Looking at the initial post on this thread again, I caught RangerSteve's error, and thought I should mention it in case anyone else has the same problem. He wrote:

"While surfing the net a few weeks ago, a window popped up on my screen asking me if I wanted a certain website to be my new home page. I clicked "no", so of course, it became my new home page."

Logically, you would think that clicking "no" would get rid of this kind of trash. Unfortunately, when you click on ANYTHING offered, it activates the program. When in doubt, don't click at all, or right-click on the program, which brings up a menu that offers an X Close option. Or just hit Alt and F4.

Having learned the hard way....!!