Cannot open any HTTP URL (but HTTPS works!) after latest Windows Update

[vagayan]

My Windows 2000 Pro SP4 with IE 6.0 is configured for automatic windows
updates. On September 5, 2006, it prompted me to apply the latest patch
and I clicked yes, then rebooted. I am not sure what the patch was but
might have been MS02-008 (Security Update, February 13, 2002) according
to the Windows Update log file.

After applying that patch my Internet Explorer won't open ANY URL THAT
STARTS WITH HTTP !!! It just sits there displaying the blank page and
the globe in the top right corner keeps spinning infinitely. I checked
everything, this is not a firewall or network issue -- my Firefox
browser works just fine and telnet to various sites on port 80 also
works. I tried unregistering or reinstalling MSXML 4.0 but it did not
make any difference. Programs like Microsoft Money also have difficulty
connecting to the web, I guess because the component that is broken is
shared.

Most incredibly, the IE browser opens HTTPS or FTP URLs just fine!

Please help!

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE]

My Windows 2000 Pro SP4 with IE 6.0 is configured for automatic windows
updates. On September 5, 2006, it prompted me to apply the latest patch
and I clicked yes, then rebooted. I am not sure what the patch was but
might have been MS02-008 (Security Update, February 13, 2002) according
to the Windows Update log file.

After applying that patch my Internet Explorer won't open ANY URL THAT
STARTS WITH HTTP !!! It just sits there displaying the blank page and
the globe in the top right corner keeps spinning infinitely. I checked
everything, this is not a firewall or network issue -- my Firefox
browser works just fine and telnet to various sites on port 80 also
works. I tried unregistering or reinstalling MSXML 4.0 but it did not
make any difference. Programs like Microsoft Money also have difficulty
connecting to the web, I guess because the component that is broken is
shared.

Most incredibly, the IE browser opens HTTPS or FTP URLs just fine!

Please help!

If Windows Defender is installed try turning it off.

 

[vagayan]

Frank,

Thank you very much for your response.

No, I do not have Windows Defender installed. I played around some more
and confirmed that I cannot access HTTP URLs using any version of MSXML
(I have MSXML 3.0 SP 5 and MSXML 4.0 SP 2). I wrote a simple test page
using AJAX and it could retrieve data over HTTPS connection but not
over HTTP using the Microsoft.XMLHTTP and Msxml2.XMLHTTP.3.0 objects.

Using the following KB article, How To Determine the Version of MSXML
Used by Internet Explorer, KB296647, I found that my IE uses
msxml3.dll.

I am very frustrated because I cannot understand what is broken and
why. The msxml3.dll seems to have the right version and unchanged since
2004. I tried reinstalling installing the latest version of MSXML 3.0
and 4.0, but this did not help.

I tried repairing Internet Explorer 6.0 installation (via Add/Remove
Programs, Internet Explorer 6 SP1, Change/Remove, Repair Existing
Installation) but that did not help either.

What else could I try?