MSN stuck as IE home page...UGH

[Cindid]

I used to (2 days ago) have www.google.com as my home page in IE.
Now, when I go to Tools/Options to change my home page - it's greyed out and keeps defaulting to MSN. I did have Symantec on my computer for anti virus but it was causing some Outlook problems so I've completely removed it.
I had Spybot on my computer (as of 20 minutes ago) but completely removed it in case it was the problem. I also have AVG (free edition) on my computer.
I'm not a techie and am not sure what to do - so frustrated.

Thanks in advance for help. This is a brand new computer and can't believe all the problems I've been having.

Cindi

[md usa spybot fan]

Cindid:

Do you use ZoneAlarm? If so is it free or pro and what version is it?

Added with edit:

Go into Spybot > Mode > Advanced Mode > Tools > IE Tweaks.

There are three "Miscellaneous locks" on Spybot's IE tweaks page:
Lock Hosts file read-only as protection against hijackers
Lock IE start page setting against user changes (current user)
Lock IE control panel against opening from within IE (current user)
If the "Lock IE start page setting against user changes (current user)" is checked, uncheck it and see if you change your home page.

[Cindid]

First - thank you for replying. I do not use Zone Alarm. Only had installed
Symantec - then completely removed it after tons of problems. Then installed Spybot (but removed it about 20 minutes ago) and then had AVG (free version) and have since removed it. So cannot figure this out. I'm sure
(after reading) I have to make some type of registry change but I'm so nervous about it- have no idea what changes to make or how.

Thanks

[md usa spybot fan]

Cindid:

There are many programs that can lock your home page from being changed (including some malware). Please list all the anti-malware that you are still running.

If any anti-malware locked your home page similar to the way that Spybot does when you use IE Tweaks, that lock could remain even if the software is removed.

I understand your reluctance to edit your registry, but in order to determine if it is an IE Tweaks type lock that is causing your problem we have to at lease take a look at it.

Using Registry Editor, navigate to the following Registry Key and look at the contents:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Control Panel]
Specific instructions:
Go into Start > Run… > type "regedit" (no quotes) > then click "OK".
Expand HKEY_CURRENT_USER by clicking the + (plus sign) in front of it.
Expand HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software by clicking the + (plus sign) in front Software.
Expand HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies by clicking the + (plus sign) in front Policies.
Expand HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft by clicking the + (plus sign) in front Microsoft.
Expand HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Control Panel by clicking the + (plus sign) in front of Internet Explorer.
Expand HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Control Panel by clicking the + (plus sign) in front of Internet Explorer.
Display the contents of HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Control Panel by clicking on Control Panel
Look in the right hand pane of the Registry Editor window. Does the row with a Name of Homepage look like a. or b. below:
Homepage DWORD 0x00000000 (0)
Homepage DWORD 0x00000001 (1)
If the registry entry looks like a. above (dword=00000000), then your home page is not locked in a manner similar to Spybot's IE Tweaks and we are looking for another cause.
If the registry entry looks like b. above (dword=00000001), then your home page is locked in a manner similar to Spybot's IE Tweaks and it can be corrected by going reinstalling Spybot and following the procedure that I added with edit in my first post (as long as there is no other anti-malware program resetting the lock).

On the other hand if the inspection of the registry did indicate that the dword=00000001, locking the home page there is an easy and safe way to edit the registry (changing dword=00000001) to dword=00000000):
While still displaying the following registry key in Registry Editor:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Control Panel]
Go to File in the toolbar menu and select "Export…".
In the Save in box, select a location where you want to save the .reg file that will be saved.
In the File name box type a name that you will remember.
The Save as type box should contain pre-populated entry "Registration Files (*.reg)".
If it does, do not change this value.
If it does not, using the pull down on the right of the Save as type box, change the type from whatever to "All Files", then go back and add .reg to the name that you typed in the File name box..
Click Save.
You will be editing this file to make the registry change. If you want a to create a backup in case something goes wrong, "Export…" a second copy of the file.
Exit Registry Edit.
Using Windows Explorer, navigate to the file that you just saved.
Right click on the file and select Edit. The file should open in Notepad.
Change the following:
"Homepage"=dword:00000001
To:
"Homepage"=dword:00000000
Save the file and Exit Notepad.
Double click on the edited file. Answer "Yes" and "OK" to the messages you received.
Try to modify your home page.