Dear Rahul,
Thanks for your wonderful advice on Computer Maintenance.I have a small problem.
I work with the Ministry of Defence. I have a computer at home, with broad band connection. My default home page is Google. But Ocassionaly, my IE opens mod.nic.in website automatically. I had never saved this address in my favourites or even try to open.
Recently My friend brought his computer to my home, I loaded some softwares and got it updated through my Broad band. Now he also has the same problem that ocassionaly his computer also opens mod.nic.in site.

I just wanted to know whether I am being monitored?, or is there any thing to be done. Even though I dont do any thing objectionable, or will even do any thing, I dont want a tag that I am being monitored.
If I am not, how to come out of this problem.

Chidambaranathan

Dear Rahul,
I am subscribing Reliance Broadband at home.

Chidambaranathan

Please install firefox and see whether that browser has the same problem or not...or if u want to continue working in IE please follow these steps that might help u diagonose ur issue..

Take the backup of ur favorite... To create Backup of Favorites

1. Select File -> Import and Export. This will start the "Import and Export" wizard.
2. Select Export and the click on "next."
3. Select Favorites and click on "next."
4. In the next window you can accept the default Save Directory or choose a new one. I suggest you select "Desktop" so you can easily find the file again. Click on "next."
5. Finally, click on "finish" and your Favorites will be saved to disk.


Now reset your internet explorer... to Reset Internet Explorer

Open Internet Explorer. Click Tools in the menu and then Options to enter the Internet Options window.

In the General Tab, in the Home page section, click Use Default to change the home page to its default, MSN home. In the Temporary Internet Files section click Delete Cookies and Delete Files -confirm Delete all offline content in the popup-. In the History section the default number of days to keep pages in history is 20 and click Clear History.


Still in the General tab, click Settings in the Temporary Internet Files section. Checkmark Automatically in the Check for newer versions of stored pages. Click OK to apply the changes.


The default TIF folder is located in "System root\Documents and Settings\user profile\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files" and the default Amount of disk space to use is 10% of your hard disk space.

Now Select the Security Tab and click the Internet zone icon. On the Security level for this zone section, click on the Default Level button. Follow this procedure for all the other zones, normally there are Local Internet, Trusted Sites and Restricted Sites.



Now click the Privacy tab and then click the Default tab.

The Pop-up Blocker is enabled by default and set to Medium, which blocks most automatic pop-ups. It can be confirmed by clicking on the Settings tab.



Custom privacy settings file and restoring default privacy settings.

It gets a bit trickier to restore the default Privacy settings, if you have used a custom privacy settings XML file for added protection. Have a look at the procedure in MSKB article, How to Restore Default Settings After Importing Custom Privacy Preferences. If you do not want to meddle with the registry manually, use a registry file as outlined here to restore default privacy settings.

Now select the Content tab and then click the AutoComplete button in the Personal information section then click Clear Forms and Clear Passwords. Click OK to exit.



Next select the Programs tab and then click Reset Web settings. You can also opt to select Also reset my home page in the popup, if you have not reset the home page in the General tab. Click Yes to apply the changes.



What does Reset Web settings do?

Internet Explorer 6 uses the data in the iereset.inf file to reset your home and search pages to their default settings and also sets itself as the default browser.

Normally iereset.inf is a hidden file in the system root\windows\inf folder in Windows XP and system root\WINNT\inf folder in Windows 2000.

Now select the Advanced Tab and click Restore Defaults button. Finally click the Apply button to save all the settings and OK to exit.



Some of the changes will need a restart to be applied.

Now import ur Favorites in IE
1. Within Internet Explorer, click the File menu and "Import and Export...".
2. Within the Import and Export window click Next.
3. Click "Import Favorites" and click Next.
4. Select the location that contains your favorites and click Next.
5. Select where you with to save your favorites and click Next.
6. Click Finish.

In case this doesn't solve ur issue.. and if u r using Original Windows please run Windows Malicious Software Removal tool..

Thank you for the sincere and prompt and painstaking reply.

regards
Chidambaranathan