IE 6 Search Window

[Guest]

We have come across a problem on many of the computers here at work. When you
click on the search button the search windows opens, but the text is in
chinese, not english. I have checked all the language settings are they are
ok.

The search engine it is searching is ninemsn (the default I Australia, I
think)
Is anyone else having this problem?

I have contacted microsoft about it and they keep shifting me from dept to
dept (and have even mentioned charging me $50 to look at the problem!!!!!!!)

 

[Rob ^_^]

Hi obehere!

The default search assistant url is

http://ie.search.msn.com/{SUB_RFC1766}/srchasst/srchasst.htm

where the {SUB RFC1766} token is replaced with your windows local settings
ie. en-us or en-au

check what value your machines are using under the following registry key

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search

looks like someone has changed the locale token with a hardwired chinese
locale

I think there is a gpedit setting for the search assistant?

Regards.

 

[Guest]

Hi obehere!

The default search assistant url is

http://ie.search.msn.com/{SUB_RFC1766}/srchasst/srchasst.htm

where the {SUB RFC1766} token is replaced with your windows local settings
ie. en-us or en-au

check what value your machines are using under the following registry key

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search

looks like someone has changed the locale token with a hardwired chinese
locale

I think there is a gpedit setting for the search assistant?

Thanks Rob ^_^ for your quick reply.
The settings in regedit and gpedit are both OK, but it's giving me somewhere
else to check. I just have to track down who makes the settings for the
domain group policy in our organisation and see what they have set.

 

[PA Bear]

Windows version?

 

[Robert Aldwinckle]

This is a good clue. What I would do with it though is use FiddlerTool
or netcap to see what is going on. Clearly you could have a combination
of things happening. E.g. either IE is requesting the wrong thing with this URL
(so something would be wrong with your Language settings which you
claim you have already checked) or the site that this is going to is not
ie.search.msn.com (e.g. you have a hijacker which has redirected
that site name possibly by a HOSTS override or by some other deviousness.)
That is the sort of thing that I think you could only expose by tracing
the HTTP connection.

You could also use nslookup to check on the address your DNS
would provide if it was not being overridden and test if that address
is being used by using ping ie.search.msn.com -n 1 (since ping's
lookup would be satisfied first from HOSTS and next from dnscache
and finally from your ISP's DNS.)

Another possibility, since you mention "computers here at work"
is that your DNS is actually a server there and it could be corrupt.
Etc. In that case do the same diagnosis on another access
(e.g. on a home system connecting to a different ISP) and compare
results.


Good luck

Robert Aldwinckle
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[Guest]

This is a good clue. What I would do with it though is use FiddlerTool
or netcap to see what is going on. Clearly you could have a combination
of things happening. E.g. either IE is requesting the wrong thing with this URL
(so something would be wrong with your Language settings which you
claim you have already checked) or the site that this is going to is not
ie.search.msn.com (e.g. you have a hijacker which has redirected
that site name possibly by a HOSTS override or by some other deviousness.)
That is the sort of thing that I think you could only expose by tracing
the HTTP connection.

You could also use nslookup to check on the address your DNS
would provide if it was not being overridden and test if that address
is being used by using ping ie.search.msn.com -n 1 (since ping's
lookup would be satisfied first from HOSTS and next from dnscache
and finally from your ISP's DNS.)

Another possibility, since you mention "computers here at work"
is that your DNS is actually a server there and it could be corrupt.
Etc. In that case do the same diagnosis on another access
(e.g. on a home system connecting to a different ISP) and compare
results.


Good luck

Robert Aldwinckle

We finally worked out that our proxy server had cached the wrong search page
and was delivering that to our users.
Just waiting now for our Network Blokes to get around to deleting it from
the cache

 

[Robert Aldwinckle]

....

We finally worked out that our proxy server had cached the wrong search page
and was delivering that to our users.
Just waiting now for our Network Blokes to get around to deleting it from
the cache

Good feedback. Thanks.

Robert
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