# Help! Microsoft has hijacked my home page. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 8, 2007, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-microsoft-has-hijacked-my-home-page/403224 "2007-05-08T13:08:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-microsoft-has-hijacked-my-home-page/403224/1 "2007-05-08T13:08:11Z")
Awhile ago I was travelling with my laptop and utilized the network in a hotel room. Ever since then my home page has been hijacked by Microsoft. If I boot up the computer and open a browser (Firefox or IE) it always goes to the IE hompage even if I’m using Firefox… I have to go to the “Preferences” tab and change the homepage but it always reverts back the next time I start up the laptop. Why wont Firefox hold the change that I enter? I’ve tried changing some setting in IE but nothing seems to work. I’m probably missing something obvious so maybe a quick tip will solve the problem. I don’t want to go through the mess of completly reloading the OS. Everytime I see the Microsoft page I resent them even more. Does anybody have the fix? Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Queuing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/90ced4/32.png) [@Queuing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queuing)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-microsoft-has-hijacked-my-home-page/403224/2 "2007-05-08T13:21:37Z")
Check to see if your anti-virus has a setting about not allowing a homepage change. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-microsoft-has-hijacked-my-home-page/403224/3 "2007-05-11T12:48:21Z")
I’m not getting anywhere. I use Firefox and AVG Free anti-virus. I can’t find a setting that will correct the problem. Please make me feel stupid by showing me how simple it is to fix the problem. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-microsoft-has-hijacked-my-home-page/403224/4 "2007-05-11T13:17:38Z")
Ironically, Microsoft has some [suggestions](http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320159) about problems with your home page. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-microsoft-has-hijacked-my-home-page/403224/5 "2007-05-11T13:32:32Z")
This may seem trivial, but are you actually hitting the “_apply_” button after you make the change instead of the “_OK_” button? ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-microsoft-has-hijacked-my-home-page/403224/6 "2007-05-11T13:54:18Z")
[QUOTE=Uncommon Sense] This may seem trivial, but are you actually hitting the “_apply_” button after you make the change instead of the “_OK_” button? [/QUOTE] It doesn’t matter. OK means “apply and close” and Apply means “apply and stay open”. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-microsoft-has-hijacked-my-home-page/403224/7 "2007-05-11T14:08:21Z")
In IE, “Tools”–\> “Internet options”–\>“Home page” I know you said you’ve “tried changing some settings” but also asked us to state the obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-microsoft-has-hijacked-my-home-page/403224/8 "2007-05-11T14:37:43Z")
Resetting the home page to point to Microsoft doesn’t sound like something a piece of malware would do, but I suppose it could be a piece of _malfunctioning_ malware. I’d be inclined to run [HijackThis](http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/programs.php) and paste the logfile into [this](http://www.hijackthis.de/) page for analysis. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-microsoft-has-hijacked-my-home-page/403224/9 "2007-05-11T23:36:04Z")
I updated AVG and ran a full scan. It reported no threats. I uploaded \*\*Mangetout’\*\*s link and ran it. Found some stuff that looked suspicious and deleted it. No luck! I followed **Duck Duck Goose** ’s Microsoft suggestions and found some stuff that looked suspicious. I deleted it as instructed. No luck! I delete the suspicious registry stuff, changed the home page and saved it. Then when I reboot the laptop and go on line my home page has reverted to Microsoft. It’s looking like I have to do a complete reinstall of the OS. Anybody have any ideas? (I sincerely appreciate the responses from those that have given me suggestions.) ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2007, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-microsoft-has-hijacked-my-home-page/403224/10 "2007-05-12T00:11:53Z")
How are you launching the browser? If you have a shortcut, maybe the shortcut is pre-choosing an URL to open into. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2007, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-microsoft-has-hijacked-my-home-page/403224/11 "2007-05-12T00:33:58Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Resetting the home page to point to Microsoft doesn’t sound like something a piece of malware would do, but I suppose it could be a piece of _malfunctioning_ malware. [/QUOTE] With the number of computer geeks on the planet (and the type of sense of humour many of them have), I can’t help thinking there must be malware out there which is created not for any potential financial gain to its authors, but just for the sake of playing with people’s minds. An example might be a guy designing something specifically for his colleague’s computer as a prank, because his colleague is a Linux evangelist, and wouldn’t it be funny to set the homepage to Microsoft? wheeze wheeze… Then the malware spreads to other people’s machines. Does anybody have any experience with this sort of thing? ---
