Infuriating Internet Explorer problem

[earthman]

I just did a fresh install of Win XP Home SP2 on the GF's computer. Everything went fine, no issues. Got it up and running, activated, installed AVG and Office, everything worked fine. Ran Windows update, downloaded/installed updates, now IE won't work. This included IE6, 7, and 8, tried them all. When you open the program, it acts like it's connecting, you get a title bar, etc., then after about 5 seconds it freezes with a blank white page. It can't be closed with any control, only by killing the app in task manager. If you try to open a link with IE closed, nothing happens. If you try to run Windows update, nothing happens. I've tried uninstalling/reinstalling it, re-registering all the dlls, running system file checker, resetting web settings to default, nothing works. I've reverted back to IE6, but the results are still the same, blank white page, frozen app. She will use Firefox, and that works fine, but I'm concerned that there will never be any updates if the update feature is not working. Short of re-installing Windows, does anybody have any suggestions?

 

[Dahak]

i have seen sometime the auto detect proxy and the proxy check boxes checked cause similar issues. just go to control panel -> internet options -> connections tab -> lan settings button -> remove all checks marks -> click apply and ok and then try

 

[cubby1223]

Grab hijackthis, run it, and remove all BHOs, toolbars, dpfs, protocal:linkscanner, & AppInit_dlls items.

Reboot and IE should now work. Reinstall Java, Flash, & Adobe Reader.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Does it do this if you start IE without addons? Also, try MS update tool

 

[earthman]

There are no addons installed, this is a fresh install. IE doesn't start properly, period. The update feature does not work.

 

[cubby1223]

Originally posted by: earthman
There are no addons installed, this is a fresh install. IE doesn't start properly, period. The update feature does not work.

You said you installed AVG, which depending on your installation choices adds 3 or 4 hooks into Internet Explorer. Whether that's your problem or not, the addons are there.

 

[earthman]

I removed AVG, it didn't change anything.

 

[bwatson283]

Originally posted by: earthman
Ran Windows update, downloaded/installed updates, now IE won't work. This included IE6, 7, and 8, tried them all.

IE 8 is not on MS update as of yet, you have to manually download it from their separate download site. IE8 is still in Beta. Get rid of 7 and 8 if they are installed.

 

[earthman]

Reverting back to 6 didn't change anything, so guess I'll have to do the installation over again. Thanks, MS.