I'D never heard of this happening, until a friend of mine frantically
emailed me, begging for information on how to get rid of the dancing
porn star page that loaded every time she opened her browser.
I did some research, and discovered that this isn't as uncommon
as one might think. Generally, you'll receive an email with a link
to click, though sometimes it can be a link on an actual web page
that you visit. When you click the link, you get taken to a website
(usually porn). You sigh, write it off as yet another spam, and
forget about it.
Until you come back the next day, and your browser automatically
loads the porn site up first thing."No problem!" you think, "I'll
just go into my browser settings and change it back".
Dream on, my little lambchop. You quickly discover that your own
browser has turned on you, and is refusing to give you access to
that function! You are unable to remove the hoochie mama website
from your browser settings. However will you explain this to Grandma
when she comes over to get her Ebay fix?
Fear not, dear unfortunate one. There is a solution! It
involves (gack!) editing the registry. By the way, this is for Windows
98 users, it will probably work with Windows 95, too, but I claim
no expertise with Windows 2000 or ME.
Click on "Start" then "Run". Type in "regedit" (without the quotation
marks" and click "OK". The registry editor will open. Click on "edit"
in the menu at the top, and choose "find". Type in NoBrowserOptions
and select "find next". If it returns a result that has a 1 in parenthesis,
then delete that line. This will allow you to regain control of
your browser settings and replace that hoochie mama site with your
regular start page (which I hope is NewbiesandNitwits).
Sometimes this doesn't work, and that entry isn't even in the registry.
If that's the case, do the same thing but in the "find" box, type
in the url that's loading. When it's located and highlighted, simply
replace it with the url you prefer.
Happy browsing!
Another easy to understand book that shows you how to get the most
out of the World Wide Web and your browser of choice. If you're looking
for an excuse to spend more time online, this book will give you plenty
of opportunities. Learn effective search techniques, utilizing bookmarks,
etc.