**Author:** ![AHarris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@AHarris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHarris)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2007, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-microsoft-has-hijacked-my-home-page/403224/12 "2007-05-12T02:18:14Z")
Spartydog, Are you using the windows network connections to setup your connection to the network, or are you using software provided by the laptop manufacturer? For example, my work laptop uses ThinkVantage Access Connections (IBM/Lenovo) to manage network connections. One of the options is to override the Internet Browser home page on a profile by profile basis. It does the override every time you connect to the profile (for example when booting the computer). ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2007, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-microsoft-has-hijacked-my-home-page/403224/13 "2007-05-12T07:36:10Z")
[Spybot Search & Destroy](http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10122137.html) has a set of advanced tools among which are some to lock your homepage against change and to reset any changes that have been made against your wishes. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2007, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-microsoft-has-hijacked-my-home-page/403224/14 "2007-05-12T15:08:30Z")
I’m curious: just which “Microsoft” page are you getting? What is the actual url that shows up once you’ve opened either browser (and is it the same url in both browsers)? ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2007, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-microsoft-has-hijacked-my-home-page/403224/15 "2007-05-12T20:58:58Z")
[QUOTE=yoyodyne] It doesn’t matter. OK means “apply and close” and Apply means “apply and stay open”. [/QUOTE] … on Windows. This is one of those Mac/Windows subtleties. On the Mac, “Apply” tends to mean “make it so I can see the changes” – whether or not the settings “stick” depends on whether you subsequently hit “Cancel” or “OK”. Like all of the subtler Mac UI guidelines, whether it’s followed depends a lot on how familiar with it the application developer is. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2007, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-microsoft-has-hijacked-my-home-page/403224/16 "2007-05-13T21:27:26Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] I’m curious: just which “Microsoft” page are you getting? What is the actual url that shows up once you’ve opened either browser (and is it the same url in both browsers)? [/QUOTE] The URL in Internet Explorer is - **[www.msn.com](http://www.msn.com)** The URL in Firefox is - **[www.msn.com/defaultc.aspx](http://www.msn.com/defaultc.aspx)** Do you think you could be on to something? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-microsoft-has-hijacked-my-home-page/403224/17 "2007-05-14T01:26:34Z")
I’m not sure. (I was hoping that it would be a phishing page that said something like [http://www.microsoft.con.steal.files.thieves.com](http://www.microsoft.con.steal.files.thieves.com) even though it displayed a copy of the Microsoft page.) Since that is not the case, I will note that it is not Microsoft, but its ancillary division MSN that has stolen your home page. I have seen a few references to some software hook in MSN that is designed to keep resetting the user-selected home page. (I have never seen that claim made against Microsoft, itself.) A couple of web sites that discuss it: [Ask Dave Taylor: How do I get rid of MSN as my home page?](http://www.askdavetaylor.com/how_do_i_get_rid_of_msn_as_my_home_page.html) This page does accuse Microsoft: [Is Microsoft a Home Page Hijacker?](http://www.oreillynet.com/windows/blog/2005/03/is_microsoft_a_home_page_hijac.html) Lavasofty boards discussion of the topic: [http://www.lavasoftsupport.com/lofiversion/index.php/t5264.html](http://www.lavasoftsupport.com/lofiversion/index.php/t5264.html) Running a Google™ search on “MSN hijack” will turn up some more discussions. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-microsoft-has-hijacked-my-home-page/403224/18 "2007-05-14T02:45:29Z")
As if this process isn’t agonizing enough, I took **Myglaren** ’s suggestion to download Spybot. I Google Spybot and downloaded the program only to realize that the first entry to pop up in Google was a program for **SpywareBot** , apparantly some competing program. Upon realizing that something wasn’t quite right I deleted SpywareBot. I hope that I haven’t loaded up the laptop with a lot more malware and viruses. Murderers should be locked up for life. Spammers, creators of viruses, people that spread malware and computer frauds & hijackers should be summarilly executed. ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-microsoft-has-hijacked-my-home-page/403224/19 "2007-05-14T05:41:49Z")
Which was why I included the link to [Download.com](http://Download.com) - there are several programs that try and ride in on Spybot Search & Destroy’s good name. Some are even spyware! One even claims that Spybot Search & Destroy is spyware and offers to delete it!