The Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool scans for certain malicious software that modifies Internet browser settings. The tool tries to repair these issues. As part of the resolution, the tool may reset your Microsoft Internet Explorer settings to point to a specific Microsoft Web site that includes instructions for reconfiguring the settings.

This article describes how to configure your Internet Explorer browser settings after your computer has had malicious software removed. This article describes the steps for resetting your Home page and search option settings for Internet Explorer 6 and for Internet Explorer 5.

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If the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool indicates that you have to reset your Home page and search option settings, follow these steps.

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Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows Server 2003 (Internet Explorer 6)

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

1.	In Internet Explorer, click Tools, and then click Internet Options.
2.	On the General tab, type the URL of the page that you want to set as your default Home page in the Address box, click Apply, and then click OK.
3.	To change the search options, follow these steps. Note These steps may affect only the current user. You may have to follow these steps for other user accounts if they are present. a. Open Internet Explorer 6. b. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options. c. Click the Programs tab, click Reset Web Settings, and then click Yes in the Reset Web Settings dialog box. d. To verify that these settings were changed, start Registry Editor. To do this, click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK. e. Locate and then right-click the following registry subkey: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Search Bar f. Click Delete to remove this subkey. g. Make sure that the values for the follow registry subkeys are as listed: Subkey: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchURL Entry name: (Default) Type: REG_SZ Value data: (value not set) Entry name: Provider Type: REG_SZ Value data: no value Subkey: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main Entry name: Search Page Type: REG_SZ Value data: http://www.microsoft.com/isapi/redir.dll?prd=ie&ar=iesearch Subkey: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\URLSearchHooks Entry name: (Default) Type: REG_SZ Value data: (value not set) Entry name: {CFBFAE00-17A6-11D0-99CB-00C04FD64497} Type: REG_SZ Value data: This value should be blank (no value). Subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main Entry name: Default_Search_URL Type: REG_SZ Value data: http://www.microsoft.com/isapi/redir.dll?prd=ie&ar=iesearch Subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search Entry name: CustomizeSearch Type: REG_SZ Value data: http://ie.search.msn.com/{SUB_RFC1766}/srchasst/srchcust.htm Subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search Entry name: SearchAssistant Type: REG_SZ Value data: http://ie.search.msn.com/{SUB_RFC1766}/srchasst/srchasst.htm Subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\AboutURLs Entry name: blank Type: REG_SZ Value data: res://mshtml.dll/blank.htm

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Microsoft Windows 2000 (Internet Explorer 5)

For additional information about changing search options for Windows 2000, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For additional information about the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

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