Homepage Hijack By Microsoft

Windows XP Home 2002, SP3, IE7, OE6. On auto-update and kept clean by daily scans - no infections. 64 GB disk free space. Casual user.
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Amongst my security packs, I have Spywareblaster. It can disable the Homepage section in Internet Options against being hijacked - This I do.

Spybot also flings a panel up if a Homepage hijack attempt is made - ALLOW or DENY. Obviously I DENY.

I expect a Homepage hijack attempt to be made by those thousands of two bit trouble-makers and vandals out there - BUT NOT MY THAT GARGANTUAN MONOPOLY LOOSELY CALLED MICROSOFT !!!

Several times in the past and even this very week Microsoft has attempted to steal my Homepage. The first time it happened 4 years ago, I never thought that the Daddy of my system would resort to common hijacking and entered ALLOW on Spybot`s panel.
My Homepage changed to MSN.com and I had a hell of a lot of trouble getting rid of it. I made sure I never fell for that one again.

Can anybody explain why the world`s software giant resorts to the sleazy practices of a common cyber criminal ? It`s unbelievable !!
KAS

 

I wouldn't be surprised if it was more or less what I did/encountered once a couple of years ago. I was on a site (not MS) and got that warning from SB too (and denied permission to change), and it was only afterwards that I guessed that I'd probably accidentally clicked their "make this your home page" link, or maybe hit whatever the hot-key combo is to do the same, rather than ran into some kind of hijack.

 

Hi Ron,
At that time - it was 4 years or so ago, it just changed once I naively put ALLOW on Spybot`s panel. I was then a bit of a rookie at this game - I`ve advanced a lot since. Now, I am a much tougher prospect for MS to bowl over with such undesirable practices.

As I said, I had BIG trouble getting rid of it. Seemed to be a fight between me, Spybot`s Black & White list and the IE Options panel, but I won in the end.

Obviously, I am supposed to be in control of things, but if I have not got a distinction on pass-out I am not infallible. WHY ever does a global Goliath like Microsoft DO THIS to their customers ?
Personally I think it is a disgraceful and unnecessary conduct for MS to even consider embarking upon.
KAS

 

I've had on several occasions a page come up when starting ie for example information - the last one was upgrade to ie7 which isn't a hijack, but I have seen hijacked to MSN through bugs, software and infection - but not by 'MS.'

Try a home page hijacked to msn google.

 

Hello all,
This MS hijack is NOT my imagination, it is FACT.

All I want in this thread is to ask members their own experience of MS HP hijack, to know what they think and what they do about it.

The giant owner/designer and provider of the Windows/IE combination should NOT resort to dictatorial powers by using the practices of a common hijacker.

I am not the only one in the world who has had this. My HP is MY CHOICE and not the property of MS or anybody else. I have nothing on my PC of any value - no finance or private data except my name and address. If somebody wants THAT, then be my guest and have a nice day.

The following is a comment by an independent expert on the net outlining this very subject. ;-
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Is Microsoft a Home Page Hijacker?
listen Wednesday March 2, 2005 3:08PM
by Preston Gralla

Is Microsoft so hard up for traffic that it has to resort to the sleazy tactics of spyware makers? Based on one feature of the beta of Microsoft AntiSpyware, that appears to be the case.

Overall, Microsoft AntiSpyware, is a very good, solid piece of software. But it has one particularly disturbing feature — in essence, it hijacks your home page, and so is guilty of doing the very thing it’s supposed to be protecting you against. And, as you might guess, it hijacks your home page to — surprise! — MSN.com.

How does it do this? In a devilishly simple and exceedingly misleading manner. When it detects that a hijacker is trying to reset your home page, it warns you and then asks whether you want to block the hijacker. When you answer yes, Microsoft AntiSpyware promptly blocks the hijacker. But it then does a hijack of its own and resets your home page to MSN.com.
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Please confine any replies to the nefarious and dictatorial practices of MS engaging in HP hijack. If you have not been affected in this way, then you have nothing to say, but PLEASE recognise that it DOES HAPPEN and other people like me have had this nasty experience.
KAS