[Cerek]

OK - here's an update.

I did have the standard MSN XP Firewall installed and running. Sadly, I did NOT have System Restore turned on [img]graemlins/crying.gif[/img] (thought I did, but guess I was wrong). That would have made life SO much easier.

I have downloaded Avast, Hijack This, RegLite (works in conjunction with Hijack This) and Adware Away. These last two were recommended by the site I found with instructions on how to remove "about:blank". The Adware Away is supposed to remove "about:blank" and several other ultra-nasty hijackers and trojans that other software can't - but that hasn't been my experience. It seems to be a fairly comprehensive program and gives a menu choice of removing hijackers, spyware, adaware, or trojans. I can also scan the PC and send them a log of what shows up and they will provide a "custom cleanser" - but that sounds pretty "fishy" to me. In fact, I'm beginning to wonder if Adware Away might not be one of the sponsers of "about:blank" or "CoolWebSearch". That is the part that makes me the angriest - is that this hijacker recommends it's own spyware removal packages. These JERKS have the gall to infest my computer, then turn around and offer me spyware removal packages. Wish there was a way to send them a nice letter-bomb instead.

Anyway, I don't feel quite as bad about clicking on the Anti-virus popup now. It STILL comes up on a regular basis and the top address bar is greyed out - so there is NO WAY to click on the "X" at all. And even Alt-F4 won't remove it. I just have to leave it alone until I Restart the PC or Turn it OFF.

I've run Avast scans and finding LOTS of crap. Mostly getting Win32:Trojano-xxx, JS:Istbar, VBS:Malware and other viruses - most infecting the Win32 folder area.

Since removing "about:blank" automatically with "Adware Away" didn't work, I'm going to try doing it manually - but I really feel like I'm out of my league with this one. If nothing else, I may have to take the PC back to the shop and have them simply wipe the HD clean and re-install again. {sigh} I hope not. But I've spent over 4 hours (all told) so far trying to remove these programs and I can't see that I've made ANY progress.