"Use Automatic Configuration Script Setting" in IE

Steve C

Member
Power User
Messages
275
Location
UK
Yesterday Internet Explorer would not connect. I noticed for some reason the Use Automatic Configuration Script setting in LAN Settings was set to 127.0.0.1:2309/proxyconf. After several tries. I reset it to the correct setting Automatically Detect Settings and IE now works. I've done a full virus scan with Kapersky Internet Security and Malwarebytes but found nothing.

Please advise:


  1. Why would the Automatic Configuration Script be changed and what is the setting 127.0.0.1:2309/proxyconf?
  2. Is there a Group Policy or Registry setting to disable the Automatic Configuration Script option?
  3. I have a long list of Intermediate Certification Authorities and I'm unsure what they all are. I'm also unable to remove them. Is there a way of resetting IE to a standard set of certificates a new Windows installation would have?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 64 bit
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    PC/Desktop
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    Home Build
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    Intel i3570K
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    Gigabyte GA-77X-UD5H
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    Internet Speed
    50Mbps
    Browser
    Chrome
That could easily have been done by a trojan (which is different from a virus or other malware) which may have been picked up in a previous sweep or just managed to elude Kaspersky.

As for your other questions, while kind of a sideways answer, you'd be better off just picking Firefox or Chrome and forgetting about IE save those few sites which absolutely do not work with anything else. MS has made significant strides in recent years, but the fact still remains that IE is probably the single most exploited program ever created and short of rewriting the entire thing from the ground up and being willing to break who knows how many corporate intranets and other things, there's just no way to fix it. Someone will probably be able to address those issues directly, but long-term using Internet Explorer for any amount of time is exceedingly dangerous, so you should try and limit it to only those times when it is absolutely necessary. Meaning times when you need to get to some site and there's no other site you can go to to get the same content. Sadly, and rather inexcusably, that is often banking sites, but I digress. The rest of the time, use Firefox or Chrome, your choice which you want to use. Each has good and bad points about it, but among the good points is security that is worlds better than IE.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1
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