the origianl company and told them the wizard installer had an embedded trojan to steal your data. The company now uses thier own installer.

You can't beat this software for a one time purchase fee only. Actually I don't know of any antivirus progam that even comes close to this state of the art technology.

All I can say it is worth the one time fee. Your pc cost alot of money and you don't want it destroyed. Plus your privacy is protected at all times.

There is nothing in it for me to praise this program. I tell it like it is. If it is garbage then I will say so.

Clinical Psychiatrist, France

Please excuse my english

Answer 6

You first have to uninstall the software that provided this nifty little feature! If this doesnt do the trick, type the name of the hijacker in your search box followed by the word "removal" without the quotes! Be prepared to do a lot of registry editing! Next time you will know better! You might also try to uninstall it in safe mode but if it came with software you downloaded it will simply reinstall itself.

Answer 7

possibly your computer is infected with trojan virus
there are many kind of them, i used to get infected as well, last time i reformat all over again my pc, but if the problems was about add/remove button, you can enable it from regedit, just try to find from there, but i think there are others application that will automatically reinstall them whenever you restart your pc, in other word remove it is useless, if you know the name or partial of the name you can try to search using windows search and remove the file
the easiest way perhaps use other pc to scan your computer for possibly virus or spyware or moleware

Answer 8

You may have to take your computer to a good repair shop to fix this problem. I had the same thing a few years ago and I ended up getting it repaired. You can do it yourself if you have the advanced know-how with computers. Do a search for hijacking and you may come up with something, but be really careful.

Answer 9

This happened to me and I had to spend a TON of time on the phone with Microsoft. If you use Microsoft, call them and they can help you remove this. Good Luck

Answer 10

You need to backup everything you can, because you will probably have to reformat your hard drive. I had a similar problem a couple of years ago and that's what I had to do.