David
Sat Mar 22 09:29:12 PDT 2008
"Sudy Nim" <pseudonym@noplace.com> wrote in message news:kE9Fj.32393$D_3.10301@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> "David Morgan (MAMS)" <findme@m-a-m-s.comC/Odm> wrote in message
> news:k3XEj.50$Ew5.8@trnddc04...
> >
> > "Sudy Nim" <pseudonym@noplace.com> wrote in message...
> >
> > > Hi David Morgan & Don,
> > >
> > > In the hopes of reducing confusion I'll try to answer you both at the same
> time.
> > > I tried setting homepage to, Use Current, Use Default, Use Blank or
> inserting
> > > Yahoo or whatever and no change would stick. Clicking "Apply" or "OK" after
> a
> > > change made no difference. We are making headway as with your combined help
> we
> > > might have discovered the what, and maybe the how. I am using Spybot and
> > > Ad-Aware se Pro with the latest updates. I ran both and they found nothing
> of
> > > importance. I also did total clean up of all cookies and temp files and ran
> > > scanreg/fix/opt. I tried startup in Safe Mode changed address to
> > >
http://my.att.net but the wrong address returned with the next w98 startup,
> > > however, Ad-Watch caught:
> > >
> > > Ad-Watch Event Log
> > > 3/21/08 3:27:22 PM - Registry modification detected
> > > Root: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
> > > Key: Software\Microsoft\internet Explorer\Main
> > > Value: Start Page
> > > Data:
http://www.att.net/
> > > New Data:
http://my.att.net
> > >
> > > The registry Start Page showed the new address
http://my.att.net but when I
> > > re-opened IE I got that same AT&T message, again. Returning to the registry
> > > Start Page it had changed back to the original setting
http://www.att.net
> > > apparently you are correct David, AT&T implanted a program, which is
> altering
> > > the registry. And as you indicated the web page is hi-jacked because the top
> of
> > > page always shows: "AT&T Microsoft Internet Explorer."
> > >
> > > In Settings > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs, there is program
> (ATT -AACE)
> > > that I did not knowingly install. Doing a "Find File or Folders" ATT -AACE
> > > contains at least one dll and a couple of exe. A search of the Internet did
> not
> > > find that program.
> > >
> > > I've been at this all day and I'm tired, so with a fresh start in the AM
> (unless
> > > the wife has other plans) I will delete that program, hopefully clean out
> the
> > > remnants and get back to you with the results. Thank you for sticking with
> me
> > > through this problem.
> > >
> > > Sudy Nim
> >
> >
> > Feel free to remove *any* ATT or Yahoo! installed programs... also remove
> > "True Switch" if they have installed that as well. None of these are needed.
> >
> > The Yahoo! 'toobar' is it's own little breed of spyware, allowing Yahoo to
> follow
> > your search and surf habits via your IP address. If you need Yahoo, you can
> > simply surf to Yahoo, or hopefully re-set this as your home page if you have a
> > Yahoo e-mail account and that's more convenient for you.... but the software
> > simply isn't needed -- and now that ATT and Yahoo have merged, there are a
> > number of little privacy issues like this.
> >
> > I venture to say, once it's out of there... you will be able to reset your
> home
> > page with ease or someone here will continue to work with you to edit that
> > registry key.
> >
> > The main thing (in my humble opinion) is, don't let anyone tell you that they
> > won't support IE6 just because it's running on Win98SE... it's in a manual
> > *somewhere,* or someone around here will be glad to help.
> >
> > By the way, I'm posting on a 2.6 GHz P-IV with a gig of ram (any more is
> > wasted on 98) running Win-98SE and IE6 and OE6.... and I use no A/V
> > protection... I simply keep those cookies and temp files emptied after
> > every surfing session and run Ad Aware every so often.
> >
> > Why ? Because it's a fine platform that is insanely easy to manually scan
> > through folders and detect alterations on your own.... there's only one folder
> > for cookies, only one folder for Temp files, one folder for IE temp cache,
> only
> > one programs folder, etc., etc.. As long as you're a single user or don't
> mind
> > others at home having access to the PC, Win98SE will remain viable until you
> > need serious hardware replacement and can no longer find printers and such
> > that support 98... and even then, the 'used' PC & parts store can be a
> saviour.
> >
> > Please let us know what happens after removal.
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > DM
> No luck, I removed the program ATT -AACE, cleaned out cookies, temp files etc.
> and ran Spybot and Ad-Aware, scanreg/fix/opt. Restarted in Safe Mode and IE
> address was correct
http://my.att.net however when w98 was started the address
> changed back to www.att.net and the browser was locked. When browser opened
> the top banner read, "AT&T - Microsoft Internet Explorer."
Since I have had 'issues' with SpyBot, and I don't use ANY of the optional
tools in Ad-Aware... please follow PA Bear's suggestion to disable these
and try again. Too many outside tools can be a detriment, IMHO.
Also, I don't understand why *either* of these should be considered as
"the right" home page for you... but if you enter the address you think
is the correct one, re-insert the _www_ prefix when you do so.....
http://www.my.att.net < long shot >.
Lastly -for the moment- someone will have to offer us a registry fix for the
top banner in IE. In a number of cases I have simply reloaded the OS by
way of a completely clean install, in order to eliminate this for folks... though
the sofware has come out and similar issues have been remedied without
addressing the remaining IE banner corruption.
Get out anything that has to do with Yahoo, AT&T, SWB, or any remnants
of software that may have been provided by an internet service provider,
and try PA Bear's suggestion of disabling those add-on tools and try again.
Given what's in these entries below, they appear to be likely culprits in
attempting to 'maintain' your system 'as is' rather than allowing changes.
I'll be out of pocket until late Sunday evening, but one of us should probably
ask for a possible registry fix for the IE Banner.
DM
>
> Ad-Watch Event Log caught the following at startup:
>
> 3/22/08 9:29:07 AM - Registry modification detected
> Root: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
> Key: Software\Microsoft\internet Explorer\Main
> Value: Local Page
> Data: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\blank.htm
> New Data:NO
>
> 3/22/08 9:29:07 AM - Registry modification detected
> Root: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
> Key: Software\Microsoft\internet Explorer\Main
> Value: Local Page
> Data: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\blank.htm
> New Data:
>
> 3/22/08 9:29:07 AM - Registry modification detected
> Root: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
> Key: Software\Microsoft\internet Explorer\Main
> Value: Start Page
> Data:
http://www.att.net/
> New Data:
http://my.att.net/
>
> BUT, when I looked the registry Value data is back to
http://www.att.net
> Web Page Address is:
http://my.att.net/s/s.dll?spage=cg/news/inter_31708.html
> (window locked)!
>
> The only thing left is "Yahoo! Install Manager" in the Add/Remove Programs
> Properties list which I will remove next and see what happens?
>
>
>