How Can I Stop My Home Page From Changing Automatically?

Sounds like a virus to me.

Your son probably downloaded and ran something from one of these sites that put in a program to change your home page.

You should see if a program to remove spyware will fix it. I have had good luck with Ad-aware from Lavasoft (www.lavasoft.com). The free version seems to work pretty well for things downloaded by my teenaged son.

If this doesn't work a good virus program may also do the trick.

You should also give your son the obligatory lecture about downloading executable files from questionable sites.

Good luck.

Could be a possible spyware problem. As a suggestion, try using a program that detects spyware to see if you can find the problem. Clean out your temporary internet files. You can also go to your computers "History files" to find out the places your computer has been, and possibly find the day this problem probably began, and work from there.

I agree.

This can be done easily with Javascript, so you do not even need spyware on your computer for this to happen.

If teher is no spyware on your computer and this continues then you need to either stop visiting shady sites or you need to lock your home page.

Spybot is both the best spyware detection tool there is and it also has a feature allowing you to lock your homepage and default search.

Maxoverdrive you may want to try hijackthis:

http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/hijackthis.zip

another similar tool called browser hijack blaster can be found at

www.webattack.com

Chris

Thanks to all that replied. I have carefully considered each comment and I agree that there is some sort of adware running on my son's computer. I also agree that the most direct approach to resolving this problem would be to install a spyware program.

However, I already have Norton System Works installed on this computer. NSW has antivirus and internet security software as well. And, this computer exists as a node on a ethernet LAN behind a router that is configured as a firewall. If that isn't enough, the computer is running Net Nanny, an extensive parental control program.

For obvious reasons I would like to avoid installing more security software to resolve this one problem. My son is running an application that leaves him open to adware. He's 14 years old and he loves to download freebees. He is learning the harsh realities of the tradeoffs between system security and online freebees. I want my son to learn this very valuable lesson but, not at the expense of the security of my network.

The problem only occurs on one of the computers on the LAN and virus scans do not discover any infected files. Rather than installing more security software, I'd like to take a more direct approach. I want to know what the anti-adware applications do specifically to "lock" the home page setting in windows. I have found procedures for doing this in the registry. But it only works in Windows 98. Any suggestions?

You still need to get the adware off your computer.
Having a program like AdAware or Spybot is something I'd consider essential.

A registry edit to prevent the changing of the home page is only going to stop the least malicious of spyware functions.

Thanks, Chris. I may look into your links when I have a chance. I've been having trying to lose My Yahoo as homepage, and didnt' get any suggestions that seemed to apply. I don't consider Yahoo to be a "shady" site, as some have suggested here.

Hey, welcome, by the way. Two posts, and you are already trying to help people.

I've been using spybot search and destroy for about two years. When my computer starts running slow or acting strange, the first thing I do is run Spybot. I find the culprit and get rid of it.
Spybot is also freeware.

You can batten down the hatches a bit to prevent this from happening.
Go to Tools-Internet Options-Advanced...under "browsing"....uncheck both "Enable install on demand" entries. It's a more secure way to browse the web. .....unchecking them makes it not possible for web pages you browse to run or install programs on your computer without first asking your permission via a dialog box.

Also..Go to Internet Options/Security/Internet, press 'default level', then OK.
Now press "Custom Level."

In the ActiveX section, set the first two options ("Download signed and unsigned ActiveX controls) to 'prompt', and 'Initialize and Script ActiveX controls not marked as safe" to 'disable'. Now you will be asked whether you want ActiveX objects to be executed and whether you want software to be installed.
SpyBot Search and Destroy has an Immunize feature which works roughly the same way.
It can't hurt to use both.

Javacool's SpywareBlaster will protect you from all spy/foistware in it's database by blocking installation of their ActiveX objects.

Download and install, download the latest updates, and you'll see a list of all spyware programs covered by the program . Press "select all", then "kill all checked", and you're done.
The spyware that you told Spywareblaster to set the "kill bit" for won't be a hazard to you any longer.
Although it won't protect you from every form of spyware known to man, it is a very potent extra layer of protection.
Don't forget to check for updates every week or so

Another program by Javacool is SpywareGuard..
It provides a degree of real-time protection against spyware.

Now..your current problem....if you're still plagued by an unwanted start page......and/or porn popups......grab HijackThis---> http://www.merijn.org/files/HijackThis.exe

d/l to a folder of your choice..or create a new one........doubleclick the file......then hit "Scan".......then "Save Log". It'll open in notepad.
then copy (Edit..Select All..Copy) the log.......you're welcome to come over to SpywareInfo:http://www.spywareinfo.com/forums/
......go to the "Spyware & Hijackware Removal Support" forum...& post your problem & paste (CTRL-V) the log into your post & receive help on what's causing the hijack & what & how to remove it.

Adaware is good too. I got my homepage set to "about:blank", and Norton got rid of that. Deleting cookies also works.

But... You are aware that if your son has any computer skills at all he can easily bypass NetNanny? It's hard for a 14-yr old to not try to look at pr0n...