Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

iE6.0 <--- msn.search.com :( help me pls

Jul 1, 2004 1:26PM PDT

Hello, I've recently noticed a problem with my browser over the past few days. I'm using windows XP Pro (SP1) and browsing with iE6.0... Now then.. whenever I type an unknown URL, such as:
http://www.fasdfasdfasdfasfdasdfasf.com

I get redirected to an extremely annoying MSN search page:
http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?srch=104&FORM=AS4&q=http://www.fksfasdfasdfsadfsdafasdf.com/

Seems like this happens whenever l type an unknown URL, or mistype one. Simple enough, problem is... I don't want my computer to do this, and I can't for the life of me figure out how to remove this msn search "service" <groan>. Please help me figure out how to set my computer back to my old school "page cannot be found" error message, I really and stand this stupid "msn.search.com" garbage. __PLEASE__ post me some instructions on how this can be remedy, or some directions to a place that can help me.

Thank you for your time fellow interweb enthusiasts!
JSlime

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Re: iE6.0 <--- msn.search.com :( help me pls
Jul 1, 2004 11:49PM PDT

1. By default, Internet Explorer for WinXP uses the Search Companion feature but can be set to use the IE5.0 Classic Internet Search, [Q303210]:

a. In IE, click Search, Change Preferences, Change Internet search behavior, click With Classic Internet Search, and then OK.

b. In IE, click the Search button on the toolbar and on the Search bar, click Customize, Use Search Companion in the Customize Search Settings dialog box and then click OK to enable the Search Companion feature.

c. Restart Internet Explorer for any change to take effect.

2. In Internet Explorer, you may see only a limited number of Web search engine selections which can occur if a language other than U.S. English (en-us) is listed first in the Languages settings Properties. This causes the search assistant to return search engines that are compatible with the browser's default language setting, [Q224323].

3. When you click Search in Internet Explorer, a different Web site may be displayed in the browser window instead of the expected Search page, and can occur if the registry entries for the default Search page have been modified. To resolve this issue, remove the registry entries, [Q323869].

4. If you install the preview edition of Morpheus version 1.3.3.1, you may receive the following error message which is most likely to occur when you click a link in an e-mail message or when you paste a URL in to the Address bar, [Q321923]:

Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience

- Collapse -
Re: iE6.0 <--- msn.search.com :( help me pls
Jul 2, 2004 1:20PM PDT

I've tried all of the things that you've suggested, however I'm still having this problem do you have any other suggestions I could try?

~JSlime

- Collapse -
Re: iE6.0 <--- msn.search.com :( help me pls
Jul 2, 2004 10:34PM PDT

Please state factually that the actions described in Method #1, step #3, was performed along with all the items in Method #2, as explained in my referenced item #3?

If you had, now use that reference to progress to the registry address below and Export the information to a text file. Copy and paste into a reply.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main

Thank you.

- Collapse -
Re: iE6.0 <--- msn.search.com :( help me pls
Dec 16, 2004 1:07PM PST

JSlime: I just ran across your post while searching for a solution to the same problem. I'm currently running WinXP Home, SP2, and after another recent "security update", my auto search page was set to search.msn.com, which also annoyed me to no end.

The easiest way to fix this:

In IE6, click Tools, Internet Options, Advanced. Scroll down to the "Search from the address bar" heading and click "Do not search from the address bar", then "OK". Voila! All fixed!