Re: have done that and.....

It sounds like you have some kind of adware or spyware on your computer that is resetting the homepage. "Adware" refers to programs that run "in the background" on your computer and cause popups to occur randomly, or change your startup webpage, and other annoying things like that. You usually get adware installed on your computer by clicking on popups generated by webpages. There are many misleading popups out there, designed to look like actual error or warning messages that trick people into clicking on them. Stuff like "Your computer may be infected! Click here to find out" for example. Some webpages will install adware or spyware programs automatically, so you just have to be careful what you click on and where you browse to... Also make sure you are using the very latest version of either Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox and make sure Popups are blocked by default (you can allow popups to come through on specific sites if you need to).

From your response to aclays, it sounds like you clicked on some kind of banner or popup like that, because no genuine adware/spyware scanner would do something like that out of "revenge" or "punishment" for not paying. Also, it doesn't make much sense to ask for payment AFTER scanning... usually you would have to pay for the software first, or get a trial version that only works for 30 days or something. It sounds very fishy, and is probably a fake popup message or banner ad that just installs more adware or spyware on your computer.

The free scanner from www.lavasoft.com, AdAware (note the difference: AdAware scans for adware and spyware programs), is good and safe to use. SpyBot S&D is also good and safe. I suggest using them both, as one could detect some things that the other may not be able to. Within both programs, make sure to do the web-update from time to time... I forget exactly what it's called, but it updates the list of adware and spyware programs to search for. The instructions for both programs should explain what to do to keep them updated.

This is most likely not a virus issue, but it is a good idea to have some kind of virus detection anyway. I don't know much about it, but that AVG program aclays linked to is probably sufficient, and I have seen it mentioned before.

Good luck, and feel free to ask any further questions if you need to. :)
--James Tweet