JVH Consulting's Blog

Been trying to figure out how to fix the start page in Internet Explorer. Unfortunately when you search for this on the web, all you get is a bunch of junk information with no real solution – mostly you get links to other scanners and spyware tools that really gets you nowhere.

Steps to fix:
1. Run a full scan with your antivirus software – make sure it’s a full system scan and all is clean.

2. If the AV finds nothing wrong with your computer, try running the CWShredder software from TrendMicro.

3. If results turn up nothing then you’re most likely not infected by any virus but you’ll find you still cannot change the start page.

4. Make sure the Search providers (under manage add-ons) show up nothing out of the ordinary – if it doesn’t show Bing and/or Google but something else – remove those and add the search provider of your choice back in.

5. Next go to the registry editor and find the “Start Page” value under the registry location: HKCU\software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main and/or under HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
Try to edit the Start Page option – if you receive an error after typing it in then you’ll need to follow the next step:

6. Reboot computer into Safe Mode (during reboot process – Hit the F8 key several times till you get Safe Mode startup Menu. Choose Safe Mode Command prompt.

7. Logon with user account.

8. Open regedit.exe and peruse to the two locations from above.
Make changes to the Start Page in both locations – say http://www.bing.com

9. Reboot back into normal mode. Your Start Page should now open to Bing.com.

If you find any other solutions of value, please post them here.

Thanks.