Tag Archives: policy issues

Solution: Remove startsearcher.com Google Chrome search hijacker

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Today I encountered an irritating Google Chrome search hijack which wasn’t removable via the usual methods.  Attempting to remove the rogue search engine via the Chrome options menu simply produced a yellow bar at the top of the screen which read:

Some options are managed by your administrator.

Even completely uninstalling Chrome and removing the existing User Data folder under Chrome’s AppData directory didn’t fix the problem.

Shortly thereafter, however, I discovered another location where Chrome settings can be preset/mandated: the registry.  Specifically, two locations:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome

and

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome

The specific keys which needed deletion in this case were:

  • DefaultSearchProviderName
  • DefaultSearchProviderSearchURL
  • HomepageLocation
  • HomepageIsNewTabPage

I had to remove them from both registry areas.  But after this, the problem was gone.

If this post has helped you, please take a moment to leave a comment!

Windows Update “Managed by your system administrator” nightmare

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Today I encountered a bizarre issue when performing a routine setup on a refurbished (read: practically brand new) Dell Studio laptop. The problem manifested itself when Windows Update was run; rather than successfully connect to the Windows Update server and download updates information, the client would return an error:

Error Code 0x80072EE2
You receive updates: Managed by your system administrator

This sort of behavior is expected if your PC is set to receive Windows Updates via the WSUS service; in other words, not from the standard Windows Updates servers. But this computer was all-new (a new Windows install) and had never had a group policy set related to this (at least, it wasn’t supposed to have had it set)!

None of the usual Windows Update repair tools corrected the problem. Luckily, however, after a bit of research and experimentation, I devised a solution. Please note that this solutionshould not be performed if your computer uses a Group Policy for Windows Update:

  1. Open RegEdit and navigate toHKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate
  2. Remove any and all values within this key. Most likely, the culprit is a faulty Windows Update source server. Sometimes this is the result of a latent or previous infection.
  3. Finally, download and run Microsoft FixIt 50202. Try the Default settings first, and if that does not work, try Aggressive.
  4. Reboot the computer and check to see that Windows Update is working properly.

An annoying issue to be sure, but at least this solution works! Please let me know if this solution has helped you. 🙂

If you’re looking for computer help in the Louisville area, look no further.  Call me today and get it done right!

Never bother with Windows Update again.  If you’re a repair tech or sysadmin, check out WUInstall Pro today!