Sat 11 Mar 2006
We Interrupt This Cat Blog…
I just got a Dell laptop through my job, and while there have been a few odd occurrences in the first few days, overall it’s been pretty good so far.
One of the first things I did was to install a custom HOSTS file for additional security.
But the next morning, it was impossible to get into My Yahoo with Internet Explorer. The browser instead would go to a Dell-labeled site containing lots of advertising.
First step to fix the problem: followed a “What’s this?” link on the page and found this explanation.
However, contrary to the statement on that page, there was nothing labeled “Browser Address Error Redirector” or “GoogleAFE” in the Control Panel’s Add/Remove Programs section.
So next, I Googled the B.A.E.R. phrase and found a good match at Gadgetizer. Yes, that described the problem pretty well, although at that page the problem happened when the “www” was left off a typed-in URL, and mine was labeled “Sorry, we couldn’t find http://view.atdmt.com……” and I believe that was caused by the custom HOSTS file.
But from that point, the end was quick. One search at Castle Cops turned up the name of the file, “GoogleAE.dll”, and I finished it off in WinPatrol, opening the IE Helpers tab and disabling GoogleAE.dll.
Game over, as they say…and now back to the Good Cats.
David said,
Sun 12 Mar 2006 at 14:37
Ain’t computer technology fun?
John said,
Sun 12 Mar 2006 at 16:24
Yeah, I know what you mean. A real pain sometimes. But it’s worth it, and it really was a sense of accomplishment when the bad stuff was ejected from the laptop with extreme prejudice, as they say.