Need an expert in Inernet Explorer 6 on winxp pro

[JAWS1]

When I type a web address in the address bar I get a message saying somthing like "can't find www.anandtech.com please check for the correct path or that you are typing the address correctly. This happens no matter what site I try. I have attempted reinstalling explorer, I have downloaded all updates, I have reset my web settings, I have reset my search settings/options I have also looked through the MS knowlege base till my eyes started bleeding. Nothing seems to work. I am able to do google searches or make connections with sites thru my favorites menue but nothing thru the address bar. Anyone that has another idea to try would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: JAWS1
When I type a web address in the address bar I get a message saying somthing like "can't find www.anandtech.com please check for the correct path or that you are typing the address correctly. This happens no matter what site I try. I have attempted reinstalling explorer, I have downloaded all updates, I have reset my web settings, I have reset my search settings/options I have also looked through the MS knowlege base till my eyes started bleeding. Nothing seems to work. I am able to do google searches or make connections with sites thru my favorites menue but nothing thru the address bar. Anyone that has another idea to try would be appreciated. Thanks!

What are your settings under "Start", "Settings", "Control Panel", "Internet Options", "Advanced", and scroll down to where it says "Search from the Address Bar"? If perhaps your registry got corrupted, or you ran some sort of spyware-cleaner and it removed the settings, then changing the options here and then clicking "Ok", and then going back and changing them to what you want, and clicking "Ok" again, could help.

 

[JAWS1]

Thanks Virtuallarry, I tried your fix and it did not work. But now I can do a url search if and only if I do http:// first. I don't think I have had to do that for a long time. And now I have lost my Home page and other things to a Search page. I think it is something to do with a hijacker named WhenU. I have tried spybot and ad_aware6, search and delete and it's still there. It wont let me customize and when I change internet options to my home page it won't change. Any Ideas on any of these problems would be muchly appreciated.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: JAWS1
Thanks Virtuallarry, I tried your fix and it did not work. But now I can do a url search if and only if I do http:// first. I don't think I have had to do that for a long time. And now I have lost my Home page and other things to a Search page. I think it is something to do with a hijacker named WhenU. I have tried spybot and ad_aware6, search and delete and it's still there. It wont let me customize and when I change internet options to my home page it won't change. Any Ideas on any of these problems would be muchly appreciated.

Well, I would have suggested Spybot and Ad-Aware, but it seems as though you've already tried that. You might try posted to the Lavasoft, Spybot, and/or WilderSecurity forums as well.

I had a friend that had his search/homepage hi-jacked, it turned out to be a .reg file in the system directory, that was listed in a system-wide "Run" registry entry, so it was getting automatically re-installed every time the system booted.

You should download a utility that allows you to manually select and disable system/user start-up options. I had the name of it on the tip of my mind but it slipped away for now. There is also a built-in one too, I believe, as a utility under the MS System Information tool. I think it has "Startup" in its name. I would give you the walkthrough, but W2K lacks that tool and I don't want to boot into Win98se right now.

Edit: Check out this site, for how to disable suspicious-looking startup items.

 

[oldman420]

sounds like a spy ware problem did you click and dl to get into site buttons i would reinstall windows back up and reintsall man sorry
good luck

 

[JAWS1]

Thanks Virtual, Is the program your'e thinking of "Highjack This"? If so I plan on running that when I can get enough time. It looks a little involved. I couldn't find the other program. I looked in system tools and system info. but I couldn't see anything about a start tool or repair. Maybe I misunderstood you. I am going to look into the other things you mentioned as well.

Thanks to you too oldman420, although I'm not sure what click and dl is. I can still get into sites from Google or my Favorites on the browser tool bar but not from the start menue. I am affraid you are right however, that I am fast moving toward the ultimate fix...an OS reinstall. I did try an explorer reinstall and that didn't seem to have any effect. I do so hate to have to do that!!

Isn't it to bad that we all have to suffer the end result of some Mental Migit sitting in his dirty little hole somewhere thinking up stinking little ways to mess with normal peoples lives? I guess it is their warped idea of fun, but I can't for the life of me see how someone could possibly miscontrue that as fun!! But I digress, Thank You both for your help it is only because of people like you two that there is any hope for my restoration of some faith in humanity! I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Schadenfroh]

see my sig

 

[OZEE]

HijackThis is a great program -- but DO NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES with it unless you are absolutely, totally, 100% certain of what you are doing!!! You can really mess up your computer big-time with it. To get you need help interpretting the HJT lot and deciding what to let it fix, post the log back here. There are several of us here who can help you get it sorted out.

 

[videobruce]

Dump Idiot Exploiter and use Opera instead:

http://ashitaka-san.home.comcast.net/yayrant/ieharmful.html

http://nontroppo.org/wiki/WhyOpera

 

[JAWS1]

Thanks all it looks like I have my work cut out for me and I think the idea of loosing IE is an excellent one. I will keep you all informed. Will be gone for a week or two!

 

[islandtechengineers]

its your registry keys...... look into the following:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/MICROSOFT/INTERNET EXPLORER/ABOUTURLS

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/MICROSOFT/INTERNET EXPLORER/MAIN

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/MICROSOFT/INTERNET EXPLORER/SEARCH

and in here will affect your web browser auto adding in the http:// if you simple type www.yahoo.com. example: if the fields are blank, and you type www.google.com in your browser it may not work. but if the fields are set to http:// and then you type in only www.webcrawler.com in your browser, your browser will auto fill in the http:// part. and dont set the ftp reg value to http, thats a nono ftp is ftp://

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/MICROSOFT/WINDOWS/currentversion/url/defaultprefix/

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/MICROSOFT/WINDOWS/currentversion/url/prefixes

I ran into the problem you had and spyware programs wouldnt do it for me. I hunted them down myself and murdered it manually. you'll definately learn a lot about your pc that way. if you're in doubt about anything, use microsofts KNOWLEDGEBASE! it will keep your tail out of trouble if you take the time to understand the definations it provides.

of course be careful with your registry, you can F shizz up really lovely if you play wit hthe wrong stuff.

hey thanx to video bruce on the link to opeara, i've been looking for into other browsers other than netscape or IE. let me find out...

 

[islandtechengineers]

by the way, your registry changes are on the fly for those of you who dont know that. you dont have to exit and test and restart the prog then change settings exit retest blah blah leave the reg open and test but i highly reccommend using the feature in regedit to backup a copy of your registry if your unsure your going to rape your pc.

i dont mean to be a thread stealer... whatd the difference between the free downloaded version compared to the retail of opera? is there a limited time trial?

 

[OZEE]

The free version has a small ad showing, I think it's in the upper right hand corner. I used free-Opera on a friends computer awhile back and was genuinely surprised at how inobtrusive the ad was... you don't even really know it's there. (Personally, I'm using FireFox)

 

[FunkierThanU]

Originally posted by: OZEE
The free version has a small ad showing, I think it's in the upper right hand corner. I used free-Opera on a friends computer awhile back and was genuinely surprised at how inobtrusive the ad was... you don't even really know it's there. (Personally, I'm using FireFox)

Yep, Firefox is great.

I once had something like the issue you describe, and fixed it by changing to a better DNS server. If you're using one provided by your ISP, see if they have more than one and/or try changing their order if you've got more than one entered.