UNABLE TO SELECT HOME PAGE

[HerbW]

Using IE 6 under Win XP Pro (SP3), something has taken over my home page
rights under Tools>Options>Internet, preventing me from selecting my own home
page and redirecting me by inserting the following into the selection window:

http://www.microsoft.com/isapi/redir.dll?prd=ie&clcid=0x0409&pver=6.0&ar=home.

No matter how I change the home page box, it ends up with this phrase
inserted and I end up at MSN.COM. How can I prevent this and eliminate the
source of it?
Help Appreciated.
Herb

[Frank Saunders MS-MVP IE,OE/WM]

Post by HerbW
Using IE 6 under Win XP Pro (SP3), something has taken over my home page
rights under Tools>Options>Internet, preventing me from selecting my own home
http://www.microsoft.com/isapi/redir.dll?prd=ie&clcid=0x0409&pver=6.0&ar=home.
No matter how I change the home page box, it ends up with this phrase
inserted and I end up at MSN.COM. How can I prevent this and eliminate the
source of it?
Help Appreciated.
Herb

It might be a security program blocking the Registry change it needs to
make. A few, but not all, of the programs now doing this are:
Ad-aware's Ad-Watch
IBM Access Connections
Kaspersky
McAfee VirusScan and/or Antispyware
Norton AV
Spyware Blaster
Spybot> Tools> IE Tweaks
Spybot- Teatimer
Spysweeper
Spyware Doctor
Windows Defender
Zone Alarm (free) 6.5 Reported to be fixed in later versions.

In the case of Zone Alarm 6.5 or Norton 2007 it actually has to be
uninstalled. Make sure the Windows Firewall is turned on until you
reinstall Zone Alarm.

Boot into Safe Mode with Networking and try the change.

[HerbW]

Thanks, Frank.
While waiting for replies, I explored microsoft.com support for IE6, and
found a reference to my problem of takeover of the home page. It suggested
going to IE tools>Internet Explorer options, and under the advanced tab
resetting to the default settings. This maneuver did correct the problem and
I reset the home page option to my preferred URL. Then I locked this setting
in SpyBot Search and Destroy, which prevents automatic change to that
setting. This worked well, but I kept getting pop ups from my WinPAtrol
program that something was trying to reset my home page. I explored
WinPAtroland found a reference to HKLM Start Page, containing the redirection
phrase I listed in my initial post. I searched for Start Page in regedit, and
found one reference. Rightclicking that allowed modification, and it did
indeed contain the redirection URL. I erased that, put in my desired home
page URL, and so far IE has been working well, no redirection, and no warning
popups ! Thank you all for the various suggestions.
HerbW