Can IE be uninstalled and re-installed?

[bayskater]

My son, in New Hampshire is having big trouble with his computer.
Some quotes from e-mails to me sent from his computer at work (which is OK)

"I was gone for the weekend and when I came back both my Norton System Works
and Webroot Spy Sweeper were corrupted. The computer is barely operational.
What are the chances that both of these programs blew up at the same time?
Any ideas?"

"I'm having a problem with Internet Explorer. Do you know how I would
re-load it? I can't connect with the Internet although programs are able to
connect to download updates. I ran both Spybot Search and Destroy and
Webroot Spy Sweeper and didn't come up with much. I haven't reloaded Norton
yet. IE seems to be the issue."

"Comcast has a Restore Internet Explorer feature which was unable to
correct whatever is the problem."

" My miniscule computer experience has got me wondering if this may be a
hardware problem.specifically a partial hard disc failure if that's
possible."



I'd appreciate any sudggestions for him that I could pass along.

Thanks, ..... Fred

 

[PA Bear]

Repairing or reinstalling IE won't resolve his hijackware infection(s), no.
Formatting & reinstalling Windows (not a Repair Install) will.

Checking for/Help with Hijackware
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=5878
http://wiki.castlecops.com/Malware_Removal_and_Prevention:_Introduction
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/data/prevention.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/tshoot.html
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm
http://defendingyourmachine.blogspot.com/
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

When all else fails, HijackThis v1.99.1
(http://aumha.org/downloads/hijackthis.zip) is the preferred tool to use.
It will help you to both identify and remove any hijackware/spyware. **Post
your log to http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30,
http://castlecops.com/forum67.html,
http://forums.subratam.org/index.php?showforum=7, or other appropriate
forums for expert analysis, not here.**

If the procedures look too complex - and there is no shame in admitting this
isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a local, reputable and
independent (i.e., not BigBoxStoreUSA) computer repair shop.

 

[bayskater]

HI PAbear,

Thanks for your reply. I forwarded it to my son.
This morning I received his reply, sent from his good computer at work.
I'll copy it here, in case something he said may offer a clue to the
problem:
Thanks again, .... Fred
Thanks, Dad.

I'd say he's right. There's more wrong than just the Internet connection.
There's a photo attached.the computer does this when it boots up. It never
did this before. It's like its struggling to start up. I checked out the
aumha link & there's a lot of good stuff in there.

(the photo he refers to can be seen at
http://home.comcast.net/~/100_2834.JPG )

I don't know if all computers are set-up the same but my hard drive has a
small section partitioned-off (Drive D) and a copy of the original operating
system files and software are kept there. System Restore just laid there
when I tried using it. It did nothing so I closed it.

HP System Recovery reformats the hard drive (Drive C) and then copies the
Drive D info onto it so it's like starting over when it was new. I'll have
to reinstall anything that didn't come pre-installed and update everything.
Like you I have an external hard drive so I can keep my data files safe
during the process. I also have DVD copies of Drive D as a back-up.

I checked the message when I try to open IE in Program Files (it won't open
on the Desktop):

Problem with Shortcut

The item 'iexplore.exe' that this shortcut refers to has been changed or
moved, so this shortcut will no longer work properly.

Nearest match based on size, date, and type:

C;\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386\iexplore.exe

Do you want to fix this shortcut to point to this target or do you just
want to delete it?

Fix it Delete it Cancel



I'll have more time this weekend. Thanks for your help. I'll let you know.

Bob

 

[bayskater]

http://home.comcast.net/~efhunter/100_2834.JPG

Hi PABear,

Above is the corrected link to the photo of Bob's computerscreen.

Sorry about that.

Fred