# IE About:blank home page unchanegable, windows isn't loading correctly.



## Dev in need (Mar 17, 2011)

Hello I'm having a bit of trouble with Internet Explorer on Windows 8.1 PRO 64 bit. I just erased my hard drive with DOD and reinstalled windows clean. Updated and installed SUPERAntiSpyware Professional, SpywareBlaster, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, Bitdefender Total Security 2015. And Even CCleaner PRO. But IE keeps making the home page ABOUT:BLANK and I cant change it. Is this normal for IE to have that as the home page and to be unchangeable. I had no external hard drives or flash drives plugged at the time of restoring the OS but I did notice the computer going a tad bit slower after the restore. Such as transfer rates and such on the hard drive windows explorer.exe not loading very fast. Icons taking 7 secs to load the picture. Computer boots fast but loading into windows it turns black and I had to press ctrl-alt-del to refresh the explorer.exe. But it seemed after I installed everything IE's home page became about:blank. I built the computer years ago, the cpu is about 45 C and the GPU is around 35 C and the PSU has the right volts the bios is updated. Nothing about the hardware seems wrong. I just don't understand the issue I'm facing. Could anybody help me out with this?


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## BIGBEARJEDI (Aug 8, 2012)

I would approach this as with any other user's issue; and it looks like you have some experience on the forum based on your Post history.:smile:

You mention it's a custom-built PC you built; _it would be very helpful to have your Mobo specs and Hard drive Make/Model if available._ If not, download *SPECCY* for free at piriform.com and post back here. Custom-built PC's can be tricky, and this could be anything from a failing PSU to a nasty spyware virus that Hijacked your home page. Also, what version of IE are you running? 

We need to try and narrow down between a software issue with Windows and a possible hardware failure of RAM, Disk, GPU, and Motherboard. You know all these details; we do not, so the only way we have of getting this information is to ask you. :grin:

Couple of more questions for you; what version of Windows were you running on your Custom-rig prior to the Win8.1 upgrade? Did you run the Windows Compatability Assistant prior to installing the 8.1 upgrade to check for driver or hardware compatibility issues?  If your Motherboard is like 5 yrs. old or older you can have problems. My Dell Studio540 had a number of minor issues when I attempted the 8.1 upgrade on it last year; and it's 6 yrs. old now. And it did require me to Flash the BIOS to newest version to run the 8.1 properly. :rolleye:

I'm sure you're aware that older hardware and newer/newest versions of Windows don't always mix well, like oil and water. :smile:

That being said; have you run hard drive diagnostics (*Seatools or DLG*) and *Memtest* *8 passes each stick*??? 

Since you have multiple A-V scanners and anti-malware, I'm guessing you didn't find any high-risk viruses right? Did you remember to scan in *SAFE MODE* for *Rootkits* as well? Unless you are using the *PREMIUM* version of Malwarebytes, it won't properly scan for those. I suggest you try SAFE MODE and go to trendmicro.com and run *ROOTKITBUSTER*. The reason I'm gently reminding you about this, is the Homepage Hijack symptom you have is a* VERY* common symptom of a spyware virus as well as a read error problem on an aging hard drive *again, that's why we need your hdd specs*. 

That being said, post back your results and we can advise you further.:thumb:

Best,
BIGBEARJEDI


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## sobeit (Nov 11, 2007)

sounds like one of your protections software possibly locked your home page. as far as your protection software, If you have more than one live protection running in the background, it will slow you down. IMO you have way too many installed. No more than two antimalware utilities and one antivirus. 

One other thing, since you reinstalled the operating system, it could be the indexing service has kicked in and your drive is being indexed. It may take up to a couple of days for it to finish, depending on the number of files you have on the drive.


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## Dev in need (Mar 17, 2011)

BIGBEARJEDI said:


> I would approach this as with any other user's issue; and it looks like you have some experience on the forum based on your Post history.:smile:
> 
> You mention it's a custom-built PC you built; _it would be very helpful to have your Mobo specs and Hard drive Make/Model if available._ If not, download *SPECCY* for free at piriform.com and post back here. Custom-built PC's can be tricky, and this could be anything from a failing PSU to a nasty spyware virus that Hijacked your home page. Also, what version of IE are you running?
> 
> ...


Everything about my computer.
G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-1866C9D-8GAB

MASSCOOL FD12038S1M3/4 120mm Case cooler

EVGA SuperClocked+ 03G-P4-3663-KR GeForce GTX 660 Ti 3GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support ...

AMD FX-8150 3.6GHz Socket AM3+ Desktop Processor

Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced - High Air Flow Full Tower Computer Case with USB 3.0 and All-Black Interior

ASUS SABERTOOTH 990FX R2.0 AM3+ AMD 990FX + SB950 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120 mm PWM Fan


SeaSonic M12II 850 SS-850AM 850W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Full-Modular Active PFC FULL-modular Power Supply New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready

*Seagate 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SAS 6Gb/s 3.5" Internal Enterprise Hard Drive Bare Drive *





I removed spyware blaster and super anti spyware.. I couldnt find a virus by scanning.


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