Helping people with computers... one answer at a time.
In an effort to prevent malware from hijacking your browser's home page anti-spyware software may inadvertently prevent you from changing it as well.
Why, in IE's Tools, Internet Options, is the Home Page selection grayed and unusable?
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Spyware. Though it's interesting that either spyware or a spyware immunization tool may in fact be responsible.
In either case, a good spyware scanner is the answer.
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"Spyware" has become a term that really encompasses several types of software pests that don't quite meet the level of viruses. Several terms are routinely intermixed:
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Lately, folks have been referring to all as spyware.
One common action some spyware takes is to reset your browser's home page, and keep resetting it so that you cannot. The page you are sent to is often a sales page or a pornographic web site.
A recent technique has been to also disable the user interface for changing your home page; effectively preventing you from even trying to change it back to what you would rather have it set to.
Some spyware scanners including my favorite Spybot Search & Destroy include the ability to lock the home page setting. The intent is that you can lock it before spyware tries to change it. Of course while you have it locked the Home Page selection in Tools, Internet Options, is grayed out.
So the steps are simple: first run a spyware scanner such as Spybot.
Then, check the spyware scanner immunization settings to make sure you haven't simply locked yourself out.
Article C1935 - May 7, 2004 « »
Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he
was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed.
After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers
to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.
October 14, 2006 2:07 PM
I joined pogo some time ago, everyso often I have a grey page & am not able to get into the games, this is so very frustrating.I have wrote to them so many times of course they haven't a phone no.which makes it even harder not being able to speak to a human being. Is their anyone who could help with this problem.???????????
January 25, 2007 2:55 AM
if the tab is there and the home page has been set to a specific site and locked then do this
click start run and type in regedit then press enter
go to this string HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Inte rnet Explorer\Control Panel\Homepage once here rigth click on the word hompage and select modify...change the value data to 0 click ok...this will unlock the hompage..... remember 0 to open hompage and 1 to lock it...
March 24, 2008 2:46 AM
Dear Sir. i have one problem in internet option that is, In home page there are three option ;USE CURRENT, USE DEFAULT AND USE BLANK these three are not Freez/ not working can u help me in this regard. i m waiting for your answer. i will be very thankfull to you. zia
April 4, 2008 8:45 PM
AutoComplete in IE7 does not work. Everything is checked but the "apply" box is grayed out. I've made the rounds of the newsgroups and see other people have the same problem. This may be an IE7 bug but what do you think? I suppose if this is worst problem IE7 has it must be doing good...but dang...I sure did like not having to enter usernames and passwords.
August 31, 2009 1:19 PM
I am having a problem with IE on my laptop. I think it is version 6.0; but, I can't get my pc to do anything so I can't check. The browser window frame opens, but, nothing loads. Every thing I hvae found with instructions to remedy the problem says go to tools/interent option--but I can't get there...Internet Options is greyed out. It was running really slow and I stopped the explorer.exe process in Task Manager one day--it hasn't worked since. How can I fix this. Thanks.