Internet explorer hijacked

[lipe123]

Internet explorer hijacked -not spyware

I installed this autopatcher thing that loads a lot of windows hotfixes, saving me the time to download them all on each of my machines.

Since then when I open internet explorer (i don't use it normally, only on some difficult sites) and type anything in the address bar and hit enter the site opens in my default browser(Opera).

Ive tried to reinstall IE with the windows add/rem components
I scanned the autopatcher list of fixes and things and uninstalled anything that looked suspicious.

Dunno really what to do, I can't find help on this anywhere and the same thing happened on both the machines I loaded autopatcher. I didn't care much for the other machine so i formatted it but this one i can't.

Please help

 

[lipe123]

please someone? I didn't even get a single reply and I'm sure someone here should at least know something that might lead to a possible solution.

And just to stress it again i ran spybot/cw shredder/avg antispy/ad aware/hijackthis and the problem still remains.

 

[almcneil]

Did you try changing your default browser to IE?

 

[lipe123]

Yes I did and no effect, however if I set it to Firefox it will redirect everything there and the same with Opera on default.

dunno if this will help but if i click the desktop icon for IE i get a prompt "windows cannot create a shortcut here, would u like one on the desktop instead" as if its trying to make a shortcut instead of running it. It only opens from the quickstart shortcut or by doublecliking the actual exe,

 

[almcneil]

Yeah, I had this problem once. I ran an XP repair installation and it solved the problem.

 

[lipe123]

that doesnt sound like fun, there has to be a way to actually fix the problem without having to repair the entire install? If all else fails I guess I can try that.

 

[almcneil]

that doesnt sound like fun, there has to be a way to actually fix the problem without having to repair the entire install? If all else fails I guess I can try that.

I know what you mean! I used to be a high tech engineer and when we solve problems, we try to find the root cause and fix that! But I've learned as a comp tech, you don't need to know the root cause everytime. Just do what works!!

I've done many XP repair installations and I like the feature. It's automated and doesn't touch personal files, programs and settings. It's not much effort and doesn't take a lot of time. So, it doesn't tell you what was messed up but when it works, it's beautiful!

I've seen your problem before and an XP repair will likely fix it.