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Help About:blank virus

D

Doink

Newbie
Somehow today i managed to infect my S3 with this annoying virus....if thats what it is, everytime i open up google its just a blank with about:blank in the URL box, no matter how many times you change the home screen back to google it just reappears.

Anyone else had this expirience or ideas on removal, just to add when on the google home screen the top right corner shows how many pages/windows you have open, even if you delete them all and leave 1 open which is obviously the google home page your currently on there is still a 'minus' sign on the page, clicking that closes the homepage and reverts to a blank page and 'about:blank' in the URL, there shouldn't be anything behind the google home page.

Please please please how do i get rid of this, already done a factory reset to no avail :mad:
 
If you've done a factory reset its not a virus. Viruses only exist in user areas which are all cleared upon reset
 
If you're caching to your sd card, I don't think that a factory data reset will help that. Try clearing everything from inside your browser.
 
Browser empty and have no sd card installed.

If you delete 'about:blank' from the URL box and type google you can open it, you can even set as your homepage but when you use the back button to go to homescreen then try to open up the browser the screens blank again with 'about:blank' in the URL.

BUT

If you exit this screen via the middle home button having again deleted about:blank and searched and saved google then open the browser again it seems to have saved it as google BUT this is the thing, about:blank is still lurking behind the google homepage, it shows this because there is a minus in the top right of the minimized page, yet if google was the first and only page opened there shouldn't be a minus sign, if you do click the minus it reverts back to a blank page with about:blank in the URL box.

Nothing i try is working, i can have google as my home page but its effectively the second page open and not the first, i'm just worried what that about:blank is doing in the background!!!
 
Out of interest what happens after a reboot and first time you open the browser?

Usually a home page only opens the first time the browser is launched. Subsequent opens the last page.

About:blank itself shouldn't be doing anything in the background as thats a default address for a blank tab.

You have an internal sdcard that you cannot remove, however its wiped with a factory reset.
 
Can we also assume you are using the default browser?

I'd recommend clear data in the browser app and setup nothing but your homepage and see what happens
 
SUroot said:
Can we also assume you are using the default browser?

I'd recommend clear data in the browser app and setup nothing but your homepage and see what happens
Click to expand...

Stock browser, just how it came.

I've cleared browser history, cleared the cache, cleared cookies i seem to have cleared everything.........i'm defeated :(
 
By clear data, I mean applications manager, browser, clear data.

Then open the browser. In the only open tab, go to whatever you want your homepage to be. Then menu, settings, general, set homepage, use current...

Then lets see
 
Thanks for taking the time :)

Ok, settings-apps manager- now i see downloaded, running and all....

Where do i go from here?
 
I think that virus is eating up your RAM and CPU. Be careful, because if it does, you might be out of RAM and CPU very soon and might need a new phone.
 
SUroot said:
"Internet"
Click to expand...

Ok, selected 'ALL', scrolled down to 'internet' and cleared data, opened the browser to find google, but this could be because when i exited last time it was via the middle 'home' button which does allow homepage to stay.

If you minimize the screen you still get a minus in the corner of the screen, which means there is still something lurking before it, in this case its about:blank with a blank screen
 
Doink said:
Ok, selected 'ALL', scrolled down to 'internet' and cleared data, opened the browser to find google, but this could be because when i exited last time it was via the middle 'home' button which does allow homepage to stay.

If you minimize the screen you still get a minus in the corner of the screen, which means there is still something lurking before it, in this case its about:blank with a blank screen
Click to expand...

I don't know what you're talking about. Did you do exactly what I said and nothing more?
 
Screenshot_2012-12-09-12-21-23.png


I'm not convinced you have an issue. After clearing data, the homepage defaults to Google like above. To the right of the address is the tab icon telling me I have 1 tab open.

If I press the tab button...

Screenshot_2012-12-09-12-21-31.png


It also says 1 Google at the bottom.

I can open a new tab with +. I can also close the previewed tab with the -. If I close the only open tab...

Screenshot_2012-12-09-12-21-44.png


About:blank tab appears. If I go back into tab selection screen and press +....

Screenshot_2012-12-09-12-21-59.png


Google again... this is all normal
 
On mine you still get a minus in the minimised screen when on the about:blank page and when pressed just reloads another about:blank screen. Surely this is just built into the browser?

Why not use another browser If it's that much of a problem
 
Wow a glut of responses, the pictures show exactly what i was trying to explain, thank you very much for posting them up. I am/was certain that about blank was not there before, i understood google to be the first and only page open hence my concern why the about blank was behind it.

You guys clearly are well ahead of me on this and i really appreciate your time and responses and if this is normal then i will take your word for it but just one think that doesn't quite sit right with me is still this..

If i open the browser why does it go to about blank and not the selected homepage, i know i could click the '+' and open yet another page (with the correct homepage) but why should i need to do that, i swear it wasn't like it before? :confused:
 
No probs.


It only ever goes to the homepage:

1) immediately after a reboot
2) if its in homepage before you exit.

Personally I don't like the browser and use chrome instead
 
Ok i'll try a different browser, what d'ya reccommend and whats the difference between those and the stock one?
 
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